Fight Your Own Fights
On Sunday, when Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez meet in the ring for the third time, the entire Philippines will once again be glued to TV, movie, projector and tablet/computer screens. Traffic will once again be almost non-existent, crime rates will drop to the low points typical of a Pacquiao fight, and should Manny win, the whole country will be unified by a sense of shared accomplishment. But what if he loses?
My problem with a lot of our countrymen is that they see Manny’s victories as their own. Sure, he’s Filipino like you and me, but is he really fighting for us? I mean, this isn’t the Olympics after all. It’s a professional fight, a career of his own choosing, one which he prepared both his mind and body for over many years, with its share of both reward and sacrifice. He fights for money, for personal glory, and for his own pride. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’ve ridden in my fair share of cabs over the years, and if my conversations with these taxi drivers are any indication of the general mindset of most Filipinos about Manny is that he’s the hope of the country, a shining beacon of hope for the poor. It’s gotten so that Manny’s skill in the ring and overall nice-guy aura has made people believe that he’s a savior of some sort, with him even being voted into public office. I feel it’s a symptom of a scary disease in which those afflicted feel the need to have someone “fight for them,” rather than doing the fighting themselves.
It would be good if it was just Manny. But then along come people like Willie Revillame who give away not their own money, but rather the money from advertisers on their television shows, and people worship them as though they were giving away parts of themselves to help the poor. People kill themselves to get onto a show, even having their children make fools of themselves on national television to venerate someone who couldn’t be any less than deserving of their respect, much less their love.
People turn personalities who are all too human into demigods, leaving their fates in these celebrities’ hands and washing their own hands of the responsibility for their future and the guilt of their past. They slack off and live without consequences 362 days a year and then pin their hopes on 3 Pacquiao fights instead of putting on their own metaphorical gloves and doing the fighting for themselves and their families.
When Manny steps into the ring on Sunday (Saturday in the States), no one else is gonna do the punching for him, and he alone is gonna take Marquez’s punches. So whether he wins or loses, we should all remember that when the final bell sounds we all have to get up and continue fighting our own fights.
Spongebob Shorts – A Song
Talk about a blast from the past. While going through my files this morning, I came across a song that one Noah Valdez and I recorded while I was still a copywriter at Bates 141 almost 3 years ago. It was 4 in the morning and we were still working (you can imagine what state our minds were in), and we were talking about boxers, of all things.
I mentioned that I had a pair of Spongebob Squarepants boxers, to which he replied: “You’re never gonna get laid in those.” And from there, the song you’re about to listen to was written and recorded. In one take. At about 5 in the morning. Click on the link and enjoy our random stupidity!
In Time – Waste of Time?
Andrew Niccol’s In Time, starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy and Vincent Kartheiser, has an interesting premise that slowly loses its appeal over its almost two hours of running time.
In the year 2161, science has found a way to stop people from aging past the age of 25. What happens is, on your 25th birthday you get just one more year of life, displayed on your arm like some surgically implanted digital clock. You work for more time, pay for food with more time, and even loan time from the bank. In this future, time really IS money. As Vincent Kartheiser (playing a 90 year-old bank executive) asks Justin Timberlake in one scene, after he’s been given centuries worth of time by an “old” man who’s found that being immortal is generally not what it’s chalked up to be: “Do you come from time?”
In Time poster
It’s a generally dark future. Since people live to be centuries old (if they have the connections, that is), with only murder or a freak accident standing in the way, those who have all the time in the world end up living lives of comfort without really doing any of the things that are fun: no water sports, no racing, etc. Literal time zones away live those who aren’t so lucky, living day to day and sometimes just dying on the street just a few seconds away from their next paycheck or collecting a debt.
When JT meets Amanda Seyfried, an adventurous spirit who’s lived her whole life as a spoiled little rich girl who feels she hasn’t truly lived, what follows is reminiscent of Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. JT and Amanda Seyfried live dangerously, stealing time from those who have it (namely, her father) and giving it to those who don’t, all the while being pursued by Timekeeper Cillian Murphy, who’s obtained some lines on his face since he was The Scarecrow in Batman Begins and the target of Leo Di Caprio’s inception plan in, well, Inception.
