Just random 8.21.9
August 21, 2009
Tears of the sun - NEWS [English translation]
A brief dream that rocks me to sleep on nights when I can’t sleep
What I hear is probably the sound of the rain
All I’m doing is chasing after endless dreams?
But that won’t comfort me at all
If I want something to happen between us
I have to run off from here right now
Without taking an umbrella, I go to where you are
The dazzling sun, somewhere up in the sky
Hiding itself, searching for a heart that won’t burn out
As we burn along on the ground
I had kept waiting for the burning sun to come out
Ah… the rain still won’t stop
Tears of the sun
The hands on the clock seem to stop, I gaze at them with sleepy eyes
What I hear is probably the sound of the rain
Will I continue to just keep waiting here?
But that won’t change a thing
For me to be what I want to be,
I have to race out of this waiting right now
I dump my umbrella and go to where you are
The dazzling sun, everything in this world
I can’t wait to find it all and burn it into my mind
On the ground we act like we haven’t noticed
We had been hiding our frank desires
Ah… the rain keeps falling
Tears of the sun
The dazzling sun, somewhere up in the sky
Hiding itself, searching for a heart that won’t burn out
As we burn along on the ground
I had kept waiting for the burning sun to come out
Ah… the rain still won’t stop
Tears of the sun
Taiyou no namida - NEWS [Romaji]
Taiyou no namida
Nemurenu yoru nekaeri wo utsu tsukanoma no yume wo mite ita
Kikoete kuru nowa tabun ame no oto
Kono mama hatasenai yume ou dake?
Sore ja nanimo iyasenai yo
Nani ga futari okoshitai no nara
Ima sugu koko wo tobidashite yuke
Kasa mo motazu kimi no iru basho ni
Giragira taiyou kono sora dokoka de
Mi wo hisome sagashiteru moekirenai haato wo
Chijou de bokura jirijiri shinagara
Moeagaru hi ga kuru no machi tsuzukete ita
Ah… mada yamanai ame
Taiyou no namida
Tomarisou na tokei no hari neboke ma de koko mitsumete iru
Kikoete kuru nowa tabun ame no oto
Kono mama koko de machi tsuzukeru no kai
Sore ja nanimo kawaranai yo
Boku ga boku jishin ni naru tame ni
Ima sugu kono machi tobidashite yukou
Kasa wo sutete kimi no iru basho e
Giragira taiyou kono yo no subete wo
Sagashidashi yakitsukuse to machikamaete iru
Chijou de bokura kizukanu furishite
Mukidashi no yokubou wo kakusou to shiteta
Ah… furi tsuzuku ame
Taiyou no namida
Giragira taiyou kono sora dokoka de
Mi wo hisome sagashiteru moekirenai haato wo
Chijou de bokura jirijiri shinagara
Moeagaru hi ga kuru no machi tsuzukete ita
Ah… mada yamanai ame
Taiyou no namida
太陽のナミダ - NEWS [Japanese]
太陽のナミダ
眠れぬ夜寝返りをうつ つかの間の夢を見ていた
聞こえて来るのは多分雨の音
このまま果たせない夢追うだけ?
それじゃ何も癒せないよ
何が二人起こしたいのなら
今すぐここを飛び出してゆけ
傘も持たず君のいる場所に
ギラギラ太陽 この空どこかで
身を潜め探してる燃え切れないハートを
地上で僕ら じりじりしながら
燃え上がる日が来るの待ち続けていた
Ａｈ…まだ止まない雨
太陽のナミダ
止まりそうな時計の針寝ぼけ眼で見つめている
聞こえてくるのは多分雨の音
このままここで待ち続けるのかい
それじゃ何も変わらないよ
僕が僕自身になるために
今すぐこの街飛び出してゆこう
傘を捨てて君のいる場所へ
ギラギラ太陽 この世のすべてを
探し出し焼き尽くせと待ちかまえている
地上で僕ら気づかぬふりして
剥き出しの欲望を隠そうとしていた
Ａｈ…降り続く雨
太陽のナミダ
ギラギラ太陽 この空どこかで
身を潜め探してる燃え切れないハートを
地上で僕ら じりじりしながら
燃え上がる日が来るの待ち続けていた
Ａｈ…まだ止まない雨
太陽のナミダ
*****
I wasn’t able to post for the past few days because of the intermittent internet connection at my favorite PC rental. I have become loyal to this PC rental shop that I didn’t even try other ones. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway as the problem seems to be nationwide. There was some trouble involving an international cable that drastically reduced internet speeds. I’m impatient and I don’t want to put up with a slow connection if I can help it. Well… it seems that I can’t.
