Witness

Maybe I Could Have 2 Jobs...

2009-04-17T09:07:00.007-05:00

Watching the new Harry Potter 6 trailer makes me want to be a movie trailer editor.

The book wasn't that scary or that intense. So that is a testament to the director of the movie and the movie trailer editor for making it look that good. Seriously. It made me want to read the book for the 5th time (one of my favorites). It made me want to get the car from Back to the Future and drive 85 mph to July 17, 2009.

It must be cool to make a video that would excite people this much. Getting the full movie months earlier and watching it, imagining the trailer in your mind, splicing clips, syncing them up to the musical score, then getting paid to do all of these... Yep, I need to take video editing seriously now.

You Set Us Free

2009-03-04T09:46:00.014-05:00

A few weeks ago I was at Arise DC, a youth festival held at the Catholic University of America. I was there to volunteer but given that my job was only to direct people to the parking lot, I was able to enjoy the festival as a participant once it started.

Throughout the worships and talks and anticipated mass there was this urge inside of me to be free. So I took it as a sign when, after mass, confession at the Shrine was announced during the break. "I have to go to confession," I thought. Nobody else wanted to go as it was cold and windy outside haha. I almost chickened out because aside from that, I was wearing heels and wasn't really feeling the windy walk to the Shrine. My feet were screaming "NOOO!"

But I'm glad my feet cooperated because that was one of the best confessions I ever had. I learned a lot from the priest about being in love with God. And I felt so light after the confession, so free. Light enough that my feet didn't ache as I walked back to the festival.

What's the best way to follow that up? Well when I got back to the festival, there was Eucharistic adoration. It was such an awesome experience. I really felt His presence in the room and I thanked my heart out for loving me unconditionally and for setting me free. For setting all of us free even though sometimes we act like complete idiots. Because our Father's love is endless and immune to idiocy.

And what do you know, Matt Maher and his band played one of my favorite songs after adoration.

I love it! Praise God for giving me the opportunity to experience Arise DC, and for His grace through the sacrament of reconciliation.

30 Years of Life

2009-01-23T11:53:00.004-05:00

If in the past year you asked me how it felt to be turning 30, I probably have either given you a look, mumbled something incoherent, or defensively declared that I don't look 29 anyway. It's just that I've always seen the 20's as the most fun period of your life, so when I turned 29 and realized I won't be a 20-something any longer, I started to dread January 18, 2009.

But the Lord has a sense of humor and chose my birthday as CFC's pro-life rally at St. Columba. And as every year, my birthday's only a few days away from the March for Life in DC. With these two events, I realized that I should be happy I'm 30. God has given me 30 years of life (and hopefully more). A lot of people do not even reach 30. A lot of people did not have the happy moments that I had in my 30 years of living.

I also realized not being thankful for reaching 30 is kinda like disrespecting my mom. Here's the story. When she was pregnant with me, there was an incident which resulted with her bleeding. She went to the doctor and he said she miscarried and there was no way I survived so they just better get rid of me. My mom was inconsolable. But she didn't want to believe that I was gone. So she went to another doctor for a second opinion. Thankfully this doctor said there's hope, I can still make it. A few months later on January 18, 1979, I was born.

And 30 years later, I marched in the cold streets of DC in defense of the lives of the unborn.

March for Life '09

Praise God for my mom, and praise God for the gift of life.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-12-15T15:10:00.004-05:00

Christmas season '08 is awesome. I get the best of both worlds by celebrating the season in Maryland and Manila.

I've been in Maryland for over 5 years now and I've grown to love how the season is celebrated here. Radio stations that play only Christmas songs, snow, ginormous Christmas trees in DC and the Rockefeller center, a jillion Christmas movies and television specials on TV, etc.

Of course, nothing beats the Christmas festivities that you grew up on. In 5 days, I will be embarking on a plane that will take me home to Manila. Due to the time difference I will arrive the wee hours of Monday morning, Dec. 22nd. Which is still before Christmas so I will still get to experience the pre-Christmas activities and festivities that I missed so much. Going to Alabang Town Center to do some last minute shopping while Christmas songs play in the background, attending Simbang Gabi, eating puto bumbong right after, wrapping gifts on a big table (doing so in the small confines of my room is extremely difficult - especially with the big toys that need to be wrapped), watching the MMFF Parade of Stars (what? It has always been a ritual), watching ABS-CBN's stars lipsync Christmas songs on TV (pretty lame, but again, a ritual), the awesome Christmas vigil mass where the church choir is at their best and you wish your neighbors a merry Christmas, etc.

I love the days leading to Christmas. For some reason once Dec. 1st hits, I get extra happy (sometimes I even become nicer). It's like the atmosphere changes, and people are jollier and kinder. Must be the Christmas spirit upon us (pretty hard to ignore when you're in a store w/ the Christmas songs playing in the background). But you could feel the anticipation. And then Christmas comes and you spend it with your family, then Dec. 26th comes and it's like, so what do we do now? Hee. Good thing my cousin planned a post-Christmas outing in Tagaytay.

