Review: Explication in bullet points

I saw a John Mayer CD on sale last week, so I grabbed a copy and was immediately reminded of something that I had filed and archived in my to-do list at the back of my mind: Explain why John Mayer is a talented musician/music writer/artist. I feel like I just had to, after I've read that Internet article bashing the artist to bits. I'm not much updated anymore on Mayer myself, not having heard his two or three latest albums (which I don't think I like enough), but I feel like a quick explication is still in order. Why? Because no other artist, male or female, past or present, has gotten me enthralled until Mayer came along. I just have to have a rebuttal, so here goes. :p

**

John Mayer himself claims that his music explores the "dynamics of happiness," and that is self-evident in some of his songs that are nostalgic in theme. The guy obviously had a happy childhood. But the truth is his heavy use of blues music makes his music sound sad at the same time. But that's okay. It only means he also had enough teenage troubles to give him an artist's angstiness. He chooses not to dwell on the sadness, though, but focuses instead on poetic insights, on the "everyday corduroy conundrums." John Mayer's bluesy music has more positive than negative vibe. You watch how he carresses each word with his mouth with a quiet passion. You listen how words roll off his tongue in a barely understandable and breathy drawl, yet you are still enthralled, finding it all nice.

The first time I saw John Mayer's MTV of "Bigger than My Body," what I saw plain and simple was a possibly brilliant artist for our time and with a modicum of star quality -- which he eventually proved to be when I went out of my way to listen to three or four of his most popular albums (Any Given Thursday, Heavier Things, and Room For Squares; I have yet to listen to Inside Wants Out, Continuum, and John Mayer Trio Live in Concert in full to give the music a fair play and decipher the lyrics (which takes time)).

It's okay, really, if a lot of people don't dig John Mayer at all and see him as a slithery "lizard" or a possible "sex molester." It's just like saying a lot of people don't dig the blues, and I'm perfectly at peace with that. I think they're missing a lot, but it's their choice, and we have to respect their freedom to deprive themselves.

But for those who understand his music because it speaks to their heart and is able to articulate the joys and the pain, the ecstasies and the sorrows, the fear and excitement of this tormented age, well, I can only speak for myself at this point: Yes, it's confirmed: God is unfair. For how can an individual have the "trinity of talents" of singing, songwriting, and guitar-playing while looking good at it? Unfair. He lacks the swagger of a rocker, but more than makes up for it with his delicate boyish charm (though now fast fading due to age) and a thinking, sensitive-guy aura. Such is the complex of reasons that John Mayer is one person to admire and envy -- a reason to feel good and feel bad about at the same time.

A cursory survey of fellow fans will show roughly the same non-carefully calibrated words of admiration: "John doesn't actually write lyrics, in my opinion. [His lyrics are] sheer poetry. If ever he [loses] his voice (God forbid) he'd make an awesome poet-writer. (I hear he's writing a novel anyway.)" To another fan, John Mayer's music means "easygoing melodies and catchy rhythm," and to someone else, "insightful songs and driving guitars," and to yet another, "lyrics so simple yet [speechlessly] profound."

Personally, what I like best about Mayer's music is that it is a natural (as opposed to contrived) melding of pop, acoustic rock, blues, jazz, and folk/country -- on top of intelligent but non-pedantic writing. The result is seemingly effortless beauty and work of art. His melodic phrasing alone is one of the cleverest, the most ingenious I've ever heard in American pop music. And his talent is prodigious enough to make each and every song different. Only someone born with such a gift can come up with such music, one that strikes a personal chord in people, one establishing that instant emotional connection with both the artist and the song. Mayer's music is not just honest and beautiful, it also registers on the listener on an intimate level. No wonder Mayer's style has bred a host of subconscious flatterers: John Mayer imitators! What more proof do we need?

Ah, the sheer beauty of the sound that John Mayer has made. Here's a rundown of my comments on the fly on each song that I thought is worth a listen. (Please Google the lyrics and listen to the songs in YouTube if you can.)

"Something's Missing" - the dynamics of existential loneliness; the perplexing sadness despite material wealth and achievements without lapsing into quoting Sarte, Kierkegaard, Derrida, Wittgenstein, and Augustine of Hippo

"3x5" - The paradoxical loneliness of exciting, exotic, but solo backpacker-budget travel

"No Such Thing" - "There's no such thing as 'the real world'" -- what an intelligent encapsulation of the carelessness of high school, following what your idealistic nose is sniffing for you and your future, and youthful rebellion at establishment -- misguided, dictatorial establishment, that is.

"Love Song for No One" - a desperate longing for love despite readiness; perhaps the desperate sadness of one pressured by self and society to "fall in love"

"Why Georgia" - captures that moment of not knowing: "Either way, I wonder sometimes
about the outcome of a still verdictless life/Am I living it right?"

"Your Body is a Wonderland" - sensual love in a song, a celebration in song of the female form as a theme park; may be too graphic for a non-American, though; and, oh, I still have no idea why this song is single-handedly promoted over the radio, and why it was handpicked by the American music industry as fitting enough for a Grammy; I mean, this is not among John Mayer's best

"My Stupid Mouth" - amusing tale about getting in trouble during a date (translation = socioromantic faux pas), thanks to "me and my big mouth." I thought these lines to be brilliant and funny (establishing Mayer as a funny guy; I heard he does stand-up comedy too):

Oh I'm never speaking up again
Starting now... Starting now

One more thing
Why is it my fault?
So maybe I try too hard
But it's all because of this desire
I just wanna be liked
I just wanna be funny
Looks like the jokes on me
So call me Captain Backfire

I'm never speaking up again
it only hurts me
I'd rather be a mystery
than she desert me

"83" - "I wish I was six again. Oh, make me a red cape. I wanna be Superman."

"Not Myself" - a laidback song about anxiety over this hitherto unspoken, inner insecurity: "Would you still want me when I'm not myself?" Obviously, it's a plea for, or open-mouthed wondering at, the feeling of receiving unconditional love, perhaps as asked by the mentally ill or the disturbingly quirky.

"Neon" - I don't particularly like this song, until I read this intrepretation: "What the song is saying is that there's this chick who he obviously loves, she's into all this stuff that essentially is bad for her, destructive behavior and all that, he wants to help her, save her, but he doesn't really feel like it's his place. She's not the type to slow down or commit to anything but that's exactly what he wants her to do. Again, he wants to be her savior but it's kinda hard for him to do anything about her behavior because he is so in love with her and will take her however he can get her even if that means putting up with the things she does. But he wonders how long it will be before she completely ruins herself or perhaps before she moves on to someone else and fades away from him completely. Really a great song."

"Back to You" - a variation on the "I can't quit" you theme, the theme of addicting kind of love; possibly an unintentional theme on emotional dependency; it's supposedly a song about second chances, but I wish to see it as something about the endlessness of forgiveness (out of committed love)

"City Love" - finding real love in the concrete jungle? Not as bad a proposition as it sounds; one reviewer put it this way: clever music, affecting song. I agree.

"St. Patrick's Day" - let me allow an online critic to speak instead: "I've loved this song since I first heard it but didn't really think about what it meant. This song is about a relationship where the two people are just holding on because they feel that they have to to avoid being alone. Like the holidays... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's are the only things keeping them together. Basically after St. Patrick's Day they think they'll be ready to let go finally. They don't want to break up before then and feel like losers during all those other holidays."

"Daughters" - a post-breakup song about a dysfunctional relationship with a girl who must have been emotionally abused by her father growing up. As expected, it's a relationship that must end, with the guy totally perplexed about what hit him, but John Mayer got the psychology part expertly without taking up PhD, as one commenter put it. A personal favorite, this song is characterized by so many lovely country-style slurs, which are a challenge to the voicebox, a constant threat for the singer to break into a coughing fit, but in Mayer’s voicebox rendering, are delivered as little moments of aural/aesthetic triumphs. This song changed my mind about American country music forever. It single-handedly made the genre cool (i.e., worthy of respect) to me.

"Homelife" - a song about the humble glories of being a homebody; a cry for authenticity (in place of phoniness)

"Clarity" - a song about a relationship in limbo; but to quote a listener: "I saw Mayer in concert and he described what inspired this song. As he puts it "you know those 5 seconds when you wake up and you have no prior knowledge of all the problems in your life, it's just a moment of calm, and then you remember everything and you're like oh crap, but for those 5 seconds everything is ok." When I hear this song those 5 seconds are expanded into 4 minutes and 32 seconds of bliss. Regardless of the lyrics, it says a lot about Mayer as a composer that he can convey such a powerful feeling just through sound."

"Bigger than My Body" - an enticing, even hypnotic song about the passion for change, the angry hunger for achievement, to do something more, something out of the ordinary, for a vision of life lived fully; a cry for release from mental/social/whatever creative imprisonment

"New Deep" - a song of distress about the 'effort-full' and even draining search for the meaning of life

"Only Heart" - achingly sweet assurance in the face of jealousy's wrath

"Wheel" - a vision of life in circles, a series of hellos and goodbyes and goodbyes and hellos

"Quiet" - about the noisy confusion in the quiet of dawn

"Great Indoors" - an ironic-sounding invite to explore life and love beyond one's room

"Comfortable" - non-cliche song about loving someone for who she is

"Split-Screen Sadness" - apart from the beautiful music, John Mayer is also very good in inventing phrases: "We share the sadness/(two wrongs make it all alright tonight)/Split screen sadness." A personal favorite


**

Thanks in part to: sing365.com

Review: Jolog Nation's anthem

What is the most culturally (i.e., non-politically) significant song we Filipinos have produced so far? I thought it's one that would never be mentioned nor played on FM radio, in noontime TV shows, in so-called polite society, in the fabulous company of high-society, in the hallowed halls of Malacanang, in the books, in glossy magazines, in newspapers, on top blogs maybe, and in conversations with 'cool' people, but one that is nonetheless written and sung from the heart. I thought I'd vote for "Isang Kahig, Isang Tuka" (or simply "Dukha") by Asin anytime.