I don’t want to admit it until now, but I have become so technologically dependent that it is difficult for me to function without a PC, and at least every four days, satisfactory internet connection. Of course, I don’t see myself killing myself come internet Armageddon, but I would feel very lost. Truly the internet connects with me to other people; technology bridges the distance, and even if digitally, brings me to people and people to me.
I’m sorry to the people who make a great effort typing my blog’s address on their browser’s address bar or clicking several times to get to my site and find out nothing new. I have so much to do that I don’t have the time and will to update it. I guess we can’t really make definite statements as long as there are risks and “unforeseen circumstances” in the world. It was my fault.
*****
Speaking of internet, the internet connection at the UPM is so deplorable. The OPAC is inaccessible in the CAS library at times. I pity one of the librarians (the only one who talks to me at length) because she has to switch to manual recoding every time the system goes down. Returned books are eating most of the space in the library counters because they cannot be placed back to their shelves until they have been recorded in the system. And all of this because of rats who found the internet cables appetizing. Last time, NAWASA had the money to repair the damages they caused. But now, you can’t sue and ask compensation from rats, which aren’t much different from the UPM, finances-wise.
The only good thing that happened at the CAS library this past week is that the Journals Section has become more accessible. Its door is always open and there are many people reading or chatting inside. I’m just beginning to explore what the Journals Section has; I have never been there before.
I hope they have some copies of the Journal of Asian Studies there. I’m going to really insist on photocopying interesting articles! And, by the way, this coming September, I’ll be going to the Asian Center (Romulo Hall) in UP Diliman. Nothing… I just want to experience how is it to be student there (though I know it will be yers before I get the chance, if ever.)
*****
Partner, the Korean drama series I have been watching on the net for over a month, ended last week. It’s not as good as I expected or wanted it to be, picture- or story-wise. But I’ll watch any show with Lee Dong-Wook, so no regrets. I learned a lot, if not how Korean courts function, then at least, a glimpse of the intricacies of the legal profession.
*****
The clause “Smoking is bad for your health” which is legislated to accompany any tobacco or cigarette advertisement is one of the subtler twisting of public welfare for the sake of capital and token consideration of influential health activists. Placing and enforcing restrictions on the tobacco industry is more effective in making the people healthy than telling them not to smoke or that smoking is risky. It is very individualist, behaviorist and results to victim blaming, which may be disadvantageous for the individual. The word “your” also restricts the effect of one’s smoke to oneself when, in fact, the effect of smoking is worse on people who inhale the secondhand smoke. It makes us less concerned of smoking’s effect on other people and society itself by focusing just on the ill effects it has for the smoking individual.
*****
I have always valued my uniqueness, and though I may try to hide it, I enjoy treading the path that most people avoid. This is the path I have chosen, the person I want to be, the purpose of my existence, the niche where my abilities and aptitude fit nicely. So don’t go try reforming me with an authority as if you were God, my parent or my superego. I am not a child you can convince by appealing to insecurity. Actions are not thoughts; you are not omnipresent beings who can read my mind. Don’t wallow in self-righteousness and the assumption that everything is Boolean. You can ponder but not pussyfoot, you can hit hard and say bad words in public, but not use words in vain. Knowledge is not an end to itself nor just a tool for change – knowledge and change are both tools for understanding ourselves and providing the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Don’t make me lose respect for your persons and what you stand for (or tell people you do). Persecution hardens one’s resolve. Tolerate differences and use them to strengthen yourself, not find strength in monotony. The world is a rainbow of millions of colors and can never be reduced to shades of red.
I will not allow myself to be crushed to powder and become a glitter in your transient edifice. I’ll fight on for myself, I’ll fight for the ME I want people to know and believe in.
*****
“Just because you can means you should.”