But the Christmas season is definitely the most wonderful time of the year not just because of the things that I mentioned above, but because of the reason for the season - Jesus. This is the time that we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. When we ready our hearts by going to confession or adoration or mass or whatever. I am so thankful that I am coming home to Manila soon because as I previously mentioned in an earlier post, our parish's adoration chapel is open 24/7. And I could just walk or jog there (yay more reason for me to run and get fit). I am so excited for Simbang Gabi as that will serve as my daily mass. This upcoming Christmas vacation is a welcome break from all of the work stuff and service stuff. This is my time to take a step back from my real world and refocus on Christ. Spend more time with him because it is, after all, his long birthday party. What better way to celebrate it than to spend it at the country that is known that have the longest Christmas season :)

Old Post from '05

2008-12-04T23:21:00.006-05:00

After 3 years of ignoring MySpace, I logged back in to my old account earlier today because I had nothing better to do. I read some of my old blog entries there and cracked up on this one, entitled "Frog!!!"

I was peacefully reading a soccer magazine in my room when my sister banged on the door. I calmly opened it and and my sister exclaimed, "I saw a frog downstairs, on the wall! A tiny neon green one!"

AAAAAAAAAH... and I slammed the door on her face.

I realized I was rude and opened the door a fraction of an inch. "Umm... what the heck is a frog doing inside our house and for the love of Kermit GET IT OUT!!!"

My sister realized I was of no help at all because I reacted worse than she did (I seriously have a big fear of frogs - give me bugs, snakes, cockroaches, worms, anything - NO FROGS). She went to my brother-in-law so I slammed the door again, and locked it. Because, yeah, frogs can turn doorknobs. I nervously glanced at the gap between the door and the floor, in fear that the frog would decide to go upstairs and sneak through that gap. The thought scared the crap out of me so I stood on my computer chair, ready to scream.

I then hear excited voices from downstairs. Apparently my niece & nephew are happy to have a new animal in the house. That's nice kids, WE'RE NOT KEEPING IT! You don't pay the mortgage, I do :P

From what my ears gather, my brother-in-law caught the frog and tried to show it to the kids. Once excited, were now crying. They ran upstairs to get away from the frog, so I silently prayed that my brother-in-law would not chase them upstairs because I will not be on the same floor as the frog is!

I hear my sister ask where it was and apparently it was brought outside. Umm... back in the pond far away or just out on the deck where I could see from my window and I could feel the frog staring at me??? My sister whined why it wasn't killed and all and my bro-in-law asked if she was crazy. She said so it won't come back anymore. My brother-in-law said it will knock if it wants to go back. Heh.

Wow I had some serious past tense/present tense issues back then. I probably still do :)

Your Glory Goes Beyond All Fame

2008-10-07T16:05:00.015-05:00

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, Lord my soul cries out

-From the Inside Out, Hillsong United

The gospel for today is about Martha and Mary. The latter chose to sit down and listen to Jesus while Martha slaved away in the kitchen. But what did Jesus say? He said Mary had her priorities straight by just listening to the word of God. Meanwhile Martha was worried about being a good hostess. This distracted her from what was really important. Her focus was not on God but on what she felt needed to be done.

For the past several weeks my brain's been consumed with work and service that I've forgotten to focus on what's really important. I figured, I should get a spiritual director so I could get some guidance in this rocky path we call life. So yesterday I asked an SFC brother, how does one find a spiritual director? He gave me a couple of suggestions on how I should look for the right spiritual director for me and my needs, and the one that really stuck was going to adoration. He said it will help so much if I go to daily adoration and ask for God's guidance, to lead me to the right spiritual director. I said cool, I'll Google adoration times in Maryland. While I'm at it, might as well look for adoration times in DC since I work there.

As you make your usual way through the city streets, aren't you happy when you discover another tabernacle? -St. Josemaria Escriva

Lo and behold, I found the Catholic Information Center (CIC), which is just a few blocks from my office. Daily adoration, daily mass, daily confession. They even have lectures and recollections. And a Catholic bookstore! I've been working in this office for over a year and I never knew about this? The CIC was placed there to support and nourish the working professionals in downtown DC. The mass and confession times are actually during the lunch break, and adoration right after. The lectures and recollections are after business hours. And you know what I love most about this? That it's located a few blocks away from an abortion center and a few blocks away from the White House. An SFC sister said it best when she said "There is a quiet strength about Catholics. They put the CIC near the Planned Parenthood and the White House as if to say: 'Okay, you wanna pass pro-choice bills and promote the culture of death? Fine, I'll put the store RIGHT HERE.' I love being Catholic."

Excited with this new find, I walked straight to the CIC, browsed through the bookstore and bought a book, then went inside the chapel for adoration. And there it was, the Holy Eucharist. There He was. Presence ever powerful, yet merciful and loving.

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

-Mighty to Save, Hillsong United

I surrendered my worries, fears, hurts and frustrations. I asked for forgiveness for being too busy to go to confession and for losing focus. And with all these I felt His great love envelope me. I felt like I wanted to hug the Eucharist, but I didn't want to scare off the old lady praying in the chapel.

It is such a blessing to be Catholic and have this chance to witness Christ in the physical form. It's like during the time of Moses when God asked him to build a tabernacle so that He could have a dwelling place with His people. And when God asked Solomon to build a temple. Because God is humble enough to physically be with us. I mean, He even became human through His son Jesus Christ just so we could be saved. How awesome is He?