No proud Filipino will ever step forward to knowing, liking, and 'owning' or claiming this song. I didn't like it myself -- the first time I heard it, that is. It's depresing and could drive anyone straight to suicide.

But no other song speaks from the heart of the downtrodden Filipino, no other song attempts to voice out his feeling with success, the feeling of janitors everywhere, the secret emotion of kargadors, yayas, katulongs, bus conductors, jeepney barkers, pedicab or padyak drivers, small-time farmers and fishermen, the food court busboy, the SM bagger, the mall contractual, the all-around sari-sari store runner, the sampaguita vendor, the ambulant street vendor, the perpetual part-timer, the small-time 'boys' and salesgirls.

The first time I heard the song, I was about four or five, and it was being played in the AM radio by my 'poorer relations' from the province who came to our place in Manila perhaps looking for work. I remember laughing at it, thinking how awful someone could think of writing such an ugly song. I learned that it was a simple song about how the life of the poor is like that of a chicken: a life lived one scratch and one peck at a time. It struck me how embarassing the song was.

After decades have passed, I heard it once again, resurrecting in my face, emanating from some perhaps disgruntled quarters (a backroom somewhere). This time, it struck me how the song persisted at all, despite the amount of time that elapsed, despite the evolution of "Original Pilipino Music" into such a dizzying array. Then it struck me how honest and true and resonant it remains for anyone who ever felt want and deprivation and hopelessness because the socioeconomic strctures of the day are plain rigid and impregnable, if not permanent.

In it's own right, this song is a beautiful song, disarming in its humility, something I didn't have for the longest time and is now working hard at. It's our version of the blues, even if it's not blues but just unpretentious Filipino folk-tinged pop music.

That this 'unsung' folk song by Asin remains alive up to now is so remarkable and, in a sense, such a shame. That the song is glaringly omitted in the echelons of society above the hidden parts, the underbellies we don't like to see, is telling.

As I matured, I realized how the song is not so much about reveling in sadness as facing a sad reality squarely; not so much a cheap cry for pity as open wonderment at one's lot; not so much stopping at life's hopelessness, letting the sad have the last word, as being emotionally honest, for once; not so much an indictment of whatever evil bred it as a sng of helplessness.

"Isang Kahig, Isang Tuka" is the ultimate uncool, the last word on what's jolog but one that anyone is hard-pressed to disparage.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for:

"Dukha"

by Asin

Ako ay isang anak mahirap
Lagi nalang akong nagsusumikap
Ang buhay ko'y walang sigla
Puro nalang dusa
Paano na ngayon ang buhay ko?

Sa akin ay walang tumatanggap
Mababa raw ang aking pinag-aralan
Grade one lang ang inabot ko
No read no write pa ako
Paano na ngayon ang buhay ko?

Isang kahig isang tuka
Ganyan kaming mga dukha
Isang kahig isang tuka
Ganyan kaming mga dukha

Sa akin ay walang tumatanggap
Mababa raw ang aking pinag-aralan
Grade one lang ang inabot ko
No read no write pa ako
Paano na ngayon ang buhay ko?

Isang kahig isang tuka
Ganyan kaming mga dukha
Isang kahig isang tuka
Ganyan kaming mga dukha
Ganyan kaming mga dukha
Ganyan kaming mga dukha

Source: free-lyrics.org

I can't find the original version, but this one by Aegis is good enough, though rocking it hard ruins an essential quality of the song:



**

Other randomly selected songs that I thought are culturally significant:

"Handog" by Florante - the ultimate Nora Aunor signature ("Tatanda at lilipas din ako..."), about a poor girl turned superstar singer in a country that worshipped the mestiza; this song eventually taught me the meaning of such words as "charisma" vis-a-vis "bakya"

"Magandang Gabi sa Inyong Lahat" - a rousing and unfailingly entertaining song of welcome; a fave show-opener in school presentations, on TV, etc.

"Mr. DJ" - who didn't fall for Sharon Cuneta's alternative cuteness the first time this song invaded the airwaves?

"Anak" by Freddie Aguilar - I liked and hated this song at the same time; it made me feel awfully guilty and forced to be forever grateful and awfully guilty at the same for being my parent's son even if I was no recovering drug addict

"Sayang" - as sung in Claire dela Fuente's unique voice, this is an unforgettable sound of ruing, regret, and wistfulness; other singers strangely can't duplicate the effect of Dela Fuente's signature style.



"Bulag, Pipi, at Bingi" by Freddie Aguilar - Its melody sounds soothing and nostalgic, totally unforgettable. The message, though, feels like either a great consolation or a great consuelo de bobo: "no temptation = less sin." True virtue, I believe, lies not in having no temptation but in overcoming it. And what’s with normal people being blind and deaf and mute? Isn’t that only to be construed as folly? Contradictory! But perhaps in the grayness of it all lies the truth? Nonetheless, there is a level of compassion that I never thought possible. How could someone who’s never been blind, deaf, or mute able to feel what the handicapped feel?

"Sino ang Tunay na Baliw" by Basil Valdez - a bit offensive in its preachiness, but the song remains memorably pithy, and you can't resist the hard truth it is driving at: nothing is quite what is seems



"Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan (Timog Cotabato)" by Asin - a sumptuous use of tribal sounds to make an affecting plea for peace borne of mutual respect for freedom of religion

"Saranggola ni Pepe" - Celeste Legaspi = happy/easy sound with a message that makes you think

"Mamang Sorbetero" - Celeste Legaspi = happy/easy sound with a message that makes you feel deep

"Ala-ala" - "Ang sabi nya'y Freddie..."; a song of embarrassingly honest confession by a recovering drug addict, reminding one that the highly personal is universal



"Ang Buhay Ko" by Asin - a beautiful, heartfelt song about pursuing one's bliss despite strong family objection; it speaks eloquently of the real pain of valid rebellion

Millennial generation?

I didn't know they have invented a synonym for the generation that came right after mine (Generation X): Generation Y, or those belonging to "a cohort of individuals born from 1980 to 1999, who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s." It's called the Millennial Generation, among whose allegedly defining characteristics is affinity with (to?) technology. I thought this generational monicker to be homonymous to Generation Why-God-Why-Oh-Why?

Says this Wikipedia entry:

"Generation Y has a nearly intimate connection to technology. In their 2007 book, Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today's Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa[17] found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:

97% own a computer
97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
94% own a cell phone
76% use instant messaging and social networking sites
66.6% of college students have a Facebook profile.[18]
60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
34% use websites as their primary source of news
28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
14% use online purchasing to buy tobacco related products
8% have confessed to having an online gaming addiction at some point in their life"


Okay, but why do I get this feeling that I'm no different than (from?) those belonging to the Millennial Generation? Strange. Something's wrong with the definition.

Scared KJ

This Halloween farty in the office is a major bummer. I don't know I can do this. Even if they re-labeled it politically correctly into "Costume Party," it doesn't work for me. I still know what it is: a Halloween farty, a celebration I certainly don't believe in. I feel like I'm forced to follow something against my will. For someone who actually believes in hell and the devil and his ilk and has seen people possessed by demons and who is wrestling everyday with day-to-day real-life devils and the effects of evil on the self, on society, and on the world, that's like being religiously molested.

But I got more scared of the penalty: Php500, as announced company-wide over the local network. So I went to SM last night to look for face paints and masks, or maybe a pope costume to scare them all away in a different way. Look what I found: Face paint sets worth Php1000+++, single-color face paints worth Php300+ each, and Halloween masks worth Php300+ each. Sheesh, it's not even scary, it's obscene!

I went around Glorietta instead, hoping to find bargains. The SM girl was the one who tipped me actually. She told me to proceed either to National Bookstore or Watson's. National Bookstore also had the same high-end prices, but I'm glad I did go there: I was rewarded on the first floor with a sale of masks worth Php70 each. My choice was a toss-up between a literary character (Frankenstein) and a modern artsy-fartsy character (a glow-in-the-dark The Scream). I settled for The Scream, although I know the image has been abused by cheap Hollywood horror movies to bits.

I'm not sure if I could enjoy the company Halloween affair, where everyone is supposed to trot around with his scary stuff. Will I be the killjoy or will I be the convert? Will see.

**

Joke time: Nges hu


Nges-hu

I got this Tagalog joke (from Mike) that's priceless because I still find it funny long after he's repeated it twice:

One day, may isang lalaking ngongo galing sa trabaho. Pag-uwi nya, gusto nyang i-surpresa ang asawa nya.

So pagdating sa bahay, dali-daling nyang blinindfold si misis habang nakatalikod ito, sabay sabi'ng, "Supplies! Nges hu???"

Sagot ng babae, medyo asar: "Nges-hu, nges-hu, ikaw lang naman ang ngongo dito noh!"

Ego defenses, 3

Here's a belated reaction to something I've read sometime in the past: "What God expects and demands in the process of overcoming addiction is that we stay right there in the struggle, CONFRONTING OUR DISHONESTY, DENIAL, OR DEFENSES and remaining fully aware of the learning that must take place. He provides the awareness; we must make the decisions. He points out the weakness; we must claim the power to overcome the weakness. He shows us where we have failed; we must go and put things right. We cannot short-circuit God's homework." - Healing Life's Hidden Addictions by Archibald D. Hart (all underscoring mine)

**

It's impossible to ask for help in psychoanalyzing oneself without understanding the different ways that we defend ourselves UNCONSCIOUSLY (a behavior commonly known as defense mechanisms) in our ego's effort not to get hurt or desire to survive.