- Prof. Carillo on late pregnancies
Learning Chinese
August 6, 2009
So much for my 100-character reading literacy. I took several Facebook quizzes on Chinese characters and I failed. Well… I didn’t really fail, but I expected myself to do better than most (except for the Chinese).
I have so much to do that I can’t study Chinese anymore. Though I have accepted the fact that I’ll never graduate cum laude, I’m not giving up on my studies. I am developing my work ethic – a work ethic that desires excellence (even just personal best) for the sake of itself. I must give my all not because I’m expecting to become recognized, to get a promotion or to appeal to my prospective boyfriend (now… I think I could make an exception here) but because it’s the right thing to do.
For now the right thing to do is to crush all my biodiversity, conservation biology, communication, Philippine health issues and legislations, genetics, introductory biochemistry and history of science materials into my brain. My academic life has begun to become a series of nerve-wracking exams and activities.
*****
Here is a rating system young Chinese men use for categorizing women by their physical appearance.
她很漂亮。
Ta hen piaoliang.
She is very beautiful.
This is said of extremely beautiful women.
她很可爱。
Ta hen ke’ai.
She is very cute.
This is said of women of moderate beauty.
她很爱国。
Ta hen aiguo.
She is very patriotic.
This is said of plain-looking women.
她很守规矩。
Ta hen shou guiju.
She is very law-abiding.
This is said of ugly women.
她的字很漂亮。
Ta de zi hen piaoliang.
Her writing is very beautiful.
This is said of very ugly women.
*****
What follows are the expressions Angie D. and Alelie R. will consider as important. Too bad I had to omit the more scandalous phrases.
VZ, you should try this on your handsome seatmate!
帅哥
Shuai ge.
Handsome guy.
* The character shuai [帅] means “commander in chief.” Combined with ge [哥] or “elder brother,” it connotes of a man who does not only look good but also occupies a higher moral position.
花花公子
Huahuagongzi
Playboy
我很酷!
Wo hen ku!
I am very cute!
* The character for ku [酷], the Chinese equivalent for “cute” or “cool,” is also the character for “cruel” or “oppressive.” In Filipino, malupit!
你的身材很美! 你很性感!
Ni de shencai hen mei! Ni hen xinggan!
You have a very beautiful body! You are so sexy!
没有男朋友。
Wo meiyou nanpengyou.
I don’t have a boyfriend.
我要丈夫。
Wo yao zhang fu.
I want a husband.
我要你。
Wo yao ni.
I want you.
我爱你!
Wo ai ni!
I love you!
我不能没有你!
Wo buneng meiyou ni!
I can’t live without you!
我是你的，你是我的。
Wo shi nide, ni shi wode.
I’m yours, you’re mine.
Just random 8.6.9
August 5, 2009
Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree*
(Max Bygraves)
No matter what my professors say, I still believe that Cory Aquino is a great person and one of greatest presidents our country ever had just by being our president during that tumultuous time in our country’s history. She may not have done much as a president, either because her powers were constrained by the circumstances or her own class, but she certainly did much to the hearts of the Filipinos. It may be illusory, but it was that faith that gave people confidence and the will to end 20 years of dictatorship. She lived a life of simplicity, integrity, determination and heartfelt love for our country.
My father, though an ethnic Ilokano, hated the Marcoses and used to rally for Ninoy, and then, Cory. He still has his only remaining yellow shirt he used to wear whenever there was a rally at Ayala (my father was working then for Rustan’s Makati, a high-class department store chain owned by the Tantocos). He told me that he was one of the two male employees who would take part in those big Makati rallies, shredding old yellow pages to confetti and throwing them from the Rustan’s rooftop (roughly the 7th floor).
My father, the activist he once was, wanted to establish a union at Rustan’s, which would be possible after Marcos has gone. Well… he was sacked a year before EDSA (the Tantocos used to be Marcos cronies.) My elder brother died of septicemia because of the chaos that temporarily paralyzed the hospitals. My parents were in Pangasinan, busy with my elder brother’s funeral, during the February revolution. My mother has only few good words for Cory. She could only see our family’s misery after the Marcoses were forced out of Malacanang.
My father isn’t sorrowful that Cory has died. In fact he is happy. “People are meant to die anyway. Cory is so lucky to have died in such a dignified, albeit painful, way. She has lived long enough; it’s time she rests in peace. And look, no one but the likes of Cory and Ninoy would die with the streets packed with so many people! She would have been proud.”