The script is lined with puns about time, as may be expected, but what turned me off about the lines in this film was how JT and Amanda Seyfried delivered them. JT goes about this film doing his Sean Parker role from The Social Network, while Seyfried seems to be doing her best Zooey Deschanel impression. It almost feels like they’re about to look into the camera and wink every few seconds.
All in all, it’s a fun Saturday night movie. If you can accept the premise, it draws you into an alternate future that’s actually interesting to follow characters around in. Too bad the leads make you wish you were following completely different people around.
Score: 3.5/5
‘Tis the season to pig out
Christmas is almost upon us, and there’s no better time to pig out. After all, aside from celebrating the birth of Christ, it’s also the season for giving and receiving tons and tons of food, among them the ever-present food for the gods, butterscotch, and everyone’s favorite fruitcake.
My mom's set up our tree already
It’s also the best time to catch up with friends and family, whether they’re from out of town, out of the country, or just out of mind since last we decked the halls with boughs of holly. Personally, I’ve found that Grace and I’ve been eating out a lot recently. We’ve both been busy the last few weeks so we’ve made up for it by maximizing the long weekends that’ve just passed us by.
Blueberry Pancakes from Pancake House
Inasal Paa from Chicken Bacolod
We also joined my family at Marciano’s last Sunday night for a long delayed celebration of mine, my dad’s and my sister Ina’s birthdays. There were 17 of us, but 4 appetizers, 5 pizzas, 4 pastas and 4 risottos were more than enough to keep us happy. If you’re ever in the mood for good Italian (by way of New York) food, check out Marciano’s!
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- Saffron Vanessa Risotto (Saffron and Dory)
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- Food is GOOD
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- Tony Soprano’s Sausage Pesto Pasta
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- Blueberry Pancakes from Pancake House
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- Inasal Paa from Chicken Bacolod
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- My mom’s set up our tree already
Princess Pride
The 7 year-old girl named Claire had an old woman’s tongue and a piercing stare
With a practiced smile and a bag of bad names, she set off one day to call out people’s shame
She cried “Dork!” to the skater on his brand-new board, and “Four Eyes!” to the cosplayer swinging a sword
To the book-lover “Geek!” as she shot him a glance; without insults of his own he hadn’t a chance
When she fell short of people she lambasted a tree; it ran off in fright, she then stripped down a bee
The bee stung back but she had really thick skin, she just laughed and hurled curses at some identical twins
Claire then looked up and threatened the sun; it looked down, aghast, and decided to run
Plants withered and died, dogs howled and then barked; Claire said “I’ll just call people names in the dark”
*Written in my Star Wars Moleskine last October 8
The Force is strong in this one.
Gone Digital
After all my comments on how film looks better, and how I like to surprise myself with a processed roll and the possibility of having 36 great shots (or not) to upload when I get home from work, I finally gave in and bought a Canon Powershot A3300 IS. It’s a 16-megapixel snapper with a few manual functions and fun filters.
I looks awesome
For the amazingly low price of *drum roll* P9,000, I brought this baby home last Friday and immediately put it to work during PC&V’s Halloween party, our family trip to Tagaytay, and our November 1 visit to Lola’s in San Juan, capped with dinner (and shopping) with Gracie at Greenbelt 5. I’m not about to sell or give away my film cams anytime soon, but I can foresee using them less often (it’s cheaper, too!).
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- Garlic Beef Pepper Rice
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- Pork Yakiniku Pepper Rice
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- Manila sunset
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- Miniature Tagaytay
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- The Alfonso Hotel
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- Justine’s zombie takes a bite out of Kat’s Evolution smiley
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- Dan, what are you supposed to be???
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- Bong’s pregnant white lady