However, the suppressed emotions (emotions buried in the subconscious) and repressed emotions (emotions buried in the unconcious), thanks to the defense mechanisms, will only manifest themselves later in various forms of self-punishment (psychosomatic disorders, depression, clinical depression, and ultimately psychosis), so for the sake of mental health and a balanced life, we must confront our true selves or shadow selves, however hard it may be. The first step, as we've learned from John Powell's Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am? is being in touch with our emotions.

How to versus How not to deal with our emotion:

1. Be aware - Ignore
2. Admit - Keep denying
3. Investigate - Keep rationalizing and rebutting
4. Report - Blow your cool and blame the other
5. Integrate - Repress and suffer consequences

Furthermore, we can never see through our own denials and delusions without the help of a counselor or psychologist, or at least a true friend, a stable individual whom we can rely on for an objective assessment, who can accurately spot the following psychological defense mechanisms (my own restatements unless otherwise indicated) manifesting in ourselves. Again, these are the types of lying to oneself that are UNCONSCIOUS (can't help overemphasizing this point because it's the easiest to miss and, to be honest, quite tricky to track down). Again, these are based on John Powell's four categories of human beings' defense strategies in Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?:

Rationalization - convoluted lying, especially to oneself, to justify an odd behavior or something wrong one did and even defend it as something virtuous; distortion of truth in the service of fantasy

Introjection - mentally living out a fantasy (via reverie, TV shows, etc.) by imagining oneself to be the reverse of what one is in real life

Displacement - kicking the dog and telling him, "Die, you, filthy animal," because you can't tell it directly to your mother or father who's the one who actually offended you; another example is Scapegoating (see below for another definition of Scapegoating: i.e., as a form of Projection)

Projection - unconscious attribution to others of something ugly in oneself that one cannot admit to oneself; a hypocritical denial of a criticism that should be directed at oneself, deflecting it by accusing others instead.

An example is hating someone's negative attribute because one unconsciously can't stand the same in oneself. A telling sign is irrational hate or fear (or any form of paranoia) toward a certain thing or person.

This entry is added in another of Powell's book (Will the Real Me Pelas Stand Up?) that he co-authored with Loretta Brady.

Compensation (Reversal or Reaction Formation to Freud) - a defensive reaction opposite to the real but hidden one; examples: being a know-it-all to repress self-doubt, or whistling in the dark to counteract one's fear, or putting on airs to make up for perceived lack

Other categories of ego defenses I've read about in another source (Wilkie Au's and Noreen Cannon's Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration (St Pauls, 1995)) are:

'Positive' Projection - I've learned that the unconscious defense mechanism called projection can be 'positive.' I don't mean 'positive' in the sense that it is 'good' (the subconscious is amoral ground), but in the sense that it could be a projection of something good in another person that we are not aware is present in ourselves though denied by cruel circumstances and thus left undeveloped. For example, hero worship or idolizing someone is a form of 'positive' projection. We put someone we admire on a pedestal, not because he is indeed admirable, but because we think and feel that the person has something wonderful that we lack when in fact we have the same exact quality in us that was undeveloped or even neglected. When we simply admire someone, that's normal, but the minute we start to obsess or are INORDINATELY attached or attracted, we should watch out. It could be 'positive' projection, which is again a form of ego defense (or the instinctive reaction out of fear of getting hurt, thus the need to defend). I hope I'm not wrong, but I think this type of projection might also be construed as "unconscious envy." As in the negative type of projections (and all forms of ego defense mechanisms), this type of projection can only result in a lowered self-esteem.

Inner Voice - I have yet to read up further on it.

Freudian Slip - honestly, I don't know or I can't understand how this works.

Humor - I hope to touch on this at greater length soon.

Now, here are more examples of "projection of the shadow self," according to Au and Cannon (1995):

Scapegoating - This seems to deserve a category of its own. It could be seen as a form of displacement, but it's more like "unseemly finger-pointing" or "misplaced blaming" to me.

Dreams - It's been said that the characters in our dreams could be different parts of our "false self" or "shadow self" (Jung), "unconscious self" (Freud), "wounded inner child" (Missildine and Berne), etc., all of which are suspiciously related to "the dark side of our personality" (Thomas Keating), "room for self-knowledge" (Teresa of Avila), "dark night of the soul" (John of the Cross), and "the old man" (Paul of Tarsos).

Perfectionism - Driven by the distorted view that one needs to be perfect to earn one's parents' or God's love.

(Feelings of) Inferiority/Inferiority Complex - Related to "positive projection"?

I might add these other categories of defense mechanisms or projections I've learned elsewhere (from counseling):

(Since there is Inferiority Complex, might we add Superiority Complex as well?)

Seeming Altruism (or Messianism?) - actually a projection because it is motivated by one's unconscious desire to address one's unmet needs in chlidhood

Intellectualization - seems akin to Introjection, but it's really about seeking the solace of mental masturbation instead of facing a simple but harsh reality; splitting hairs over something that's otherwise very simple as a form of escapism; the result may be a 'happy' confusion, sucessfully clouding over one's real issues

Overspirituality - spiritual escapism; spiritual version of Intellectualization; especially dangerous is the euphoria-prone spirituality of charismatics

It's interesting to note how such unconscious ego defenses can result in (or are complexed with) the following behavior, which often seem normal on the surface:

Codependency or Emotional Dependency (E.D.), which, according to Au and Cannon (1995), is characterized by:

- People-Pleasing,
- Compulsive Giving,
- Shame,
- Controlling or Manipulation,
- Compensation, and
- Poor Self-Image (or Low Self-Esteem)

Perfectionism

Envy (Cf. Jealousy)

Overwork

Now, let's make a quick survey of the bitter fruits (psychological complexes?) resulting from all of the above (I will try to define each on my own when I get around to thinking up on each):

Emotional Vampirism - I guess this happens when a one-way E.D. occurs, draining the target of energy (correct me if I'm wrong)

Substance Addiction

Anxiety

Depression

(Extreme) Prudery/Negative Body Image

Defensive Detachment

Oversensitivity

Sexual Compulsions/Sexual Dysfunctions (uncontrollable masturbation, porn addiction, etc. etc.; there's a whole gamut of complex sexualizations to discuss; we may consult the ones listed or even de-listed (no thanks to political pressure) in the DSM; includes negative (gender, etc.) programming or failure of male/female modeling)

Homophobia - a form of paranoia, denial, or projection: hating in another the very thing one hates about in oneself

Other Phobias (Anxiety Complexes?)

Psychosomatic Disorders/Syndromes

Precious lesson to be learned: It's dangerous to suppress and repress our emotions. Expressing our emotions, though, doesn't mean acting them out, but integrating them. What's the difference? Well, just to give one very common example, NOT DENYING that we are angry or envious or hateful or jealous when we are is the right path.

One very common pitfall in the desire for heightened self-awareness is the very strong temptation to escape the pain, to love where we are by numbing our pain -- Bo Sanchez used 'medicating' the pain -- via drugs (hallucinogens, etc.), sex, shopping, and other methods and getting stuck there. That's the stage we must consciously struggle to get out of.

Another common pitfall is wallowing in the pain, the reverse or opposite of numbing the pain. The result of this mistake is even more pain leading to depressive feelings. In either case, we are stuck, we can't move on.

Once we recognize the things that are subconsciously and unconsciously affecting our behavior, we will inevitably want to deal with them or manage them instead of them controlling us.

Before we get to the stage of healing and wholeness, however, we must be willing to be humble enough, and equally importantly, courageous enough to face our unconscious and subconscious fears.

Understanding ourselves

Interesting (human) developmental theories I've read about recently:

David Dickinson's theory advances that the more advanced a child's vocabulary, the better a reader he or she becomes.

Sociocultural theorist Lev Vygotsky's notion of scaffolding and zone of proximal development: "Scaffolding instruction as a teaching strategy originates from Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and his concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). “The zone of proximal development is the distance between what children can do by themselves and the next learning that they can be helped to achieve with competent assistance” (Raymond, 2000, p.176). The scaffolding teaching strategy provides individualized support based on the learner’s ZPD (Chang, Sung, & Chen, 2002). In scaffolding instruction a more knowledgeable other provides scaffolds or supports to facilitate the learner’s development. The scaffolds facilitate a student’s ability to build on prior knowledge and internalize new information. The activities provided in scaffolding instruction are just beyond the level of what the learner can do alone (Olson & Pratt, 2000). The more capable other provides the scaffolds so that the learner can accomplish (with assistance) the tasks that he or she could otherwise not complete, thus helping the learner through the ZPD (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000)."

(Cf. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and Piaget’s theory of developmental stages)

**

K. Warner Schaie's life-span model is an attempt to explain the development of the cognitive ability of people.

James E. Marcia's theory of adolescent psychosocial development proposes four stages of identity development: "1. Identity Diffusion, the stage in which the young person is not currently going through a crisis and has not made a commitment. 2. Identity Foreclosure, the stage in which the young person has made a commitment without having gone through a crisis. 3. Identity Moratorium, the stage in which the young person is currently in a crisis but has not made a commitment. 4. Identity Achievement, the stage in which the person has gone through a crisis and has made a commitment to a certain value or role" (as nicked from Wikipedia).

Robert R. McCrae's five-factor model explains the traits that most young adults meet: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.

