From an Alien’s Perspective

That’s what our opponent team in basketball said to our star player, Chenai, who unfortunately for us, was not able to play last night because of her training.  She actually came to the court less than 2 minutes before the end of the game (not enough time to suit up and play) so it was just us.

We lost…  What can we expect.  But it was a very good game because we played hard to compensate for the absence of Chenai.  There was never a dominant team nor player.  All throughout the game, both team played hard defense and offense.  All players worked hard and earned statistical points.

This game gave me a lot of first time opportunities…  For the first time, I played the whole game (well I actually got a 2 minute break after the ball boxed my nose).  For the first time, I got stats in almost all areas of the ballgame - field goal, assist, steal, rebound, foul, and yes, even turnover.  For the first time, I heard a lot of nice comments about how I played.

So, to repeat La Coruna’s line - Thank you Chenai.  If it would not be a selfish gesture on my part, I would want to ask you to not play again so I can get to have more playing time.  Hahaha.  But I’m for the team, so thank you Chenai, but please, don’t leave us again next week.

Cheers.

I really can’t find the logic of designing the muffler of the motorcycle tilted upwards. Its bad enough that most motor vehicles contribute greatly to air pollution.  Its even worse to blow those polluting smoke right to the face of unsuspecting pedestrians.  Whoever did the design, I hope there is a way for you to undo it, and please be proactive in finding the solution for this.  To the LTFRB, or LTC, or whatever government agency in charge of approving the release of motor vehicles, can you please think of ways to mitigate the possible damage these type of motorcycles may cause to people.  Thanks.

Just played another game of frisbee.  It’s semi-finals and a knockout game.  Whoever wins goes to the championship.  It was a heartbreaking battle for us because we are ahead by one point with 10 seconds remaining in the game then all of a sudden the opposing team scored and forced an OT game - to be played on Wednesday because it started to rain in the last 10 seconds of the game.

This game is memorable for me for 2 reasons.

1.  I scored a point.
2.  I had the biggest blooper of my life.  I dived to the ground with an outstretched body.  It wouldn’t be so embarassing if somebody tripped me, but I was there all alone in that area when that happened.  I don’t know if I was running too fast that lost control, or if the ground was too bumpy that I lost balance.  Whatever the reason is, it doesn’t matter anymore because I already fell and literally ate dirt.  Now I know how soil tastes like.  At least I scored right after that embarassing fall so I basically redeemed myself.

I think that fall will earn a spot in the history book of our sportsfest not just because it was so embarassing, but it was also very funny and would have won in America’s or Bitoy’s funniest video had somebody captured it.  My teammate was laughing as he told me how my fall was.  Imagine me lying  down on the ground on my belly with legs straight and both arms outstretched on top of my head - it just like standing straight with arms raised with palms facing the front, then change that position from vertical to horizontal.  After that, imagine me arocking twice like the base of a rocking chair.  I just laughed after he told me that was how I looked because I did feel myself rock like that.

What a game…. I ROCK!!!

One more thing… When I was about to change into a cleaner set of clothes, I found out that the inside of my shirt is also ridden with dirt.  And… When I removed my sportsbra (which hugged me so snug fit that my boobs was almost flattened) my cleavage was also ridden with dirt!!!

What a fall….  Even my boobs ate dirt… Hahahahah!!!!

BTW, I think I dislocated my jaw on that fall because my chin also hit the ground hard although surprisingly did not get any bruises or contutions.  Maybe I should see a doctor…

What a game…. I really ROCK!!!

Basura mo… Itapon mo…  (Your garbage… Throw it…)  This is quite a good slogan and people find it easy to follow.  The only problem is that the slogan is incomplete.  It did not say where to throw your garbage.  Apparently, some people solve that issue by finding garbage cans whereever they are.  In the absence of a regular garbage cans, they improvise - public vehicles, corners of buildings, push carts (yes push carts from the grocery… try looking at FX passenger queues at megamall and you’ll see what I mean), vacant lots all turn into impromptu garbage cans.

Yes it’s a good solution for the original owner of the garbage, but it did not actually solved the problem of garbage disposal because the trash only transferred ownership.  What’s irritating is that the original owner of the garbage wrongly inconvenienced the new owner because he now has the burden of properly disposing the garbage.  Of course. because of the golden rule, the new garbage owner would not repeat what was wrongly done to him.  He would probably (hopefully) find a proper garbage can and dispose the trash properly.

If you were an FX driver, wouldn’t you be mad if a passenger throws all the ponkan peels and seeds in your vehicle?  Yes the FX floor will be littered with sweet smelling peels, but it is still garbage no matter how it smells.

