To Go (Back) or Not To Go?

I have started to take the first steps in hopefully going back to the academe. I've always been an educator, even when I'm already in the BPO industry, I've always considered myself as such. There is a possibility though that if I can go back to the academe soon, it will not be in the city where I am now, but somewhere in the nearby cities and/or towns. If that happens, I'll just be going home during weekends, which is difficult for me. One, our production is coming soon, and we'll be having the 3x a week rehearsals, and second and the most important reason is that I am so not used to being away from my daughter. I know I'm busy a lot of times, and once classes start, she'll also be busy, but at least we'll be reading, studying and do a lot of things together, under the same roof.

Sacrifices will have to be made if I really want to go back to the academe, but as long as the timing is right, I am willing to make those sacrifices.

Tumblr or Blogger?

It hasn't been too long since I tried Tumblr and I enjoyed it a lot for a week. Now I'm thinking of deleting my Tumblr account. I know a lot of people using it, and I enjoyed it the first time I tried it. I had the same realization as Dan, I just realized recently that Tumblr is not really built for what I am trying to do (create content vs. redistribute it).

I'm more comfortable letting out my feelings through my blog, and Blogspot (yeah, I know it's Blogger now) is just right for me, nothing fancy, just allowing me to express myself. Tumblr is more of a social networking site than a blog site. 

Don't get me wrong, I still like Tumblr, it's just not right for me, what I need, and what I want to do. Right now, I'm still contemplating if I'll delete my Tumblr account, or just leave it alone with all my posts.

Lebron & the Heat Torches the Bulls

So much has been said about the Miami Heat, but they've proved wrong all haters and doubters by coming from behind and defeating the Chicago Bulls earlier. The Bulls were still ahead by 12 points with 3 minutes left in the game, and while a lot of people thought it was over, my idols King James and D-Wade took over. I wasn't able to control my tears when the Heat finally tied and took the lead courtesy of King James. I'm glad I stuck with Lebron when a lot of people said he was overrated and couldn't even carry his team in the clutch. Now if you followed the playoffs this year, you know that those haters are now eating their words.

The Heat will face Dallas in the NBA Finals starting Wednesday, June 1, 2011 (Philippine time).

And do you know what Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen said about Lebron James after personally witnessing all 5 games of the recently-concluded Eastern Conference Finals?

"Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game, but I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved. You have to be on your Ps and Qs on defense. No guy on the basketball court is not a threat to score with LeBron James out there. Not only will LeBron dominate from the offensive end as well, but he’s also doing it on the defensive end which really makes him the complete package. He’s able to get in those passing lanes, shoot those gaps and create transition opportunities where he is pretty much unstoppable."

Many people will definitely react to that, but hey, he's entitled to his own opinion, and I'm entitled to agree to his opinion. Besides, he played with MJ and he's just witnessed how LBJ shut down the Bulls MVP this year, D-Rose, so Pip definitely knows what he's talking about.

Disappointed Daughter

My cousin and his girlfriend posted an invitation on my daughter's Facebook wall inviting her to their child's first birthday party. My daughter was so excited that she marked our calendar. 

Fast forward to the day, my daughter and her mom went to the venue only to find it deserted. The only person who was there said my cousin wasn't home, period. There was no notice if the party was cancelled or transferred. It was raining hard so disappointed, they walked home. My daughter cried so hard because rarely does she attend parties, and this was one party she was so looking forward to. My heart was in pieces. As my tita once said, "Their hurts are a thousandfold to us.."

I was so disappointed and mad. Then a couple of hours ago, the girlfriend of my cousin posted on Facebook that the party just ended, and told me that the venue was changed and that they sent me a text message supposedly informing me about that. Nice try. Lame excuse. In this age of technology, there's just no reason NOT to be able to contact anyone. If they did text me (which I doubt if they remembered me over all their more important friends), I didn't receive it. My 3 phones are on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I am also online on Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and MSN Messenger for at least 12 hours a day.

If only I could shield my daughter from the harshness of the world forever. 

*sigh*

If only.

Time to pay respect to James, Wade and Bosh

This is so well-written that I was in tears reading this so I just had to repost it. Shaun Powell is just an amazing writer.

MIAMI -- An NBA championship was not won last night. It only felt like it, looked like it and seemed like it at American Airlines Arena, where there was a changing of the guard. And the small forward.