Source: Papalia, Diane E., Sally Wendkos Olds, Ruth Duskin Feldman. Human Development. 9th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2004

**

Meanwhile, got this psychospiritual bit from counseling somewhere: The four stages of life journey are: heroic journey, crisis of limitation, wisdom journey, spiritual journey. It's interesting to compare this to other life stages interpretations from other religions such as this.

**

Lastly, I am reminded of this comprehensive and highly integrative (not to mention epistaxis-inducing) Models of man/woman post I did back in '003. I've almost forgotten this one.

Keating on the false self

I'm surprised to learn that the most spiritual religious men are well-versed in psychology. Take, for instance, this famous Cistercian monk Thomas Keating:

"It is essential that we learn to recognize the tendencies of our false self if we want to be happy, because only in recognizing them can we change them. We do not have to analyze them. We just have to notice them and let them go."

- Thomas Keating in his book Intimacy with God (St. Paul, 19??), p. 71

Quick comment: What's new to me is that "we don't have to analyze the false self." We just have to take notice. Still, that's easier said than done. Being honest with oneself is not the easiest thing in the world when we've spent our years covering things up until we've become a multilayer of lies like an onion.

Q&A

A pop question was thrown at a group of mostly young people in a retreat I went to during the weekened, and it revealed unexpected answers. The question was: "What do you think is the most difficult problem (in your part of the world) that needs to be overcome or resolved?"

Here are the answers (to the non-scientific survey), in no particular order:

1. Material poverty (despite the resource wealth of the country) and its deep psychological wounds resulting from the economic divide; one outgrowth of this problem is the exodus of Filipinos to almost every country listed in the United Nations roster, and that results in a whole new set of psychological problems

2. Unmet emotional needs - name any neurosis (and perhaps even psychosis) and it's traceable to this problem; it results in feelings of conditional love, the shame attached to the feeling that one is a mistake or failure (in constrast to the guilt that one committed a mistake or failed), low self-worth, lack of self-respect, etc., all of which bear bad fruits such as addictions, sexual compulsions, and a host of other mental health dysfunctions and disorders

3. Lack of self-awareness/Lack of self-insight/Denials/Defenses - this leads to either suppression of emotions, which are then stored in the subconscious, and repression of emotions, which are then buried deep in the unconscious

4. Psychological effects of our colonial history - colonial mentality; the lack of strong identity; inferiority complex; insecurity about who we are (thus we name every group we form with "Pinoy" something); economic dependency and, worse, mental dependency on the West

5. Fear - feelings of insecurity of whatever kind and its immobilizing quality; this is intertwined with #2

6. Pride in one's heart - resulting in stubbornness in one's way of life, lack of firmness in making decisions, blindedness to other ways of thinking and doing (closed-mindedness)

7. Lack of forgiveness of others and especially of oneself - this results in self-punishment and an-eye-for-an-eye punishment of others, unnecessary feelings of guilt, and wasted energy; also traceable to lack of love of others and oneself, which may be traceable to #2

I don't know what to make of the list for now. As I have said, the results were totally unexpected.

Designer water

What happened to plain water? Apparently it is dead -- for people are into designer water these days. It used to be that water was just water, until bottled mineral water came. Suddenly, tap water has become unfashionable (because unhealthy) to drink. Water must now be imbibed purified and enriched with the essential minerals for it to be fashionably potable.

Now, that has become passe as well. There's bottled "vitamin water" too! Vitamin water? Yes, it's allegedly how "Gatorade does water." Hmmm.

Of course, the tagline is tempting enough for me to try it the other day. Findings? It seems therapeutic to me that I'll give it another shot.

In the market today, there are other incarnations of designer water too: Fruit-flavored water, water with some kind of sugar in it for diabetics or dieters or something, carbonated water for the plain maarte with their water, and the ph-adjusted water (or "alkaline water") for whatever imagined medical ailment it is for.

There's even the mysterious "pi water" -- pi as in the Greek letter pi -- available near your corner vulcanizing shop.

But this idea of tinkering with plain water is not really original. Let us not forget the Ernie Baron water that is supposedly produced when you place water inside the Ernie Baron pyramid. Which -- lest we forget --harks back to the equally strange "Toning water" mass produced via mass hypnosis or something via AM radio in the '70s.

Actually tap water itself has long been classifiable into two: hard water (naturally magnesium-enriched) and soft water(a bit more purified). Water is not that simple an affair to deal with.

But who would've thought that water itself -- the symbol of life -- could be like the wheel: open for constant reinvention. One wishes someone can eventually invent water that turns into red wine.

Recipe for atavistic avatars

Dear diary,

I know that Indian food contains radioactive sago, posporo powder, and osterized aratiles seeds, but I didn't know that masala itself contains 25,000 spices all in all! I fainted when I learned that that's what I sniffed for lunch the other day without knowing.

Unlike Indian food, Filipino foods rely each on just one predominant spice to define the flavor, as in ginger giving the signature smell of tinolang manok; or bagoong announcing to the whole world the imminent stewing of pinakbet, with bagoong's bad reputation (musky marine ferment, or stench to the Western nostril) preceding the dish; or a teeny-weeny slice of onion imparting that certain distinctiveness of hopiang baboy. Filipinos particularly do not like drowning natural flavors of meats and fishes in overpowering layers of other tastes.

Apparently, this simplistic culinary philosophy is comparably strange to the Indian. The masala, for instance, is a calibrated mix of pungent tastes and acrid smells cantilevered on the two opposable thumbs known as yoni and lingam, producing the kundalini effect (oneness (?) in Transcendental Meditation terms, "wholeness" in Christian terms, or perhaps the wu-wei concept of the Taoists, or nirvana among the Buddhists, or cloud of unknowing among monastic Christians). No, I am not only referring to the Tantric sexiness of the resulting dish, but to the devourer's resultant desire to reincarnate and be in touch with one's inner god/goddess (anima/animus in modern psychology). It's a wonder how things don't end up cancelling out each other.

A quick look, for instance, at the radioactive formula behind chicken tikka masala would reveal a death-defying list for any celebrity chef of the day. It requires no less than Gandhi's philosophy of satyagraha:

Part I.

2 lbs. boneless chicken breast
1/4 cup yogurt
3 t. minced ginger
3 t. crushed garlic
1/4 t. white pepper
1/4 t. cumin powder
1/4 t. mace ----> What the hell is this?! Isn't this poisonous? a weapon of mass destruction?? Won't it sting the eyes or something???
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. green cardamom powder
1/4 t. chili powder
1/4 t. turmeric
3 T. lemon juice
4 T. vegetable oil
Melted margarine (for basting) ---> Isn't vegetable oil enough?!

Part II.

5 oz. tomato paste
10 oz. tomato puree
2 lbs. tomatoes, chopped --> Look, they're not contented with just one tomato!!!
2 t. ginger paste
2 t. garlic paste
2 t. green chilies
1 T. red chili powder ---> But didn't they put chilies already?!? Strange!@@$
2 t. cloves
8 green cardamoms
salt to taste
3 T. butter
2/3 cup cream
1 t. fenugreek
2 t. ginger, julienned --> Apparently, ginger paste isn't enough!!! There must be whole gingers in 'em too!!!
honey to taste

No wonder a Filipino tummy, used to just one overpowering spice at a time, would erupt into volcanic grumblings when it comes in contact with Indian food, as though it has just gone through ayurvedic therapy.

Yin-yang yumminess/yuckiness

Ricky Lee's first novel published

Hot heritage vid: Manila, Queen of the Pacific 1938

**

Photos: The arrestingly cute puggle, or echidna baby Also: Say hello to the scotoplane.

Photojoke: Tiger Woods Nike photo What Nike's getting for it's $100 M

Animal 'cruelty' photo: "Fowl Play ~ Bunny Meets Bird, Bird Eats Bunny! End of Story" Question is what big bird wuzzat? Looks like a sinister kind of heron to me. Help me ID it, please.

"Horse gets head stuck in tree." "A horse had to be cut free with a chainsaw after it managed to get its head stuck in a tree."

Fake coins. "There was this story about Chinese factories specializing in fake coins of various nations. They make fake, uh, cough "replica" cough, bills and ancient artifacts, too, but coins are the big item."

"Masters of disguise: Stunning pictures of the tricks used by creatures to camouflage themselves"

"Death-defying workman climbs out of 16th floor window to fix air-conditioning unit

Wonderful photos: "The Astonishing Eggs of Alien Nations." "We are not alone. There are alien nations among us and they are breeding, numbering in their billions. However, don't be too alarmed as they are generally tiny and evolved on our little blue planet. They have not after all, arrived from some galaxy far far away. Their eggs come in a variety of shapes and sizes and reflect the diversity of their countless species. Here, thanks to some wonderful macrophotography, are the eggs of some of the insects with which we share the planet earth." (Shouldn't it be micro-?)

Fantastic Hubble space telescope photos. The experience is nothing less than spiritual.

Treadmill dance

Haven't been watching MTV for years, so I missed this one:

How to dance on treadmills

**

Thing none knew, I know this is old, but I just wanna post this here. Kawawa naman si Michael Fajatin o: Michael Fajatin booboo. Was he on drugs, did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed, got a bad rap from the boss, was bypassed in a promotion, got dumped, took the wrong meds, or what?? Nen said, "Di nag-notes yan!"

Happy Diwali!