Back in the Philippines, our parish's adoration chapel was open 24/7. I actually took that for granted and didn't really fully understand what it was about. I just thought there was a nearby chapel that's open all day so you could pray whenever. When I would accompany my mom to the adoration chapel, I would enjoy reading the books on the shelf and smelling the air conditioner (What? It smelled good okay). It was only when I moved here and found out that adoration is not 24/7 that I realized what it was really about and how important it is.

Just a few hours ago I went to our parish's Eucharistic adoration. Again what an amazing, humbling experience. To be in the presence of the King of kings. The holiest of all. Even though I have videos to edit and a TOB discussion group to prepare for, spending an hour in adoration was what I really needed to get things in place.

It is so easy to get caught up in worldly things and forget to spend time with our Father. I myself have a short attention span and can easily get distracted. I worry a lot, yet I forget to spend time with Him during these times. To worship and adore Him, for He is great and His promises solid as a rock. That my life itself is a testament to His glory. I pray that I will never forget that.

A Day of Sisterhood

2008-10-02T08:53:00.006-05:00

In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips.
-Author Unknown

The gift of sisterhood is one of the things that I cherish the most. It's something that's solid and constant that you know will always be there no matter where you are in life. Even the little quirks that come with sisterhood are so special.

Yesterday at work, I had to do all sorts of computations for a big proposal, and whenever my brain needed a break I'd check my Gmail and my Google Talk window to hear from any of my sisters. One was asking about food for a potluck, one was lending her ear and giving feedback for something I've been discerning about, one was making me laugh by sharing some passport photo requirements (if you're not doing a "medium smile" your photo will be rejected), and one was commenting on a picture from Facebook (again).

By about 5:30 PM my brain was done - but I had something to look forward to. I was going to have dinner with four of my sisters at Ten Ren's to de-stress and just hang out. I was craving for Ten Ren's because the last time I was there I had the eel and... ugh! So I felt I had to go back and redeem my belief in Ten Ren's. And of course, my sisters were willing to be with me as I satisfy my craving.

This reminded me of those times in college when I would hang out in Starbucks with three of my YFC-DLSU sisters to de-stress from all of the schoolwork and just hang out and talk about girl stuff. Even after we graduated, and worked at places far from each other, the four of us would still hang out often at a coffee shop, a resto, or a bar, and again talk about girl stuff.

Anyway, back to Ten Ren's. We were lucky enough to get the couches by the window. Dette took some cards from the shelf and we played Uno while waiting for our food, then pusoy dos when we were full. We were so hungry we ordered so many things. But we got addicted to the edamame. I mean it's not the best-tasting thing in the world but you just can't help but take one and eat, then take another, and another, and another...

Oh by the way sisterhood is also about putting coins in your parking meter in the rain or walking with you to your meter if you're a little scared.

When it was time to leave, or better yet, when the time in our meters was about to expire, Helen and I accompanied Wendy to her old apartment to pick up some things so she wouldn't have to be alone (the area is not the safest in the world). I'm not really much of a protector, especially since I look like I'm 12, but hey, there's safety in numbers.

As I was driving back I got calls from more of my sisters. One was asking about a shower, one just wanted to know what's going on, and one called to say she is willing to help me out with a discussion group next week. It's funny because I'm not much of a phone person but that night I spent some time catching up with some sisters I haven't talked to at length in a while. With the last caller, we also talked about discernment and the things occupying our time for the moment. Around 11:30 PM I called a sister to ask about an email she sent, and we ended up talking for quite a while as we shared about our service and the trials that come with them. I remember we had long conversations before on the phone when she'd call just to ask what's going on with my life and stuff, so it felt like old times.

I think God gave us sisters to hold our sanity together. To keep us in check. To guard our backs. To make us laugh, cry... even laugh and cry at the same time (but still keeping our sanity of course). It is such a precious gift that I hope each woman has, and will hold dear in her heart for the rest of her life.

New Background Color

2008-10-01T00:30:00.007-05:00

From now until November 4th, this blog's background color will be green.

Green is the color of life. So remember to choose life when you're in the voting booth.

Vote pro-life.

And to those that are in the Philippines, let your voices be heard. Speak up for those that could not.

Start the revolution for life.

This is also to commiserate with my fellow Lasallians and beloved Green Archers. Animo!

Yes, I Took That Pic While Driving

2008-09-30T21:03:00.002-05:00

Driving along I-695 towards Baltimore, I saw the scary nimbus clouds in front of me. The first thing I thought of was, is there an umbrella in my car? Second was, oh cool it looks like the apocalypse. Of course the song playing on the radio was "Firestarter" by Prodigy. Which kinda creeped me out (if you haven't seen the video, Prodigy looked pretty demonic there... Well they always look demonic actually).

So I thought of hell and what it might be like to spend eternity there (not that I'm planning to of course). Two days ago I went to the National Shrine with my mom, and at the book store I saw a book about hell and out of curiosity read a part of it. At Fatima, Mary showed the children what hell looked like and they got scared out of their wits. A vast sea of fire with a lot of blackened human forms screaming or groaning in pain. And then there were the animal-like demons. If they weren't promised a spot in heaven, they would have died in fear, Sister Lucy said.

Funny enough the song switched to "Crossroads" by Bone Thugs N Harmony. First thing I thought was, what's up with the apocalyptic clouds and creepy songs? Second was, what would it take to go to heaven? How do I secure a spot over there? Can I RSVP?

