In my pursuit to find a yet another manga to read during my long hours at work, I decided to try reading Ayashi no Ceres, where the anime Ayashi no Ceres *doy* was based.

And did you know that the story was pattern, well loosely, to Japan's famous legend "Tennyo no Hagoromo"? It is about a Tennyo (celestial maiden) who was stuck on earth because a young man stole her hagoromo (robe worn by a tennyo) while the group of Tennyo were bathing in a pond. Sounds familiar, isn't it? It’s very, very similar to the Swan Maiden legend in the Cordillera *I forgot the local term for it, sorry, but I think the title was The Maiden Who Lost Her Wings, and I think it was an Ibaloi tale*. The Tennyo was forced to live with the man who stole her robe, married the man, and they had babies. And like how the Cordi tale ended, the Tennyo finally found her Hagoromo and returned back to the skies.

The only difference was that the Tennyo vowed revenge to her husband. In the Ibaloi tale, she fell in love with the man, and promised to watch over her family from the stars.

So, what’s the deal with Amungan? Amungan is a yearly project of UP Baguio’s Indigenous People-based organization PAGTA, who made a theatrical production last 2007 which featured the Swan Maiden story arc. *shrugs* I just want to make a connection between my new now-reading-manga and the Amungan to which I was actively participating during my college years. And also, this is in line with the current situation of the Program for Indigenous Culture nearing its, uh, life line? *Haha… but seriously, this isn’t a funny matter…*

Anyway, my point, exactly? That our culture, again, is closely knit with other cultures around the world. And, it’s the end of the month, and I’d just like to post a new blog entry.

Blogger’s Note: Again, Kelangan talagang may political view, noh?

Published to Blogblogan Tayo!

Labels: Amungan, ayashi no ceres, Cordillera culture, Japanese culture, legends, manga, PAGTA, parallelism of culture, plays, theatre, UPBaguio

At exactly 3:26 pm, 19 years ago, Baguio was devastated by what is now known as the 1990 Killer Quake that crippled the city for years, and still brings pain to some (or probably most) who lost so much that day. Although i can only remember waking up from an afternoon nap by shakes and our kasambahay's shrieks, and all I knew was that July 16,1990 was my mother's birthday, i remember how the City was drastically changed by the tragedy. Now, the City has progressed much, leaving no trace of the earth's tremors. And though its people just want to forget what happened that day, and move on from it, i think it's still nice to just offer a minute and look back, and just offer a small prayer to the loss that the City lost, and a prayer of thanks to what the City has gained since then. Let Baguio Cathedral's bells ring in commemoration of the City's resilience. Published to Blogblogan Tayo!

Labels: 1990 earthquake, Baguio city, commemoration, earthquake

I am trying to study for my upcoming exam but i really cannot concentrate because i have to type down all the important points. Almost all, no erase that, all of our readings and even books are in .pdf format. And my notes all are typed in a notepad.

I mean, how can you take note of the probability of A given B without having to type P[A|B] over and over again. Writing it down can only take less than a microsecond *OA?*

Times are changing - very rapidly. Even the art of book-reading has switched to digital. Or am i just too old for the change *I THINK NOT!!!*?

Gone are the days when i enjoyed scribbling lines and circles down my notebook. Gone are the days when i annotate between the lines and margins of my readings. Gone are the days of colorful pages painted with neon-colored highlighters.

Are notebooks soon to be a thing of the past? Will hard copied books be a collector's item (if this will be so, then i'd be rich before i could even reach 40)?

Will i no longer experience sheer happiness of just smelling newly opened books, or sniffing the pages of old books hidden in the farthest part of my grandmother's closet, or inhaling the aroma of photo-copied readings?

I say no. I won't let book publication die. No to the Philippine Book Tariff. Books should be customer-free. The fight to keep all books free of customs duty is not over yet.

Blogger's Note: Looks like the last paragraph's a bit OOC (out of context). Kelangan talagang may political view, noh? Published to Blogblogan Tayo!