In atonement for my sins, I dragged my new friends to Swagat, an authentic Indian restaurant in Rada St. We had pieces of roti (the name of the bread changes every time a spicy ingredient is added), vegetarian pakora (assorted vegetables in batter, deep-fried, and dipped in sourish and herb-y dips, which we tried manfully), murgh biryani (chicken in spicy and attractively yellow rice and other suspicious ingredients), shrimp biryani (same color; a heavenly shrimp dish with actual shrimps), chicken tikka masala (really, really tasty and creamy dish, but really, really hot and spicy too, considering we pressed the "mild" button, not the "spicy"), roghan josh (jeez, goat caldereta! in yoghurt cream and almonds! (actually I counted only one almond seed, cut in two)), murgh makhanwala (a sourish and brightly red-orange chicken curry that drove me into fits of complaint; a sourish curry? imagine that!), and assorted lassis (assorted yoghurt-based shakes; I chose rose petal lassi for the heck of it -- well? it's like drinking rose petals!).

Waitresses in a traditional (long and multilayered and technicolor) Indian costume served us. They spoke unmistakably native Tagalog, though, while wearing a bindhi (that red dot) on their forehead even if they're no Indian royalty. In other words, the suspension of disbelief was ruined. I figure they must speak with faked Indian accent, like in Hollywood movies about Germany where characters speak English with faked German accents. Nen, however, noted how hard it must be for the waitresses to wash their uniform and prepare it for work. (I think that's not my problem anymore.)

The room was dizzying because of all the garish colors that contrasted and conflicted, the decorative elephants that flew in the air, and the reincarnated gods speaking undecipherable Sankrit. We counted only one Indian-looking person in the house.

Since it's the Hindu Christmas (Diwali) when we came, they gave us a 10% discount.

But good luck to our armpits and alimentary canals.

Inhaling mollusks

Dear diary,

I haven't learned eating insects yet (unless an ant or a spider found its way into my miso soup by mistake), but I realized that I've long been fond of inhaling mollusks. Poor creatures -- I'm not even sure if they're endangered or what, but their misfortune lies in their unique flavors each.

If you're either a freshwater mollusk or marine mollusk-inhaler like I am, you also must have imbibed soupy dishes containing any of the following:

- mussels (tahong)
- oysters (talaba)
- giant clams (I've tried this when it still wasn't considered illegal)
- scallops
- other assorted clams (locally, there's the tulya (???), halaan (???), diwal (razor clam), etc.)
- escargot (common snail (not the garden variety), or locally called kuhol)

My favorite is not even on the list, and it's this little, long, black pointy snail I can't even name. The flavor is rich, creamy, eggy, even when I'm not comparing it to creme brulee. We eat a lot of those things back home in Pangasinan. (I think I should make an equivalent quick survey each of Pangalatok, Ilocano, Quezon, Kapampangan, and Cebuano cuisines, because these are the most distinctive so far.)

When it comes to taste, mollusks (univalves and bivalves (clams)) have no identity problems. You can eat each one with a blindfold and won't commit a mistake.

To those of you who aren't addicted to these stuff, the ick factor is understandably high. But when it's your misfortune in life to have acquired the taste early on, woe to you if you can't have your fill every now and then, even when the price is prohibitive.

The downside of eating mollusks, however, is the level of toxin (chiefly heavy metals) associated with them, as many are bottom-feeders. Bon appetit!

It made me think, though. If I can inhale mollusks, that means I'm just one step next to inhaling lizards -- and maybe soon, snorting powdered insects too. Makes sense to me.

Time to relearn Simon Cowell's accent

Dear Americains,

It ain't kewl to be Americain these days. It's time to learn how to be British, as Her Majesty the Queen has recently announced in her Recolonization Plan A over tea. You all should relearn proper English pronunciation. Ladies and laddies, Simon Cowell's accent is far more goh-jus tawk ("gorgeous talk" to you) than the usual cheap street talk you've grown accustomed to, no thanks to Texan cowboys. Here's a very good guide: How to speak with a stiff upper lip. (Our very own Imee Marcos is very good in this.)

But if all else fails, pretend you're a Frenchman, like I do, madames and messieurs. In his most useful film ever, Steve Martin will show you how.

"Thing nun knew"

One day, over Gmail chat:

Me: "Please give an example of a homonym."

Mike: "Thing none knew see Kwan who bought who bad."

Me: "Hahaha. Di naman homonym yan eh!"

I got to admit this... this toomfoolery around the shifting usage of English and Filipino languages is an alternately annoying and amusing reinvention of language. We Filipinos are notorious when it comes to deliberately using ugly puns or wordplays, to the point of being offensive to the uninitiated, i.e., foreigners in our midst, who'd naturally feel disorientated by such sudden shifts in language and intended meaning. I wonder where we got the idea. Must be our inherently weird sense of humor.

In the above example, we all know that the Tagalog 'homonym' reads, "Tingnan n'yo si Kwan, hubo't hubad." Literally, when translated to English, it means "Look at Mr. Kwan -- he forgot to wear something today other than his smile." The complete version is a lot worse: a green joke, and the first line reads, "Thing none knew see in die who bought who bad." The rest of the joke, though 'unprintable,' is accessible online.

A blogger I've read somewhere has this apparently senseless pseudonym, which a Filipino worth his so-called salt will immediately identify as a mura (swear word): "Tongue in Anew" ("You, fatherm*ckers!"). I'm sure there are many more equally horrendous examples out there, including ones that are similarly bastos (gratuitously sexually graphic).

Used among Filipinos, this unique homonymous/homophonous English-to-Tagalog switches such as "Thing none you"'s are a form of cheap entertainment. However, when used with outsiders, these are used as a conspiratorial wink by one naughty Pinoy to another, a weapon often used when an offensive foreigner is ganged up on and insulted in his face without him knowing.

AL, a friend who has worked in Syria and the Middle East, one day relates how often Filipinos complain aloud to each other this way even when they're with Indian or Middle Eastern colleagues: "Mabaho, mabaho!!"

One bright Indian guy confronted AL one day by asking him to straight up and tell what "mabaho" meant.

"So what did you say?" I probed, excited to know his reply.

"Of course, I invented something else," he said.

Yeah, right, I thought, like perhaps telling them to look up separately under the words 'ma,' 'bah' and 'who'"? But AL said the poor Indian guy eventually Googled the word and found out. Of course, he found that "ma-bah-who" means "overly spicy." ;)

I am thus reminded of Jawi, another Indian, my own acquaintance. He is a Sikh, and for some reason, Sikhs are very much against shaving, haircuts, deodorant use, and other things we Filipinos take for granted and consider health basics and grooming essentials. One day, Jawi casually told me in my face how I'd be mistaken for someone belonging to a very low caste in India because of my skin tone. He was serious. Since I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, I was so stumped by what he said that I failed to hear the rest of what he was saying. The one word that kept flashing in my mind was "untouchable."

But in retaliation, the inevitable Pinoy thought balloon was, "Eh cow, may yeah man sa India, pay row dee two pug see nah bee mow Boom Bye hull lost law hut see go rah dew E! big saw bee hint mah bah who at ma hee leg mug pa five six."

**

Here are really funny switch jokes (sent to me as text messages):

"Use dedicate in a sentence.

-Pag ginamitan mo yan ng glue for sure dedicate yan.

How about continue?

-Kahapon ang dami dami nyo bakit ngayon ang continue.

Idagdag pa natin ang violet.

-I lost my phone. Di bale I’ll violet.

Eto pa: opinion.

-Papasok ka sa pinto kung opinion.

Eh ang conclusion?

-Siyempre di ka naman makakapasok sa sa pintuan conclusion."

**

Here's an example of a variation on the joke:

"Mabait lang akong tingnan. In English, I’m just good-looking."

Another:

"Anong tawag sa pagkain na mabilis? Sopas
Eh yung mas mabilis pa sa sopas? Pasta"

Problem solved!

How do we solve poverty? It's easy, really. No need to split hairs. The secret is making poverty a top secret. Elaborate coverup -- that's the final solution.

Yep, denial is a most efficacious approach. Can't countenance the sight of squatter colonies along the railroad tracks? Why, cover them up with a cheap prefab wall.

Scandalized at the mere sight of kids sifting through the flotsam and jetsam at Manila Bay (for any recyclable and salvageable)? Photoshop the whole of Manila Bay so CNN won't see.

Find it unthinkable that some desperate people scour the city's trash cans in search of fastfood leftovers? Airbrush them out of existence.

Find unspeakable the collective suicide of an entire family because they have nothing left to eat? Censor the news. CNN might catch it. Or they might not, 'cause it didn't even happen.

Can't stand ambulant hawkers and sidestreet vendors invading the entire street because they have no other means of employment? Sweep them off the street altogether and have them sidewsiped.

Can't stand naked and dirty kids and beggars and hoboes and prostitutes violating your delicate and holy eyes? Pretend. Have no heart. You won't have anything to break and will have nothing to face.

Can't stand people making the underside of bridges their home, like bats? Transfer them to a remote town where there are no jobs. So confined, they'll no longer exist.

Can't stand the rotting carcass inside our tomb? Add more cement and paint the tomb blinding white. Problem solved!

A quick survey of Ilonggo food

(I'm a celebrity sushi sous chef slash food critic schmritic.)

Time was when the mere thought of putting up a restaurant serving a Philippine regional cuisine was unthinkable, even laughable (because we're the first one to look at our own with contempt). Then came a restaurant like Casa Ilongga, serving unique dishes from Iloilo, a province in Panay Is. in the Vizayas. (The Ilonggos have also invaded Negros Is. and Guimaras Is.) The idea clicked, and the rest is local culinary history. Today, there are innumerable places to savor Ilonggo food, one of which is Ilonggo Grill, where the staff address all the women, "Gâ" (short for "palanggâ," the Ilonggo word for "dear") and talk to one another in an affectionate-sounding sing-song (an Ilonggo signature trait). There are the other notable emerging regional cuisines, of course: Pampango (Cabalen, Mangan), Ilocano, Quezon, Bicolano, but it's Ilonggo food that has distinctively conquered the city the most.