If I am faithful to the commandments, which can be summed up to: love God and love my neighbors, then everything should be alright. Love God above all. Love my neighbors, and not just those who love me. Love strangers, love enemies, love everybody. Unconditionally.

See how it all comes back to love? Because God is love. He created us out of love. He created us because He wants to love us. And He created us to love. To love Him back and to love others. And a lot of times it is extremely hard. When trials come and things don't go our way, would we still decide to love God? When people betray or hurt us, would we still decide to love them?

This is where it matters the most, when it gets hard to love. When we realize whether we love unconditionally or conditionally.

The key to heaven is love.

It's timely for me that CFC's theme this year is to love one another. God has been testing me this year regarding this. He's even testing me to love myself. And at times the tests really kick my butt and I would wish He'd stop. But I figured, it's gonna end some time right? I just gotta keep my head above water. Hang in there. Just practice patience and understanding and love and all that good stuff. God wants me to be a better person and that is why He tests me. So I should welcome all of the trials that He allows to happen. Bring it on! Hah. But not too much, okay? Kidding. Whatever it takes to get me to go to heaven. Maybe a lot of work needs to be done on me, hee.

So actually I shouldn't be confident enough to be taking pictures while driving. In an interstate highway. With the apocalyptic clouds hovering above me.

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Bibliya Study

2008-09-16T20:36:00.001-05:00

I love the Great Adventure bible study series. I didn't expect having a deeper meaning of the written Word would make me realize the significance of the bible in my everyday life. How stories that happened centuries and centuries ago would still apply to my life now and to my future. That God has plans and promises for me, and for all of us.

What's even unexpected is how my SFC friends and I would even bring up bible stories and characters randomly in conversations. And it's actually fun reading all these stories from the Old Testament (we haven't reached the New Testament yet).

And of course when giving talks, it's easier now to apply bible passages or stories on some parts of the outline.

The only challenge is, being the procrastinator that I am, I always have to cram the day of the bible study day. Most of the time at work. I bring the discussion guide questions to the office then read the bible online at USCCB.org. Bad employee, bad!

But the bible study is really great, not just because I get to learn a lot and be inspired but because of the people as well. Today I was having a bad day but when I came to the bible study and ate and discussed and watched the dvd with the people in the group, all my frustrations went away. Camaraderie is awesome :)

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Walkman!

2008-09-16T15:42:00.002-05:00

My eyes widened with glee when I saw this contraption on the Perrins' dining table. Brought back memories of my high school days when I would listen to my walkman in the bus (Pearl Jam's VS album would play over and over when I was a sophomore) or while cramming for an exam. I had an Aiwa with 6 channel preset buttons for the radio when I was a senior. But when I was a freshman, I used to salivate over my cousin's yellow Sony sporty walkman that came from the "states."

Thanks to Dette and Tito "Norbs" for this great find!

And since this walkman made me reminisce about the 90's (even 80's), I now bring you Retro Junk.

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9 to 5

2008-09-15T16:09:00.007-05:00

Okay that was a lie. I don't work in the office from 9 AM to 5 PM. I usually work from home in the morning to beat DC rush hour traffic, then go to the office around lunch time.

Anyway the pic above is just to show you what I stare at for a couple of hours, 5 times a week. My PC (ugh) with the nice color-coded (albeit full) Outlook calendar, my Maryland Terps cup, and the legal pad with all sorts of formulas I try to concoct every time a proposal needs to be sent out.

I like my job. It exercises my brain, especially when I need to do all those algebra and calculus stuff for proposals. It makes me do techie stuff and even creative stuff when an ad needs some minor designing. Plus I have a really laid-back boss who doesnt care where or when I work as long as I get the job done. He forgets to record the time offs I take unless I remind him. This job allows me to have a stable source of income while at the same time serve God (I've even gone on mission a few times during my employment here. It was no problem with my boss).

Just this afternoon though, I was talking with a good friend of mine on Google Talk/Gmail chat. She was talking about how she wants a job that directly serves God more. That made me contemplate about my job.

I work for a political magazine/website based in DC. Most - if not all - of our writers have been fawning over Obama. Their articles and blogs obviously show that they're Democrats, especially when they keep saying negative things about the Republican candidates. Now I'm not saying I'm a Republican or a supporter of McCain (I'm not even eligible to vote), but I feel all these writers, political pundits, etc have in some way influence over the voters. While I don't have anything against Obama as a person, I do have an issue with him being pro-choice and with his plan to have all supreme court judges to be pro-choice. If Obama wins, I fear for the lives of those unborn children. If he wins, does that mean my company had a small hand in that? And does that mean, as an employee of this company, I indirectly helped the pro-choice cause? I helped kill unborn babies? Yet I call myself pro-life? A witness for life?

I'm confuzzled.

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Bidyo

2008-09-14T14:38:00.002-05:00

I'm loving this mobile blogging thing. I'm here right now in Delaware shooting a video for my good friends Jericho and Rina's bethrotal reception video. It's an honor to help tell their story to their family and friends. This is the 3rd love story I've helped with, and the funniest. Every time Jericho is involved with a video shoot, the concept is always creative and the acting hilarious. I can't wait to edit this.