If you were a bus passenger, wouldn’t you be mad if your bag, which was placed beside your foot suddenly gets wet because a plastic cup half filled with softdrinks, which was left by a passenger 4 seats from the back, tumbled when the driver hit the breaks and spilled the contents all over the floor?

Keyword here is consideration for others.  Do not inconvenience others by disposing of a once useful item you converted into garbage.  You have already inconvenienced yourself by carrying the item before it officially became trash.  Can’t you hold on it for a little more until you find a proper disposal area?  After all, you already benefited from the previous form of the garbage you are holding so why not give your garbage a proper disposal as a sign of appreciation for the service it has given you.

Basura mo… Itapon mo… Sa tamang basurahan…

Yeah… We all know that saying - kids do the darnest things… Maybe it’s about time somebody did something about it.

A few days ago I was with the company of family and friends.  Somebody from the group casually told the "funny" incident about a 5-year old kid he knows and his "mommy" (that’s how the kid calls his grandma).  Here was how the scene goes:

The kid asks in a purely innocent tone.

Kid:   mommy bakit pag nanonood ako ng naghahalikan sa TV tumitigas ang titi ko?
Mommy: ANOOO? lintik na… Ang bata-bata mo pa may libog ka na sa katawan.  Patingin nga

Transalated:
Kid:   mommy, why is it when I watch kissing scenes on TV, my penis hardens?
Mommy: WHATT? &$%#*#!*!… You’re so young yet you already get sexually aroused. Lemme see that.

On that note, the mommy touched the kid’s penis.  The kid, apparently was telling the truth - to the mommy’s surprise.  All the adults had a big laugh over that incident.

At first, it may seem like a really big joke.  But when I thought about it for quite a while, I realize that if this is not an isolated case - meaning other kids like him experience the same thing when watching a suppposedly harmless kissing scene - then the movie/TV industry should stop and think how to help the parents avoid such incidents.

Some people may say that it’s the parent’s responsibilities to make sure that their kids do not get to watch sexually arousing shows.  But I’m not talking of movies here or regular PG programs…. I’m talking of shows for the teens and commercials which shows kissing scenes.  How can parents or guardians prevent kids from seeing commercials?  Should they sit by their kids the whole time they watch TV?  Should parents always hold the remote control everytime the kids watch TV and switch channels the moment a "seem-to-be" sexual scene starts to play?

Maybe I’m just over-reacting to this.  But then, I remember another story told to me by my officemate about a boy and a girl he saw when he passed through a posh village in Metro Manila.  The two kids, according to my officemate looks like they are not yet in their teens years, but what he saw horrified him.  They were having or probably trying to have sex on the grassy portion near the village’s entrance - a very public place - and that was around 9-10am.

Green Day had this song called American Idiot, which goes something like this:

Don’t wanna be an American Idiot
One nation controlled by the media.

In a way, I think we are like Filipino idiots because most of the citizens in our country are highly influenced by the media.  Maybe, the media industry should re-think their guiding principles in developing shows for the public.  It’s not enough to be bold and daring enough to reveal the truth about the big issues in our country.  It’s not enough to develop "well-crafted, artistic movies" that challenges the minds of the audience and would probably deserve recognition of award giving bodies.  The media industry should be responsible enough to gauge the possible moral and social effects of their story to the audience of their show.

This is the first of what I envisioned to be a series of posts about the small, but important bad habits that some educated Filipinos exhibit during the course of their daily living.  The focus is on "educated" Filipinos because, for sure, un-educated or illiterate Filipinos cannot read this post anyway.  I am not excusing myself from these habits because I know that sometimes, I fall victim to the charms of these small evils. 

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Sometimes we are too much in a hurry to cross the street that we take it upon ourselves to find the opportunity to cross in the shortest time possible.  I am no exception to this, but, before I make any effort to take matters in my own hand, I check first if there is a traffic enforcer taking care of the needs of the pedestrians.  If there is, I let the enforcer do his job. 

I don’t know if some of you even bother to check for the existence of the traffic enforcer, but oftentimes, I see many people, especially outside the malls, openly display disregard on the authority of the enforcer by crossing the street even if there is no go-signal yet.  Understand that it is their job to make sure that first, the pedestrians have a safe passage, and second, the motorists are not unnecessarily disrupted in their travel.  Therefore, it is only proper for us, as a law-abiding citizen, to respect their authority and let them do their job properly. 