Among the quick items that initiated me into the palatal preferences of Ilonggos are the following: batchoy, puto manapla, pia-ya, chicken inasal, and crablets.

I don't like the burn-victim look of chicken inasal -- shriveled, dried, overly singed in parts (blame it on the calamansi juice and brown sugar in the marinade) -- but the resulting consistenncy is actually a mix of juicy and tough. Dunked in a sweetish chili-and-garlic vinegar dip, this soy-marinated chicken barbecue tastes great, nothing like any of the fastfood fare, although Kenny Rogers' roast chicken comes close.

Puto manapla is no match to my hometown version (the sticky puto-lets of Calasiao, Pangasinan), but the Ilonggo version is subtly different: It is more on the soft side and less on the chewy side, and is imparted an interesting aroma by the young and unburnt banana leaf (are banana leaves actually edible?). The process of steaming the refined rice dough in banana leaf wrappers must be an interesting departure from the grilled aroma lent by the burnt banana leaf to Pangasinan's tupig and puto varieties.

Batchoy (or bachoy) is a happy cauldron of thin flavors and variegated textures competing for attention: the soft ribbons of rice-and-egg noodles, the invitation to slurp impolitely by the beaten egg white and yolk bits, the roughage of crunchy chicharon (pork rind) bits, the livery bits, the delicious pork bits, the aromatic leeks -- all swimmingly circumnavigating a wide steaming pond. Overall, the primordial soup tastes delightfully sweetish (unlike Chinese mamis), and I'm not sure where the subtle sweetness is coming from.

Pia-ya or piyaya is a slightly flaky saucer-like dessert made of molasses baked in a sesame-seed-studded pita bread-like crust. It's overly sweet yet mysteriously irresistible. Once you pop, you can't stop even if you're diabetic. I've also tried their napoleones dessert lately, which turned out to be a version of cream puff using a giant otap (the Cebuano crispy sugar-encrusted tongue-shaped cookie). The multilayered crust -- almost like a palimpsest of papyrus -- is delicate, turning crumbly at the slightest contact with fork and knife, and the vegetable oil is too overpowering for me, but overall, this confectioner's sugar-topped pastry, with its surprise of thick but non-oozing creamy goodness inside, is yummy.

I find the crablets that Ilonggos eat quite yucky, though. It's like eating sun-dried, flour-dipped insects or crustaceans -- chitin, carapace, and all. Ugh. Crablets make the sound of calcium crackling. Paired off with pinapaitan, a bitter and soupy beef innard dish, however, the little deep-fried crabs make sense, but I'm not inclined to try again.

Ilonggos are also fond of eating this shellfish called diwal (or razor clam), and I love it. I have yet to find the right words for its unique taste.

Then there's also the heavenly crabmeat omelet dish fried on top of a halved or butterflied eggplant. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's unforgettable with banana catsup.

There's a weird meat dish called kansi, a beef dish that's part-pochero, part-sinigang, and part-pinapaitan.

One unlikely dish I like as a side dish to any meat-based main course is the langka (unripe jackfruit slices) and cadios {pigeon pea) vegetable dish my friend Rolan (a Guimaras native) taught me to eat. You have to acquire the taste for this weird black bean-studded dish, with lots of pork fat slices afloating (and preferably with ampalaya tops too).

Finally, the queen of Ilonggo cuisine is their version of paella, the arros a la valenciana. It's made of achuete-tinted glutinous rice made rich with an aggregate of bits and pieces of the good things in life: chicken bits, pork bits, raisins, green peas, etc.

Here's a big, fat burp to downhome but rich and tasty Ilonggo cuisine.

Dear Willy Revillame,

Please stop singing. You're no good at it. Whatever we've done wrong to you, please don't punish us by singing incredibly icky songs. We don't deserve it. We already have so many problems in life. First, there was the rice crisis, then the melamine scare, then the financial meltdown. And now this.

You're already rich and famous. Why? Why bother with a singing career? Tinkering with stuff in the wrong direction -- it's not giving you more pogi points, Willy. Give the chance to others. Let others who have singing talent give it a try instead.

We could forgive you if your singing is funny. Problem is it isn't. Your talent lies elsewhere, and you know it: hosting Wowowee and convincing people to part with their greenbacks while dancing like an arthropod afflicted with arthritis. By all means, stay where you're good at. Honestly, we envy you and resent your good fortune. But never are we gonna envy you singing.

Each of us has his or her own unique gifts. You've already found yours, so what's the problem? Can't you be thankful? Are you, in fact, coveting your neighbor's vocals? Stop. Rejoice in their giftedness instead. Be grateful that you're not the one who has to strain at his throat night and day just to earn big bucks.

Just because others can put together a CD album doesn't mean you too can. Life is not like that. If others can do it, it doesn't necessarily lead to "so can I." You are already affirmed much in life just by winning that plum TV hosting job, which I think should better go to Randy Santiago. Relax. Calm down. We don't have to have it all every time.

You're fine as you are, Willy, warts and all. Believe it. There's no need to prove yourself to us. You don't have to. You don't want to confuse:

(a) your right to hum a harmless tune like "ABC" in the safe confines of your bathroom, with
(b) a talented singer's duty to develop and show off his natural gifts.

If you must prove yourself to yourself, then run as fast as you can to the nearest karaoke bar, not to a recording studio. There, you can perfect your flats and hemidemisemiquavers with impunity. Just don't forget to have the bar hermetically sealed.

**

(Note to self: Update What-is-baduy list.)

Loneliness vs. solitude

"Loneliness seems to be an essentially human experience. It is not just about being alone. Loneliness is not the same thing as solitude. We can be alone yet happy, because we know that we are part of a family, a community, even the universe itself. Loneliness is a feeling of not being part of anything, of being cut off. It is a feeling of being unworthy, of not being able to cope in the face of a universe that seem to work against us. Loneliness is a feeling of being guilty. Of what? Of existing? Of being judged? By whom? We do not know. Loneliness is a taste of death."

- Jean Vanier, Becoming Human, p. 33

Paris-Hiltoned

Oh. My. God. What's this I read in Forbes magazine?! We top 25 tycoons are a lot poorer now. Oh my. This is really like being in the center of a cherry: THE PITS. I'm so, like, poverty-stricken. What a pitiful lot I now have. I can't shop in Harrods anymore like I used to. Plus I need to slow down on jet plane use. Goodbye to all that: sudden Hong Kong trips to buy powdered tiger's paw straight from the source and snort durian-guyabano shake on the side. I'm so like a commoner now. Sigh. This is so clinical depression time. I, like, so need to be in touch with my shrink. As in now. Please help me. I'm so helpless, I dunno what to do. I'm at a loss. My life has no meaning now, not even with my $345,000 fur coat and Percy, my beloved pooch. I might leap from my penthouse anytime. Oh, God, if there's a God, save me. How can I be with my friends now that I'm a trillion dollar poorer and 65 cents short? I need something to save my face. My personal worth going down in 60 seconds just like that -- how unimaginable! How insensitive! The horror! I'm going to die! I'm going to die now! I'm so helpless, so please, help me, help meeeee!

Today's boiling cauldron

What's cooking, monsieur? Hmm, a lot. But I really mean "yesterday," not "today."

Old, moldering That's Entertainment posts I forgot to post out of laziness:

Feature: Mukesh Ambani's mansion in the air

Feature: The Tree-House Restaurant

Um, photoessay?: Creative Works from Food and Fruit

Joke: Why we need reviews

Feature: The "Faulty Towers" of Chinese Propaganda Machine. Don't miss the cartoon at the end. It's a cartoon I wish I did, and which I now want to resist cutting 'n pasting. The instant classic should be titled "The Whole World is Made in China."

Joke: Old Lady and the Atheist

Politics/literature: The Hemingway Code"

**

Religious and other related news I forgot to post out of paranoia or fear complexed with laziness:

"Presbyterians vote against mandatory fidelity and chastity"

"Allah no longer has 99 most beautiful names"

"Homosexuality is treatable and preventable"

Here's reportedly what happens when the Gender Discrimination Bill is passed without refining it: a persecution of and ironic discrmination against those who choose to be "ex-gays".

Parenthetically and corrollarily, the same will happen to Catholics who believe and uphold the papal and official Church teaching on contraception if the current RH Bill is not refined to accomodate a compromise in the name of religious freedom and freedom of speech, a point that is lost on those blinded by hate. All deists and people who call themselves "libertarian" and allegedly "firm believers" of "freedom" of speech must fight for the rights of people upholding traditional religious beliefs even if they don't necessarily share that belief. The logic is very clear and simple to anyone, not to mention the intent decent enough, even to my pet golden retriever. This is the acid test.

There are more Muslims now than Catholics: Vatican

Conversion Heard Around the World by Thomas Haidon, FrontPageMagazine.com

It's faith that gave birth to science.: "Vindicated: courageous man who saw how faith gave birth to science" by Donald de Marco

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: Liberal Christianity will not survive for a long time

Islam's Much Awaited World Leader — Al-Mahdi

Indian priest "miracle" recovery thanks to Mother Teresa by Nirmala Carvalho

It's a free, free world

Welcome to the free world, a world where milk must be labeled melamine-free, bread bromate-free, cookies trans-fat-free, grilled chicken cholesterol-free, noodles preservatives-free, fruit juices artificial flavor-free, vegetables pesticide-free and fertilizer-free, ice cream sugar-free, farm produce formalin-free, pork foot and mouth disease-free, beef mad cow-disease-free, energy source "nuclear-free," gasoline lead-free, factories greenhouse gas-free, bottled water chlorine-free, canned goods GMO-free, rice naphthalene-free, baby feeding products bisphenol A-free, processed foods carcinogen-free, and so on.