We’re proud of her. And I’ll make her proud of me too. We believe in the same thing: it’s better to die a meaningful death than live a meaningless life.
* My father loves this song. After hearing that Cory has died, he unearthed (yes, that’s the word) his cassette tape collection and played this song for so many times. I got bored listening to it last Sunday, but then, for an old Ninoy-Cory loyalist, the magic never fades. My father’s only sadness was that Cory died 20 days before Ninoy’s anniversary. It would have been more dramatic if she could have just held on for at least 2 weeks.
*****
“Preachers who take themselves too seriously end up preaching to an audience of one.”
- George Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines
“Being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself—be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love—the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.”
- Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
*****
According to the neurologist Terry Deacon all domesticated animals appear to be less intelligent than their wild ancestors or even contemporaries. Also, based on my own observations, domesticated organisms are more vulnerable than wild types (I borrowed this term from genetics). Wild cats are bigger and more muscular than my pet cat. Jack London’s wolves look more capable of living anywhere without guns and bullets than my neighbor’s high-maintenance Labrador.
“Taming” involves a trade off where the “tamed” loses the qualities that would make it unwieldy to humans. Humans are such insecure creatures that we will not tolerate any form of rebellion to our rule (even if our kingdom spans only the six sides of our condo unit). In exchange for a secure source of food and greater probability of surviving, the independent wolf surrenders her freedom and becomes a leashed dog. But a leashed dog enjoys a society, a new form of existence that a wolf pack can never provide. In a society a dog learns of her various meanings to man and gains a degree of respect that is not necessarily equivalent to her biological endowments.
Man may have similarly lost individual intelligence in the process of “taming” ourselves and exchanging our hunt-and-gather lifestyle for agriculture and civilization. But what we may have lost as individuals has been replaced, and in ever greater quantities and qualities, by socially-transmitted knowledge and collective intelligence.
*****
According to the paleontologist Steven Stanley in his book Children of the Ice Age, medicine has led to “unnatural selection”. People who would never have survived in the “wild” are now treated and allowed to breed. Many genetic diseases are now on the rise because those carrying it (homozygous or heterozygous) are allowed to have offspring.
I am quite sure that it will have profound effects on our society in the coming future.
*****
There is a field called behavioral genetics. It is mainly concerned with the genetic basis of what makes us humans. I would like to explore this idea more.
*****
Underprivileged people are those who are materially poor but are striving or working hard. Poor people are those who are materially, intellectually and spiritually poor. The only thing they diligently do is to clamor for everything and think that the world owes them everything. And the only thing they are useful for is their votes.
*****
I now know how to tie a necktie correctly and flawlessly.
The next step is to get a matching tie (a maroon or dark red tie looks good on a dark navy blue shirt, don’t you think?)
*****
To Prince Charles:
I like your new blog! Keep it up!
Supermodernity
August 2, 2009
Superscript: Superior this poem is not, though I superrecommend you to give it a try. Supercompliments to my poetic supermodel, John Updike, for this superinspiration.
SUPERMODERNITY
We all live in a superworld,
That supercommerce drives.
Superweapons are what keep us in order,
From supercomputers we buy.
Supercollosality is what defines our supercontinent,
With its states and corporations rocking at the Superdome.
A never-ending story where the superpatriotic loses,
And superb, superstrong firms own.
In this supercomplex, a Superpower supersedes,
All superbold dissenters and superradical superstars.
Superfine are its methods, superdiplomatic its ways,
Superimposing its decisions, superclose or superfar.
Superficial numbers, supermajorities, and superbrands,
Are what governs the global economic supergovernment.
A superorganization headed by a supercilious superstate,
Where superstitious superhumans reap superprofits.
Having traveled more than supersonic the Info Superhigh,
This superabsurd word superstructure you might find:
Superobstinate, super-superlatived, superfluous, super-duper supersized.
This is but a way to supersmarten your superphosphate-fed superego,
To supermarketed ideas don’t supersimplify, be superwise.
* The poem was delivered for an Economics 101 (Macroeconomic Theories and Policies) ACLE activity 3 September 2007.