Labels: book tariff, books, ebooks, notes, study

EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me

Labels: Clamp, dwarf, Japanese culture, kitsune, manga, superstition, xxxHolic

I made a promise with myself and with Mother Earth, with gods as my witnesses. This is in preparation for my future endeavors as an active activist promoting Environmental Awareness, Biodiversity, Toxicity Elimination through Plant Hyperaccumulation. Ha! Beat that, Al Gore... I was having my usual soul searchings *ack* at The Loop when i noticed the place was so full of cigarette butts and other trash than normal. Now, since smoking - which contributes to the ozone layer depletion, carbon dioxide/monoxide *whatever* addition, disease spreads, et cetera, et cetera - is unavoidable - not that i'm addicted to it, don't get me wrong... it's just that smoking gets me through boring fifteen-minute breaks and lunch breaks - i vow to throw my consumed cigarette sticks to the trash can - at all times. [...] So. Help. Me. God.

This entry was composed and published to my already deleted Windows Live Spaces several months ago. Also, during those times when i was painfully waiting for the results for my Master's application to the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, i made a silent prayer ever thirty minutes, which goes like this:

Dear God,

Matanggap lang ako sa IESM, promise aalagaan ko ang environment na ginawa mo, at promise, di na ko mag-yoyosi.

But only an hour ago, i took my long-awaited break and puffed one stick - breaking two self-made panatas and mocking two promises to God. Are these broken promises the reasons why i am having a bad time with my Environmental Statistics and Analysis course? Is this karma? Is this Mother Nature's funny payback time?

Will i ever find a way to get past my break times without puffing a stick? Or will i just be having a new prayer by the end of this semester - or during the dropping period ? Will there be another negotiation made with God?

EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me

Labels: Environmental Science, habits, Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, karma, promises, ramblings, yosi

For someone who has been watching cable TV shows all her life and is deprived of this luxury for almost two years, Philippine telenovelas would look weird at first, entertaining second, and downright puke-inducing after two or three overrated, overdramatic and unrealistic catfights. I have listed a few reasons why the Philippine mainstream entertainment is considered D-rated. 1. Uber-twisted family tree example: girl and boy have fallen in love with one another and as the story deepens, it’s revealed that boy and girl are siblings. But as the story deepens even more - believe me, with Filipinos’ creativity they can create too many twists and still give a farcical idea of a good story - the boy/girl turns out to be adopted. So, as the story ends, the boy and the girl lived happily ever after - with more unbelievable twists that I'll discuss later on. 2. Ridiculous childhood-to-adulthood love affairs I don’t have to elaborate. It’s just ridiculous. 3. Wedding plots Isn’t it amazing that Filipinos consider marriage as super sacred and super special that every telenovela I know ends in happy matrimony. Okay, it’s not all too happy, but a few kinks weeks, or even minutes, before the matrimonial march. Awww… what a cheesy way to end a story. I’ll never get tired of it… *eyeroll* 4. Wedding drama No, I'm not referring to the clichés of Filipino weddings, i.e. long walks down the aisle, teary-eyed father of the bride, touchy vows and whatnot. I am pertaining to the abovementioned kinks before the wedding. Think upstaging old girlfriends shouting the ever classic "ITIGIL ANG KASAL!", or worse: kidnapped bride that would later be rescued by the worried groom. But of course, before the rescue, tatagas muna ang balde-baldeng dugo. But don’t fret! Nobody will die. The groom may lose 3/4 of his body blood, or his intestines may be blasted from several gunshots, he will miraculously survive. Money-back-guarantee offered here. 5. Babangon ako at dudurugin kita mantras This is why most people wouldn’t agree with revolutions. People belonging to the lowest part of the social triangle would never fail to do the oppressing once they were promoted to the upper portions of the triangle. 6. Sensationalized Poverty This is actually funny. The protagonists are super poor at the beginning of the story, but soon, as in super soon, they will be super rich. Makes sense, though. How will the story get a happy ending when the bida won’t end up rich? That’s it, I guess. If i continue counting, Philippines might not have a quality telenovela left. Don’t even get me started with Fantaseryes.

Labels: arts, entertainment, lists, Philippines, telenovela, television

You know i liked you and all, but you need to get to the gym ASAP. You look like Frodo Baggins as a man...

Labels: comments, entertainment, frodo baggins, photographs, Prison break, random