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Witness is now mobile!

2008-09-12T09:16:00.005-05:00

I just figured out a way to post on this blog through my crackberry, so I can update whenever, wherever. I can even post a pic that I took through the phone's camera (hi David!). Now if I can only figure out how to move it down...

Maybe this would get me to update my blog more often, since my last post was roughly 4.5 months ago.

Slacker! :D

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Womanhood

2008-04-29T15:54:00.006-05:00

Guess what I was watching on YouTube last night? The 1994 Miss Universe Pageant. To those who weren't in the Philippines at that time, this pageant was held in Manila. With the country being addicted to beauty pageants, you can imagine the commotion that went on in the summer of '94. So anyway, I watched some clips of that pageant on YouTube. The last interview session for the top 3 contestants had this question: What is the essence of being a woman?

I remember being asked that question 14 years ago. I remember going around in circles, because that's what I do when I have no definite answer. I just beat around the bush, hoping the length of my answer would make me appear knowledgeable. I bet that never worked. So last night I heard the question again, and I asked myself, what is the essence of being a woman?

Easy, motherhood.

It's what sets us apart from men. Women are able to carry a child in their wombs. Christopher West, a renowned Christian speaker, calls women "beautiful tabernacles." Because the womb of a woman is a reflection of Mary's womb. The one that carried Jesus. A tabernacle, indeed.

Now you may ask, what about the women who were or are not called to be mothers? The ones called to single-blessedness? What about the nuns? Well, all women are called to be mothers, may it be biologically or not. An obvious example of a non-biological mother is Mother Teresa. She was not just a mother to the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity. She was a mother to the materially and spiritually poor that she took in. Those people that needed to be loved, she loved. Like a mother.

Recently, news broke out about a "pregnant man" (thanks Oprah). When I first read about it, my initial expression was "Huh? How did that happen?" When I read the whole story, that's when I realized, ah, "he" is a "she."

Now I'm not here to judge. None of us have the right to judge, but all of us have the right to love. So we should love this pregnant woman, who is bringing another life to this world. God created her female, named Tracy Lagondino. Now the name change is her decision. If she wants to be called Thomas or Tom or Jack, you know, more power to her. But I'm sorry, none of us can decide our gender. I like what Christopher West said in one of his articles: "Tracy Lagondino is not a man 'trapped' in a woman’s body. There is no such thing. Rather, she is a person tragically cut-off from her true identity as a woman." Again, there should be no judgement here. Only love.

The identity of a woman. The essence of being a woman. Motherhood is this precious thing that women are lucky to have. And as Mother's Day draws near, I'd like to honor my two mothers: Mama Mary and my biological mom. Both women I highly admire and respect. Both of whom I aspire to be. Even if I could only be a smidgen of who they are, I would be a happy camper. If I could only have a dash of their patience, a sprinkle of their gentleness, a teaspoonful of their ability to love unconditionally, what a woman I could be.

Happy Happy Boing Boing

2008-02-14T16:59:00.004-05:00

I've always wondered what attracted my nieces and nephews to the Teletubbies. They are so weird (the 'tubbies that is). Whatever they say don't make sense. And what is up with the red bag? The baby as the sun creeps me out as well.

Anyway, I was reading an article a few days ago that linked to an old Sesame Street clip on YouTube. That made me look for more classic Sesame Street clips that I haven't seen in decad... years. I stumbled upon one of my favorites, the Yip Yip Aliens. Watching their segment again, as a 29 year-old, made me realize that I may not be as different as my nieces and nephews when I was a kid. I mean, what the heck...

Yip yip yip... happy happy boing boing... I don't get it anymore. What was I thinking? And their mouths look weird.

Anyway here are a few classic Sesame Street clips that I did enjoy watching again...

Lower case N
Aww... lower case n isn't lonely anymore. Yay rocketships. This one always made me feel sad for "n" when I was a kid. Sometimes even to the point of making me teary-eyed. I only noticed now that the song is kinda 70's-folksy.

Eleven Twelve
I love love loved this. I could not get the song out of my head at times. Thank you Sesame Street, I can sing 1 to 12. And I've always wanted to have a pinball machine like that.

The Bridgekeeper
I remember watching this either before or after school and I'd be eating something. And... yeah. That's all I remember, I'd always be eating something while watching that. Weird.

Clap Clap Point Point

2008-02-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

I used to think this blog would never have anything to do with politics, but this is just too funny...

And since we're talking about politics and late night comedy, click here to find out who "made" Mike Huckabee: Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert? Late night fight! Plus an Irish jig and a cameo from a certain presidential candidate.

RIP Bro. Felix Masson, FSC

2008-02-06T23:03:00.000-05:00

Earlier today I got a text from my brother saying Bro. Felix passed away. I instantly felt this surge of sadness when I saw the news. Bro. Felix is gone? Forever?

I haven't seen him in 11 or 12 years, but still, he was a part of my life in DLSZ. He was this tall white man that towered over the Filipino students before classes start. He'd usually stand outside his office while students were arriving or after a flag pole ceremony so he could greet everyone that passed by. Whenever he'd see me he'd go "Oh there's my friend, little Katrina! How are you buddy?" Bro. Felix always made it a point to make each student feel special.