-----

Related: "The melamine stain: One sign of a worldwide problem"

(to be expanded)

Categories of Muslims

It's surprising to know that Muslims are no different from Christians in terms of exponential divisions. The major Muslim groups in the world are many, which should explain why Muslims also kill each other now and then here and there. I snipped this from C.P.'s post:

1) Wahhabi Sunni Muslims
2) "Traditionalist" Sunni Muslims (belonging to the four traditional schools of Islamic jurisprudence)
3) "Abangan" Sunni Muslims (Indonesia)
4) The various groups of "Sufi" Muslims
5) Ibadi' Muslims (dominant in Oman, considered by Wahhabis as "non-Muslim")
6) Yemeni Shiite Islam
7) "Twelver" Shiite Islam (dominant in Iraq and Iran and parts of the Arabian peninsula)
8) "Sevener" or Isma'ili Shiite Islam
9) Alevi/Alawite Shiites (the religion of the ruling Baath party in Syria, considered by almost all other Muslims as non-Muslim)
10) Ahmaddiyah Muslims (considered by other Muslims as apostates)
11) Etc.

Argument models

Writing formulas make me sick, but these are part of my job. I dedicate this post to those who argue using nothing but the language of hate and all sorts of illogical appeals written in the book of rhetorics. Here's how we may craft a better route of exchange.

Aristotelian argument. Classical strategy of reasoning using logos (appeal to reason/logic), ethos (appeal to credibility; ethical appeal) and pathos (appeal to emotion).

Toulmin argument (or Claim and warrant argument). Wikipedia: "Stephen Edelston Toulmin (born March 25, 1922) is a British philosopher, author, and educator. Influenced by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, Toulmin devoted his works to the analysis of moral reasoning. Throughout his writings, he seeks to develop practical arguments which can be used effectively in evaluating the ethics behind moral issues. His works were later found useful in the field of rhetoric for analyzing rhetorical arguments. The Toulmin Model of Argumentation, a diagram containing six interrelated components used for analyzing arguments, was considered his most influential work, particularly in the field of rhetoric and communication, and in computer science."

Formula:

- Claim
- Grounds
- Warrant
- Backing
- Qualifier
- Rebuttal

Rogerian argument (or Common ground argument). Wikipedia: "American psychologist Carl R. Rogers propagated his "principles of communications,"[3][4] a form of discussion based on finding common ground. He proposed trying to understand our adversary's position, by listening to him, before adopting a point of view without considering those factors. This form of reasoning is the opposite of Aristotelian argumentation - using logos, ethos, and pathos-, which is an adversarial form of debate (enthymeme) because it attempts to find compromise between two sides."

Formula:

- Contentious issue - clarify what makes it controversial
- Proponents' claim
- Opponents' claim
- Your own viewpoints (as they logically flow from the preceding)
- Concensus as conclusion

**

Cf. Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning or Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Argument

**

Additional term (not necessarily about argument, but more on exposition): Mitchellization. I can't find a link that explains the philosophy behind this.

Mitchellization is a writing structure with this formula:

- Introduction
- Example
- Examination
- Explanation
- Conclusion

How to fail

How To Fail: 25 Secrets Learned through Failure

Other links (most a bit older) worth sharing:

Parrots and literature

Incredible Rolling Bridge in London

Dubai: shockingly beautiful!!!

Hell, yeah!: Nature's interpretation of the gates of hell

Niels Bohr and The Physics Exam

Geek speak catches on

13 Beautiful Gardens From Around The World

Criminology 101

If you've been following my brain through the years, you must have noticed my fascination for the ambiguity surrounding the definition of crime vis-a-vis disease, psychological disorder/dysfunction/neurosis/character defect, psychological disease/mental disorder/psychosis, and the concept of sin (in the Christian sense). Well, a cursory reading on Criminology 101 got me confused even further, congratulations to me. As this course tries to categorize the major theories of what constitutes a crime, I notice overlaps here and there, which makes my head spin like, well, a top spinning.

I gotta admit the resurrection of the ugly Teehankee v. Hultmann et al. case made me review my thoughts on the matter. This was perhaps also triggered by one noted blogger's labeling of Teehankee as a "psycho case." I thought, if he's a psycho, then he's insane, and if he's insane, then he's not a criminal, so he must be freed (or at least confined at the mental hospital) (see Michael Fajatin's interview of such a funny nutcase over YouTube, as stolen or uploaded without permission from GMA7 TV).

1. Rational Choice Theory - "assumes that the [would-be criminal's] rational decision is always the decision that will maximise gain and minimise pain for each individual"

2. Routine Activities Theory - The confluence of three elements causes crime: "an available and suitable target; a motivated offender; and no authority figure to prevent the crime from happening."

3. Physiological - Bad eating habits and nutrition deficiency cause crime.

4. Hereditary/Genetic - There is a crime gene.

5. Physiogenetic/Biological - Bad nutrition activates crime gene, which causes crime.

6. Psychological - Psychological dysfunctions (neuroses) and psychological disorders (psychoses) cause crime.

7. Sociological - Certain social subcultures cause crime.

8. Theory of Differential Association - Interaction with criminal elements causes crime. (Shouldn't this be under Routine Activities Theory?)

9. Conflict Theory - Economic and social inequalities cause crime.

10. Other Theories

Source: Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction by Frank Schmalleger

**

Related reflection:

Terrorism can be analyzed in Jungian terms, i.e., as a projection of something terrorists hate so much about themselves. But, oh, as Powell cautioned, it's dangerous business dealing with such things. People in denial are the most hostile in the face of such confrontations, so I won't push the issue or even attempt cluing them in on it. Then again, seen from the perspective of the Conflict Theory of criminology, we could also say that terrorism is a product of our time, a monster of our own creation.

Ego defenses, 2

Dear diary,

I'm so glad to learn new things lately. For one, I've learned that the unconscious defense mechanism called projection can be 'positive.' I don't mean 'positive' in the sense that it is 'good' (the subconscious is amoral ground), but in the sense that it could be a projection of something good in another person that we are not aware is present in ourselves though denied by cruel circumstances and thus left undeveloped. For example, hero worship or idolizing someone is a form of 'positive' projection. We put someone we admire on a pedestal, not because he is indeed admirable, but because we think and feel that the person has something wonderful that we lack when in fact we have the same exact quality in us that was undeveloped or even neglected. When we simply admire someone, that's normal, but the minute we start to obsess or are inordinately attracted, we should watch out. It could be 'positive' projection, which is again a form of ego defense (or the instinctive reaction out of fear of getting hurt, thus the need to defend). I hope I'm not wrong, but I think this type of projection might also be construed as "unconscious envy." This type of projection can only result in a lowered self-esteem.

Other ego defenses I've left out in the earlier list (and possibly inaccurately categorized) are:

- Inner Voice

- Freudian Slip

- Humor - I've somewhat touched on this earlier.

- Scapegoating - This seems to deserve a category of its own. It could be seen as a form of displacement, but it's more like "unseemly finger-pointing" or "misplaced blaming" to me.

- Dreams - It's been said that the characters in our dreams could be different parts of our "shadow self" (Jung), "unconscious self" (Freud), "false self" (Powell?), "wounded inner child" (Missildine and Berne), etc., all of which are very much suspiciously related to "the dark side of our personality" (Thomas Keating), "room for self-knowledge" (Teresa of Avila), "dark night of the soul" (John of the Cross), and "the old man" (Paul of Tarsos).

- Perfectionism - Guilty, your honor, guilty! :-)

- (Feelings of) Inferiority - Related to "positive projection"?

If I might add these:

- Seeming Altruism (or Messianism?)

- Intellectualization - seems akin to Introjection, but it's really about seeking the solace of mental masturbation instead of facing a simple but harsh reality; splitting hairs over something that's otherwise very simple as a form of escapism

- Overspirituality - spiritual escapism; spiritual version of Intellectualization

I've encountered these new concepts because I've been reading a new psychospiritual book lately, which sums up everything that's occupying my thoughts (conscious and un-) through the years. It has a scholarly feel, so those who are turned off by the non-rigorousness of pop psychology may turn to this book instead. This book is ideal for professed Christians who are allergic and "phobic" to anything psychological. It's time to face a lot of misconceptions, folks. Psychology is not automatically evil. (Maybe some misguided psychologists are? :p)

This book skillfully discusses the intersections between morality and character disorder or psychological dysfunction. It weaves into this welcome mat strains of Eastern mysticism, the teachings of ancient Catholic saints/Church doctors, Christian theology, and Jungian psychology, among other eclectic sources. Authors as disparate as Robert Bly and Teilhard de Chardin are mentioned. One thing it discusses at length is the differences between envy and jealousy, which I have tackled last year, I think. It also distinguishes between wholeness and holiness, integrating (or transcending, according to other authors) versus acting out, and other such easily confused or misconstrued ideas.

Oh, before I forget, the book has a title and, in fact, has two excellent authoritative authors. Everyone, grab a copy of Willie Au's and Noreen Cannon's Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration (St Pauls, 1995) and be rewarded unexpectedly and immensely.