It was too much Dwyane Wade at the start against the Celtics, and definitely too much LeBron James at the finish, and a whole lot of emotion when the Heat assured that the East will send a new face to the NBA Finals next month.

LeBron, in particular, was misty-eyed moments after he brought the Celtics to tears, scoring the final 10 points of Game 5 in a blizzard of 3-point shots, a steal and a driving layup. This was his series, because  he crumbled against these very same Celtics a year ago as a member of the Cavaliers, and watched his brand collapse as well. And this was his game, seized by the finest three minutes of his basketball life.

So he closed his eyes and knelt at midcourt, overcome by a beating heart and a lumpy throat. Then he took a hug from Celtics coach Doc Rivers and finally, a tight embrace from Wade, who had to be fished out from the crowd, where he was swallowed up after chasing a loose ball at the buzzer.

What was churning inside LeBron's headband?

"Everything," he said. "Everything that happened this summer, the decision to come down to this team. All the backlash I got from it. It is not about the individual. I am happy we got through it as a team. It was just very emotional at that point."

How emotional? Enough for LeBron to give a "my bad" -- officially, regretfully and dare we say, honestly -- for arriving here, to this point, in the manner in which he did.

"I apologize for the way it happened. (Pause.) But I knew this opportunity was once in a lifetime, in order for me to move on in my career, to be able to come down here to this organization."

Well. That may not be enough for Cleveland to re-raise the "Witness" billboard. But strictly from a basketball standpoint, we did witness a new beginning for LeBron (endearing, maybe?) and the team he helped make. Respect must be paid, even if grudgingly so by the haters, for the way LeBron, Wade and Chris Bosh have figured it out, seven months later. They opened the season by losing to the Celtics, sputtered to a 9-8 start, endured constant abuse and scorn, and now just erased the Celtics in five to become a real threat to keep ticking folks off.

"Those three guys are tough," said Rivers. "Those two guys are monsters. When they're making their jump shots, they're tough to beat."

Some perspective here: Miami is only halfway through the LeBron Buffet -- the Sixers were breakfast, the Celtics lunch -- but for a few moments last night, the belly was full because it contained the corpse of the Celtics. Yes, it's true Boston winged it with a one-armed Rajon Rondo. And the Celtics had only three starters on the floor in the final, crucial moments.

But beating the dominant team in the East of the last three years was symbolic, if nothing else. It was an important and necessary step for the Heat, to earn this gold star, to get confirmation that they are worthy of representing the East in the NBA Finals. Even if nobody outside of Miami seems to want them to.

All you had to see was Wade scoring 23 points in the first half and LeBron going bananas after an 87-all tie. There were 34 points and 10 rebounds from Wade, 33 points from LeBron. The Celtics were tagged by the finest tag-team going, and these two players will most assuredly make the Heat the favorite to grab the trophy here in a new NBA world where the Celtics, Lakers and Spurs, the proud old guard, no longer reside.

Wade: "The things we went through over the summer, the summer of LeBron, the Boston Celtics were on our minds."

LeBron: "That was the team I wanted to get over the hump against."

So it's Miami to the East finals, the team formed with the purpose of winning a championship, now with a chance to win one -- or at least the conference title. Although, given their star power, would you rule against the Heat winning the whole shebang at this point, despite their obvious flaws (center, point guard, depth)?

The Heat may never be the people's champion, but even their perceived hatred can and should only go so far. They're the most intriguing team alive, if not the most closely followed. We turn the floor over to Rivers, who couldn't have said it better:

"I've never seen a team more criticized in my life, and a guy, LeBron, criticized for doing what was legal," Rivers said. "He didn't break a law, and he didn't do anything wrong. The preseason parade may have been a little much, but other than that?

"I just told him good luck and keep going. He was very emotional, and good for him. I don't think you can play this sport and be a winner without emotion. For me, it was good to see.

"I didn't like (the criticism) because I thought it helped them. They got booed for everything. I said it all year that I wished (the media) would leave them alone, because it allowed them to go through something and prepare for the playoffs."

And here they are. So deal with it. Because the Heat certainly have.