I studied in DLSZ for 12 years, and in all those years, he always gave me a stampita as a birthday gift. But it wasn't just me. He did that for all of the students. And we had a pretty big population over there.

Whenever it was a student's birthday (so I guess he did this practically every day), he'd send a note to the teacher asking for the student to be excused so s/he could go visit him. Then the student would go to Bro. Felix's office and meet with him. He'd have a few stampita's laid out on his desk, and would ask the student to choose which s/he'd like to get. After a stampita was chosen, he'd tell the story of the saint in the stampita. Then he'd make small talk and even ask about things that were discussed in the student's previous birthday/s. What a memory! I mean really, with all those students in the school?

I always looked forward to getting a stampita on my birthday. One reason was so I could escape from a boring class and get into Bro. Felix air-conditioned office. Another was because I loved my yearly one-on-ones with Bro. Felix. I'm not sure why Bro. Felix thought of doing that to every student, wouldn't that be tiring? Did he want each of us to be educated in a small way about different saints? Or did he want to just be friends with all of us? Whatever his reason, he never failed to make students feel special.

I remember I was either in 1st or 2nd grade, he carried me just to make me laugh. We were on eye level so it was like I was as tall as he was. I looked around and saw how it looked like if I were a 6-footer. That was the first and last time I felt tall.

Have fun in heaven Bro. Felix! We will miss you over here.

Day 1 of 40

2008-02-06T14:49:00.001-05:00

My cursor rolls over the "Gmail" button on my bookmarks toolbar. "Don't!!" my mind screams.

And so goes the first of 40 days of no IM at work.

Last night a fellow SFC was talking to me about his conversation with a priest. He was asked if he does SFC stuff while at work. "Heck yeah you do, and so do I!" I replied, rather excitedly. Then I stopped and thought, wait a minute, that's not exactly something to be proud of now is it?

What the priest said confirmed what I was afraid of. Doing service for anything CFC-related at work is not exactly the Christian thing to do. It is not fair to the employer, its employees and its clients. It's like cheating. According to the priest, it is even considered stealing. That was my cue to say "WHAT?" Because we get paid a certain amount of dollars and we are expected to do our best and give our 100% percent when at work. When we do anything less, especially if we use 50% of the time for service, then that's just getting paid double of the amount of work we are actually doing. No wonder one of the questions in a confession guide I read was "Do you give your 100% at work?"

As all of these realizations came trickling down, I thought about some of the service-related things that I should give up at work: Printing song sheets for household. Printing chords of praise & worship songs. Researching household topics on the web. Reading long GK emails that take up so much time. IMing.

Oh, Google Talk. How I love thee. Here's the thing, Google Talk/Gmail IM for me is my escape from the frustrations at work. My connection to the SFC world while I'm in the office. Whenever I am bored or want to take a break, any of my Google Talk buddies online is just a click away. Except most of the time the conversations tend to go long and next thing I know, I've already used up 3 hours of just chatting about random stuff. Bad employee, bad.

Whether I use IM for service or fun, one thing's for sure: I'm giving it up for 40 days. Now the argument would be, is that a real sacrifice? Because when you're at work, you're supposed to work. Not chat. So, I still have something else to give up for Lent just in case it doesn't count.

Will I make it? I certainly hope so. Although if you haven't noticed, I am blogging during office hours. But I will chalk this up to "lunch break" because I am eating my tuna sandwich while typing this :) I swear I will do better tomorrow! Baby steps, baby steps. Pray for me, brothers and sisters :D

Stains Can Talk (Possibly in a Foreign Language)

2008-02-05T00:07:00.000-05:00

The Super Bowl always has the best ads, and the clip below is the one that cracked me up the most.

At first I thought, what the heck? Haha... but it's so true! When there's a stain on someone's shirt, you can't help but stare at it, and you've all but tuned out whatever that person's saying. S/he may as well be talking gibberish.

The talking stain actually reminds me of Steve Carell on Bruce Almighty.

Unborn Babies Can Save Lives Too

2008-02-04T23:38:00.000-05:00

Unborn twins save mother by dislodging tumor with their kicks

Bored

2008-01-17T06:41:00.000-05:00

Late last night I was trying hard to fall asleep, but to no avail due to a nasty headache. So I took some Excedrin to ease the pain. Tried to sleep again. Hmm. Kinda more difficult this time.

I surfed the web in case that would make me sleepy (I figured my eyes would get tired from reading all the articles and blogs). Still nothing. I was actually more wide awake than I was earlier. Hours passed and I began to wonder what was wrong with me. I looked at the label of the Excedrin bottle, and saw that it contains loads of caffeine.

Oops.

Since I should be working in a few hours, I sent my boss a rather hyper email letting him know that I will be working from home and explained the whole story why. One thing I'm grateful about my job is that I can work from anywhere that has an internet connection. Hooray for technology!

So after several hours of surfing the web, watching the sunrise from my window and still having no idea when I will fall asleep, I will give you my top ten list of things to do on the internet when suffering from insomnia...