If you were in the enforcer’s shoes, I’m sure you would be offended if pedestrians (and motorists) openly disregard your instructions not to cross the street.  Key word here is respect for authority.  You don’t have any license to complain about traffic enforcers not doing their job properly if you yourself do not respect their authority.

It’s very heartwarming to know that despite the corruption that envelopes the political scene in the country, somewhere within the far corners of the country, there are still some people worthy of the word "Honorable".

Yesterday, my husband was almost in panic because he dropped his wallet in the tricycle.  They got off the tricycle within the market area so we were so sure that it’s "bye bye wallet" for us.  Of course, you know men’s wallet contains a lot of valuable cards.  His is no exception - 2 credit cards, 3 ATM cards, drivers license, SSS ID, 2 health cards, and of course, cash.  Good thing he had enough money in his pocket to buy the things that he need and return home.

It came as a big surpise when he saw the driver at the entrance of our street (he did not even remember the tricycle he was driving, much less the driver, but the driver remembered him).  Apparently, he was waiting there hoping to see my husband again because there is where they board the tricycle.  As soon as he saw my husband, he returned the wallet - no questions asked.  So surprised was my husband that all he can do was say thank you.  I told him later that he should at least give the driver a reward for being kind enough to return the wallet with everything in it.  My husband plans to give him a useful item as a token of appreciation.

Now it’s our turn to look for the driver to return the favor.

Last week I started using my company-assigned PC.  I didn’t notice it then, but when I sat on my chair today and started my PC, I felt a bit refreshed…  Now I don’t have to go through the ritual of taking out my laptop and setting everything up on my desk before finally starting up my computer.  Today, I just sat down and pressed the Power-On  button, and VIOLA!!! My computer is up and running…

I rarely watch TV nowadays because I’m more often in the office than at home.  Last night though, I got a glimpse of the news in ABS-CBN and heard about the rants of movie producers regarding the controversial rules on the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

Frankly speaking, I the producers are just sour-graping because their movie was not able to earn as much as they expected it to.  And what better way to escape the guilt feeling than blame it on the the MMFF authorities for making such "commercialized" rules.

Looking at it in an objective way, the movie industry, in whatever way you look at it, is still a business.  And as such, one of the main objective, if not the primary objective of that business is to earn money.  Why else would any producers invest on it if they do not plan to profit out of it?

There are directors, writters, artists, and other people behind the production of any movie, whose main objective is for people to appreciate their art/craft/work.  The more people watching the movie, the more appreciation they will get.  The other upside to it is the more profit the producers will make out of the movie.

But if the movie is not patronized by the public, the only reason is that it does not appeal to the audience.  From an artist’s perspective, the movie is not a good artwork because it did not connect to the target market.  From a business standpoint, the movie is not a good product because the target market did not buy it.

Remember, the target market of any movie is the public who goes to the movie houses to buy the ticket, not the movie critics - whose written criticism are sometimes more "artistic" than the movie itself for average person to understand -, nor judges of any award giving bodies - whose judgement are sometimes based on their personal preferences/taste in art. 

Endpoint, you do not need any political influence or an award to make your target market watch your movie.  An award is just an icing on the cake of a box office hit.  To sell your movie, what you need, aside from a good product, is good marketing strategy.  They don’t call movie trailers a "teaser" for nothing.  A good case in point - Blair Witch Project.  You’d be surprised at how much a good promotion can do to your product.  Just look at Manny Pacquiao.

For the first time since 1995, I did not enjoy watching the fireworks that I setup for the new year celebration.

No, its not the fireworks.  In fact, it was great as what our neighbors, who were able to watch it, said..  Its our other neighbor. Well our neighbor’s bahay-kubo to be exact…

Apparently, the wind was blowing to the direction of our neighbor’s bahay-kubo so when the fireworks display started, the sparks that shoots out are blown to their yard directly.  I was watching while the our neighbor is washing out sparks dropping on their car while my husband is trying to figure out how to mitigate the possible damage on their newly built bahay-kubo in case the sparks dropping on it are big and hot enough to set it on fire.  I tried to move the fireworks box away from our neighbor’s house (while the fireworks are shooting out of it), but it only resulted to more sparks dropping on the bahay-kubo.  At least no more sparks were dropping on their car.  Hahaha, like that’s a relief.

The whole duration of the fireworks display, we spent not watching it, but watching out for our neighbor’s bahay-kubo.  At least there’s the thrill moving the live fireworks box.  I mean our other neighbors who were enjoying the fireworks display were amazed to see me actually pushing the box away from our that bahay-kubo with my bare hands.  At least I can really say that the Dragon Fireworks are really safe.