By Shaun Powell

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/shaun_powell/05/12/celtics-heat-game-5/index.html

Smallville Ends

The series finale of Smallville, after 10 seasons, was bittersweet for me. The very last scene was the exact scene I pictured out to be when Smallville first started. It was a story of Clark Kent's journey to becoming Superman so it was okay for me to end with Clark ripping his shirt to reveal the costume underneath. No problem there.

The main and perhaps only problem for me was the scenes before that final scene. They made him Superman and they showed a lot of scenes with him as the Man of Steel. When you think about it, it's exciting, especially for those fans who really wanted to see Tom Welling flying and wearing the tights. Now because they decided to show him as Superman, they would have shown him up-close with the costume. The problem was they showed a CGI Superman that's very small on-screen, and whenever they show Tom, they only showed his face with the CGI cape behind him. Yes, Tom Welling never wore the costume and never will. That last shirt rip scene was just a t-shirt. How do I know? Because they never, ever showed Tom wearing the costume. It was all CGI.

 

Disappointing? Maybe to a certain extent, but hey, Smallville's just like a best friend to me. We may have our up's and down's for 10 seasons, but it was definitely a wonderful experience all in all. It's just so sad to know that there will never be a new episode every week. 

Thank you for the memories, Smallville.

My Mighty Pug

My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet.. 

We already miss you, Mighty ♥

Family Bonding

Our adventure was fun but very tiring. It was so great having quality time together with my family, but it was just so disappointing that there are still a lot of people who still have the dog eats dog mentality. I'm talking about the taxi drivers who take advantage of their passengers, most especially tourists - local and foreign. So disappointing really.

On a lighter note, we had a lot of fun going to a LOT of places with so little time in our hands. It was my wifey's first time so she wanted to go to a lot of places. The last time I went to Manila was more than a year ago, but the last time I went to Enchanted Kingdom and Tagaytay before our recent trip was 11 years ago with my college classmates. Nothing has changed from the last time I was there. It was more meaningful this time because I got to share the experiences with my wife and daughter.

We just arrived in Cebu an hour ago, and I'm now at the office. Yes, no rest for me yet. I'll be doing the graveyard shift tonight, go home tomorrow at 6:30 AM, then go back to work for the swing shift at 1 PM. Weekend? We'll resume our rehearsals so no rest yet. Saturday evening maybe. Just maybe.

Another Adventure Starts Tomorrow

Today is Friday the 13th, but I'm hoping luck and good vibes will come my way today being the last day of the work week, as my family and I prepare to go to the nation's capital tomorrow. It will just be a quick weekend getaway. I personally don't want to go to Manila because I know how bad the traffic is and all, but my wife and daughter are excited because it's their first time so I have to go too. No way I'm gonna allow them to explore Manila on their own.

What's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time is that we don't really have a detailed itinerary of our trip. There are just a few places that they'd like to go to, but we don't anything definite on when and how to get there, and where to stay for the 3 nights. Yes, we had the Hong Kong adventure last year, and we'll have our Manila adventure starting tomorrow.

I hope there's internet connection wherever we'll spend the night in since it's Smallville's 2-hour series finale. There's no way I'm not gonna watch something I've loved and followed the past 10 years.

Dallas sweeping the Fakers

Dream come true this year, at least for us Lakers-haters. 

I don't really hate the Lakers, I just really hate their leader. 

Yeah, the ball-hog.

Mystery Girl

Waiting for a jeepney under the rain last Saturday, a very beautiful lady driving a beautiful car asked me to ride with her. She looked like she was a little younger than me, around 2 to 4 years younger, and she was alone. It came as a shock to me because I was a stranger and she opened her doors.. well, her car door and she trusted me to ride with her. I wasn't able to get her name because I was too shy to ask or even start a conversation with her. Through the deafening silence inside her car, she switched on her car stereo and the first song that was played by the DJ was another shock: Remy Zero's Save Me. Now for those who don't know, that song is the theme song of Smallville. Talk about coincidence!

No, I wasn't able to get anything, not even the plate number. I was just too shocked and too shy to do anything. Haha! All I remember was the brand of the car, Hyundai.

I hope to see her again if only to say Thank you. I thanked her when I disembarked from her car, but it was just a hurried thank you. I hope to really thank her not just for the ride, but more importantly, for saving me from the rain and for being late. And yes, thank her for opening her heart to a stranger.