1. Read the latest news articles
2. Learn more about history and pop culture on Wikipedia
3. Watch random videos on YouTube
4. Look for something to do in Facebook
5. Read friends' blogs
6. Reply to emails you've been procrastinating about
7. Go over your email's Trash folder and find any forwarded emails you can read
8. Look for anything else to do in Facebook
9. Check the temperature on Weather.com, just out of curiosity
10. Update your blog

Music in Movies

2007-12-10T02:21:00.000-05:00

"Music and movies have lasted longer than any marriage in Hollywood."
-Charlize Theron, Movies Rock

A 2-hour special on CBS last Dec. 7th, Movies Rock celebrated the most memorable songs from films over the years. Performers included John Legend and Mary J. Blige singing "As Time Goes by" from Casablanca, Usher performing "Singin' in the Rain" from the movie of the same title - to name a few. Near the end of the show, there was a video of Martin Scorsese talking about the importance of the movie's score in filmmaking. And Harrison Ford introduced film composer and 45-time Oscar nominee John Williams as his former co-star that never appeared in the movie. Which makes sense, music is actually another character in a film. It's this thing that you don't see but affects your mood while watching the movie. I admit to not noticing the score in the movie most of the time, yet it still enhances my viewing experience.

I recently made a video with characters having actual dialogue for the first time, and let me tell you, that was one of the most difficult editing experiences of my life. Shooting indoors is fine as long as you have the acoustics worked out. But outdoors, in the middle of DC with vehicles zooming past, on a windy day, is another story. While editing the video, I knew I had to rely heavily on background music. Mainly because I wanted to cover up some of the noise because Final Cut is not really famous for editing audio. It's brilliant for video... but that's about it. So I took a lot of sound effects and scores from iMovie and a few from the Heroes DVD (since the video was like a spoof on that show).

What a difference the music made. No, I still didn't get to clean the noise out. I just took audio out from any non-speaking shots and put in background music. But that actually set the mood for some of the scenes. Like in one of the earlier scenes, so as not to distract the viewers from the noisy trucks passing by and the wind gusting through our ghetto boom mic (pictured), I took the audio out and replaced it with a suspenseful background music from iMovie. It helped because in that scene the character was walking down the street (in "Hong Kong"), yet kept stopping because he felt that somebody was following him.

The video's far from perfect as everything was done in a short of amount of time. But even though it was not one of my best, I still find the project important because it was a learning experience for me. Mental note: next time rent a real boom mic and get something to block the wind. Also, get glasses (which I did recently after this experience) to notice the smudges on the lens filter during the shoot and not during editing when you don't have time for a re-shoot anymore. But most of all, I learned the importance of music in movies. It's not just to cover something up but to set the mood and enhance the viewing experience.

Watching Movies Rock made me think of a few of my favorite scores and songs in films:

The score from Jaws - whenever I hear the "dum dum dum dum..." I feel like I have to look around. That was such a classic moment in the film that up to now it's still part of pop culture.
Tara's Theme from Gone With the Wind - one perfect example of how you don't have to have dialogue or lyrics to tell the story. The marriage of music (especially the strings) and Vivien Leigh's facial expressions were all that took to let the viewer feel that through the challenges and sufferings of war, you will still find hope.
Singin' in the Rain - iconic. For me the best and most creative choreography in a movie. And that was just done by one man. Even Usher - one the best entertainers in the world right now - admitted that he had a difficult time trying to re-create it. Watching it makes me want to take tap dancing classes. And anything that gets me to consider learning how to dance, is something magical.
And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going from Dreamgirls - this was a good combination of music, acting and simple yet powerful cinematography. But the acting of Jennifer Hudson was the one that affected me the most as a viewer. Sure it may have been more difficult for Ms. Jennifer Holliday doing it live on Broadway almost every night. But I didn't see it.
The score from Schindler's List - "The very famous and very sad violin solo stands out as a single voice of plead that represents millions of ordinary Jewish people who lost their lives in the holocaust." Couldn't have said it better myself.
The score from Ringu - the original Japanese version of The Ring was so creepier than the Hollywood version mainly because of the score. It's like this scratching/screeching thing that I couldn't figure out and sounds so low tech but it scared me out of my seat. Seriously. I almost choked on a nacho and I have 2 of my friends that can attest to that.
The Sound of Music (pictured) - come on, how can I not place this? Oscar winner everybody. I love the first part of the movie where it shows beautiful shots of Salzburg (been there woohoo! Thanks CFC!), and then the music builds up and suddenly you're on top of a mountain and Julie Andrews is twirling around. Amazing cinematography, amazing first scene. It hooks the audience at the start of the movie. And sometimes, that's all you need.
The score from the Indiana Jones movies - every time I hear that I feel like I wanna chase a train or jump on rocks or something.

I know there are a lot more great songs (Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's, the theme from Shaft, Disney songs, As Time Goes By from Casablanca) and scores (Psycho, Gladiator, LOTR, Star Wars, Back to the Future). But this entry is running long as it is.

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays

2007-12-04T16:22:00.001-05:00

My level of homesickness goes up every December due to the bajillion Christmas celebrations happening in the Philippines this time of the year. As they say, the pre-dominantly Catholic country celebrates the longest Christmas season.