Avengers Assembling Now

After watching Thor last weekend, and re-watching Iron Man 2 last night, the more I'm excited for Captain America a couple months from now, and of course, the Avengers, next year. May 4, 2012 to be exact. The first time the Avengers sort of assembled in public, I posted their picture in an old blog post. I'm just so excited that I just had to post this video. Enjoy!





P.S. They've already started shooting the movie :)

The Psychology of Revenge: Why We Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden's Death

I so like and totally agree with Dr. Pamela Gerloff on this. 

While the killing of Osama bin Laden is being enthusiastically celebrated throughout America and parts of the world, to say that such merriment is out of order will surely be considered heresy. Nonetheless, I'm saying it -- because it needs to be said. What I am tempted to say is this: Get a grip, celebrators. Have you so little decency?

I do understand how those who have suffered from the events of 9/11 may feel relieved, even happy, to have "closure" after 10 years of waiting for "justice to be done" -- and I don't quarrel with such feelings. Closure is a natural yearning and can certainly help people move on from serious trauma. And feelings are feelings. If you feel joyful, you feel joyful.

But celebration is not in order, no matter what your feelings of elation. Here's why.

"Celebrating" the killing of any member of our species -- for example, by chanting "USA! USA!" and singing "The Star Spangled Banner" outside the White House or jubilantly demonstrating in the streets -- is a violation of human dignity. Regardless of the perceived degree of "good" or "evil" in any of us, we are all, each of us, human. To celebrate the killing of a life, any life, is a failure to honor life's inherent sanctity.

Plenty of people will argue that Osama bin Laden did not respect the sanctity of others' lives. But I say, "So what?" One aspect of being human is our ability to choose our own behavior; more specifically, our capacity to return good for evil, love for hate, dignity for indignity. While some consider Osama bin Laden to have been the personification of evil, he was nonetheless a human being. A more appropriate response to his killing would be to mourn the many tragedies that led up to his violent death, as well as the violent deaths of thousands in the attempt to eliminate him from the face of the Earth; to feel compassion for anyone who, because of their role in the military or government, American or otherwise, has had to play any role in killing another.

We are not a peaceful species. Nor are we a peaceful nation. The celebrations of this killing throughout the country draw attention to these facts.

The death of Osama bin Laden gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves: What kind of nation and what kind of species do we want to be? Do we want to become a species that honors life? Do we want to become a species that embodies peace? If that is what we want, then we need to start now to examine our own hearts and actions, and begin to consciously evolve in that direction. We could start by not celebrating the killing of another.

It is hard not to think that some of the impulse to celebrate "justice being done" may also contain a certain pleasure in revenge -- not just "closure" but "getting even." The world is not safer with Osama bin Laden's violent demise (threat levels are going up, not down), so no cause for celebration there; evil has not been finally removed from the Earth, so no reason for jubilation on that count. The War on Terror goes on, so there is no closure in that regard. The truth is that "celebrating justice" when one person is killed -- as happens regularly in the gang wars of American cities -- only incites further desire for revenge, which, from "the other side's" viewpoint, is usually called "justice."

Think of it. If a leader in our country were killed by another government in the manner in which Osama bin Laden was killed, as "justice" for his acts of aggression in the War on Terror -- and people from that other country were shown proudly chanting the country's name, singing their national anthem, and demonstrating in the streets -- Americans would likely feel more sickened than joyful, don't you think? The impulse to celebrate a death depends on what side you're on.

We will only have peace when we stop the cycle of jubilation over acts of violence.

Who will stop the cycle? If not us, who? If not you and I, who will it be?

Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.

It tolls for thee.

--John Donne

By Dr. Pamela Gerloff

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-gerloff/the-psychology-of-revenge_b_856184.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Finally, my idol Pope John Paul II is now known as Blessed John Paul II. Now that he has been beatified, I am so looking forward to his canonization. His feast day by the way is October 22.

Blessed John Paul II, Ora Pro Nobis.

Hemsworth Brothers Battled for Thor

Trivia: Chris Hemsworth has been receiving rave reviews for his performance in the Kenneth Branagh-directed film. But it just so happens that he wasn't even on the director's original shortlist - and his younger brother, Liam was.

After months of searching for his star, Branagh narrowed his list to four actors, including Liam. To make a long story short, fate intervened and Chris got the part - and did great to the role :)