So to deal with this, I will list out the things I miss the most from back home during the holidays:

Parols - those colorful stars, lit up by the bulbs inside them. I hardly see those here because they're expensive.
Puto bumbong - buying a couple of warm puto bumbongs after a Simbang Gabi mass, with coconut on top and that brown powdery sugar... ooh and butter melting on top of it too... mmm...
Simbang gabi - waking up at the crack of dawn, wearing a jacket, feeling the cool breeze as we walk to church, fighting off my heavy eyelids later that day.
Choirs singing Christmas songs - we all know there are hundreds of versions of Christmas songs. But for me, nothing beats the version of a simple church choir's. I heard a rock version of O Come All Ye Faithful on 91.9 and my mind went "NOOOO..." I thank God and Toyota for the option of changing to another radio station. I know there are church choirs here, but I heard them more frequently back home. Probably because back then we would attend special masses in school and so of course the choir would sing Christmas songs, while the rest of the students are forced to sing along. If you don't comply, you will get a stern look from your teacher.
ABS-CBN's Christmas special - what can I say, I am a sucker for Christmas songs. Even if most of them lip sync it. I make an exception during the holidays because they wear nicer clothes.
Christmas shopping at ATC - the thing I love about this mall (aside from it being 15 minutes from our house) is that it's not one big building. It's open, outdoorsy... I don't feel claustrophobic even with the holiday crowd. Since it's not cold in the Philippines, I love walking around this mall and taking in the ambience, oftentimes seeing a familiar face - may it be a relative or an old high school classmate.
Driving around Alabang to see the Christmas lights - they have more money over there so they have the better decorations.
The weather - it's ridiculously hot in the Philippines, but come December that's when the cold air comes in. And when I say cold, I mean 70's.
Christmas party at school - being forced to bring a food for potluck and a gift for Kris Kringle, then just sitting on an armchair while eating cold spaghetti and puto because what else is there to do in a small classroom. On the upside, we don't get to wear uniforms that day, wheee!
Sound of Music marathon on RPN 9 - I still don't get the connection between the movie and Christmas (family?), but I got so used to watching it in December that I think I want to pop it in the DVD player tonight and watch, with a cup o' hot chocolate.
Watching Christmas specials w/ the family at the living room - nobody wants to watch anything with me anymore. Geez. Maybe it has something to do with the shape of the living room here, and with the TV only fitting in one corner, it's got a weird angle pointing to the couches. Plus the TV's size is small if you look at its distance from the couches. Sometimes you can't hear much either because of the bad acoustics in the living room. Also, I analyze too much.
Metro Manila Film Festival - okay, so, before I used to laugh at the movies being shown on that filmfest. It was like this festival where production companies can boast which of them got the bigger stars (though not exactly the best movie you can take seriously - I cannot count how many song & dance numbers these movies have shown at the end). But then when they started making quality films, starting with Jose Rizal, I took notice. Since then the MMFF became one of the things I looked forward to during the holidays, to see Philippine cinema's best movies of the year.
"Helping" my mom bake goodies to give as gifts to family friends - and when I say "help," I mean taste the batter while watching the MMFF Parade of the Stars.
Delivering gifts around the village - I didn't like it back then because I was scared of dogs chasing me, but I miss it now. Bring on the german shepherds!
Anticipated mass at Christmas Eve - with the choir at their best and the church is at its crowdest, this is my favorite mass of the year. After that the kids get to run to the baby Jesus and kiss his feet, and the rest of us greet the other churchgoers, who we've grown up with, a merry Christmas.
Christmas morning at home - being the first one to wake up and impatiently wait for everyone else; eating cheese (if we're lucky, Amsterdam cheese!), ham, crepes and ensaymada for breakfast; delivering gifts to our next door neighbors/relatives; waiting for them to wake up as well; and choosing the best thing to wear for Christmas lunch with my relatives.
Trip to Baguio - I think this is where my love for road trips started. 7 hours in a van with my family and/or cousins. Going up to the house in the cold mountains of Baguio. Playing cards inside the house while exchanging ghost stories. Waking up to the smell of Baguio longganisa, fried eggs and garlic rice. Bowling with my cousins. Making cardboard sleds and riding on them. Buying peanut brittle and ube jam from Good Shepherd. Buying sweaters from tiangges. Getting some ice cream from Camp John Hay even though it's already cold over there. Horse back riding that just goes around in circles. Biking... that just goes around in circles.
New Year's Eve - going to mass then getting home to smell the scent of garlic bread and baked macaroni wafting through the air, some of the food we would eat for the New Year's Eve celebration we always had at home with the relatives that live next door; hiding in my room because the fireworks scare me (they are really loud over there) until my cousins would drag me out so everybody could start eating; going to the other 2 houses next door with Tito Gene throwing coins in his house and Tito Noel in his house (I would later on use the coins I collected at a nearby sari-sari store); drinking Asti Martini at Tito Gene's when I got older.

Then What Am I Taking My Shoes Off For

2007-10-18T11:13:00.000-05:00

From USA Today...

Most fake bombs missed by screeners

Come to think of it, I've had my Swiss knife go past the security check point in 2 of my trips. The first time was when I went to Chicago back in March, and the second time was when I went to Dallas last month. Both times I realized, after checking in on the counter, that I still had my keys (which include the Swiss knife). So I just placed them in my carry-on. Nobody noticed it in the X-ray thingie on both trips.

And when I did check in my keys w/ the Swiss knife, the plane loses my suitcase. I ended up working from home for 2 days, as I waited for my car keys. How does the story end? I don't have the Swiss knife attached to my keys anymore.