***

Criminology 101

Well, well, well, look do we have here... If you've been following my brain through the years, you must have noticed my fascination for the ambiguity surrounding the definition of crime vis-a-vis disease, psychological disorder/dysfunction/neurosis/character defect, psychological disease/mental disorder/psychosis, and the concept of sin (in the Christian sense). Well, a cursory reading on Criminology 101 got me confused even further, congratulations to me. As this course tries to categorize the major theories of what constitutes a crime, I notice overlaps here and there, which makes my head spin like, well, a top spinning.

I gotta admit the resurrection of the ugly Teehankee v. Hultmann et al. case made me review my thoughts on the matter. This was perhaps also triggered by one noted blogger's labeling of Teehankee as a "psycho case." I thought, if he's a psycho, then he's insane, and if he's insane, then he's not a criminal, so he must be freed (or at least confined at the mental hospital) (see Michael Fajatin's interview of such a funny nutcase over YouTube, as stolen or uploaded without permission from GMA7 TV).

1. Rational Choice Theory - "assumes that the [would-be criminal's] rational decision is always the decision that will maximise gain and minimise pain for each individual"

2. Routine Activities Theory - The confluence of three elements causes crime: "an available and suitable target; a motivated offender; and no authority figure to prevent the crime from happening."

3. Physiological - Bad eating habits and nutrition deficiency cause crime.

4. Hereditary/Genetic - There is a crime gene.

5. Physiogenetic/Biological - Bad nutrition activates crime gene, which causes crime.

6. Psychological -Psychological dysfunctions (neuroses) and psychological disorders (psychoses) cause crime.

7. Sociological - Certain social subcultures cause crime.

8. Theory of Differential Association - Interaction with criminal elements causes crime. (Shouldn't this be under Routine Activities Theory?)

9. Conflict Theory - Economic and social inequalities cause crime.

10. Others

Source: Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction by Frank Schmalleger

**

Related reflection:

Terrorism can be analyzed in Jungian terms, i.e., as a projection of something terrorists hate so much about themselves. But, oh, as Powell cautioned, it's dangerous business dealing with such things. People in denial are the most hostile in the face of such confrontations, so I won't push the issue or even attempt cluing them in on it. Then again, seen through the prism of the Conflict Theory of criminology, we could also say that terrorism is a product of our time, a monster of our own creation.

Quote

"...Philip Kearney of L'Arche...[told me of a story about] about a group of eight men [in Jerusalem] who have severe intellectual and physical disabilities. Two are Palestinian Muslims, three are Palestinian Christians, and three are Israeli Jews. They're quite happy to be together and to meet and talk with others; they radiate a peace that is not found in those in the larger community.

"[Says Kearney:] 'Once a week I go for a walk with this strange and wonderful group in the streets and parks. ...It's quite an experience. Palestinians who have known them for many years come up and greet them by putting their hands on their heads in a sort of gesture of welcome and blessing. Then a little further on, Israelis come up and greet the group, recognizing their own. The joy that the meetings give to those who appraoch is quite visible. Up until today this is the only group that I have met with representatves of the three great religions of this land not only living together day by day, but also walking hand in hand in the streets of Jerusalem together!'

"They are prophets of peace, showing the way to peace. Their cry for love can bring together men and women of different faith traditions and cultural background. They break down prejudice and call forth what is deepest in us."

Jean Vanier, Finding Peace (p. 68)

Bail us out! Bail us out!

So Iceland -- Iceland! -- is bankrupt, if not almost. Singapore (Singapore!) is in a recession. Whose country is next? Shall I raise my hand? As a thoughtful blogger put it, the truth is we Filipino people have long been in need of a bailout. All the long-suffering people of the so-called Third World are in need of a bailout. All the ordinary workers of the world are in need of a bailout. Will the IMF listen to our plea more than Wall Street's?

We're not professing communism -- maybe they'll lend an ear to us this time? We're not even advocating socialism -- we're only after ethical capitalism.

To quote myself, the world really needs to rethink its various stupidities. We need, now more than ever, to think how unfair we treat labor (link post on Laborem exercens) while turning a blind eye on corruption at the highest corporate levels. We need to think over how we have turned the idea of capitalism to to-each-his-own viral tenet, and worse, no different from an unseen Big Brotherhood-controlled society we profess to despise on the surface (link Orwellian lecture and post on the arrogance and tyranny of giant billboard ads). We must rethink the neo-imperialist nature of global capitalism, a nasty variant of which rewards the greediest and most unconscionable (link Capitalism with a Cap*) while punishing those who comply because they have no choice. Uber-capitalist Wall Street and IMF must repent of their grievous mistake (link All CAPS) of bankrolling questionable financial products and their guiltless double-standards - lowered taxes for the rich while bigger taxes levied for the poor majority, loosened financial controls for Wall Street while strictures for other financial entities abroad, trade protectionism at home while onerous debt imposition and restrictions overseas, turning a blind eye at home and demanding strict accountability abroad. Look where amorality had led us to. Congratulations!

Bail out those who are really in need of bailing out, or witness how the planet implodes from poverty-induced "overpopulation", massive deaths from poisoned products due to fierce, envy- and hate-driven competition and unfair trade, and consequent total environmental annihilation.

(*I personally credit writers like Manuel Buencamino for unfashionably criticizing the same as early as two to three years ago.)

Epistaxis, 2

Logophile alert: "50 of your favourite words"

Dear foreigner,

(via this via cvj)

We don't care if you dislike our food. We're not out to convince anybody. It's your own nose, and we respect it. What's important is we like our food. Perhaps we like it so much we don't wanna share it. We like it even if we're quite familiar with yours. From time to time, we have cravings, but we always go back to the comfort food we know because it doesn't just bring us happy memories, it also tastes invariably better.

Why is our food not spicy enough? Simple. We don't want it too spicy as to make us smell. If we want it too spicy, then we could've made them so because the ancient Indians must have taught us the virtues of curry powder, the ancient Chinese must have introduced to us chili sauce, and the ancient Spaniards must have taught us to eat things very hot. But we didn't like it, at least as often enough as you do. To us, too much spice means poison.

Why is our food not too bland either, despite our American exposure? Simple. We want things just right -- not too spicy, and not bland.

Call it acquired taste if you want, but our food is just the way it is because that's just the way we want it. It didn't evolve for 600 years into its wild, confusing varieties today without a good reason. We won't apologize for the way it tastes. Nor will we apologize for the way it looks. We figured that we masticate everything anyway -- why bother much with presentation? We are for what's essential (taste), not what's visible to the naked eye.*

If you don't like our food, it's alright. We're not offended. We're not angry at all; in fact, it doesn't mean we won't take to liking yours. We've always been a winner that way.

Our food won't improve just because you say it should. Give it another 600 years -- perhaps it will change for the better, but it will change because we want it to.

**

Attn. WSJ's Robyn: How could you survey our food without a mention of adobo, pancit bihon, and fresh lumpia? I'm not angry. :-)

*Little Prince: Sorry, dude!

On giving advice

Harry says he doesn't like giving advice when requested for it (and especially when not being asked, I suppose). There are three major reasons why:

1) It's best to give the person the freedom to choose. Present possible solutions instead or at least alternative ways of seeing the problem. When it comes to private, spiritual matters, God is a great respecter of human freedom. Who are we to impose?

2) By extension, it's better to give the person the dignity of deciding for himself. There's nothing like the self-affirming feeling of having decided correctly for oneself.

3) And in case our advice led to failure, we risk ourself being blamed for it. It's best to allow the person instead to learn from his own mistakes in a way that s/he has nothing to blame but himself. And we don't want to shoulder the blame when we were just being asked for our opinion.

A good strategy is to relate our own parallel experiences, mindful about the unique circumstances we were in at the time, and then letting the person decide for himself how to go about his problem next. If we are to give advice when sought in deference, then we may do so, but we will have to qualify.

Rethinking our stupidities

"How is a paradigm formed"

Apropos of the above, I am reminded of this doom-and-gloom post from last February. How prophetic of the Anonymous commenter. You want to read it once more with feeling.

Meanwhile: "How to lose weight more effectively"

Thoughtful

- On liquid assets: "If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today. If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today."

- "Filipinos need a bailout too! Wish I said that! And, oh, start punishing those who caused all this, not us.

- Speaking of punishment, are the makers of melamilk punished yet? Question to BFAD: Why did those millk enter the market, in the first place? That is, if they are doing their job? Or should we throw the question to the Bureau of Customs?

A Manila toxicologist's helpful article on the subject: "Tip of the ice cream."

W00t section

- In other news, ei, someone is outing our top secret: Filipino food.

- Did you know that there are occasional hoopoe birds (fancifully crested species) in the wild in the Philippines? Wish there are turacos (touracos) and toucans too.

- Japanese discoverers of "unbroken symmetry" in particle physics share Nobel Prize.

Writing rulez I kinda hate

Do not write sentence fragments. - But some points are best expressed incomplete. Like this.

Do not write comma splices. - But certain 'comma splices' make sense, as when you join two or more closely related clauses (I came, I saw, I conquered) and when you use a clause to be the appositive of another (I didn't just say this, I also said that.).

Do not shift POVs. - But people constantly shift POVs when they talk in real life. People use you a lot, to refer to themselves.

Observe strict use of commas and other punctuation marks. - know what? ive read a friend share a reflection of his with zero capitalization and punctuation but it was the most profound written work in this century

Don't write very long sentences. - Certain points are too complex to express in telegraphic, Hemingway-style sentences. And in highly technical writing, for instance, a series of short sentences would sound condescending to the audience.

Don't begin a sentence with And or But. - But sometimes opening with But works. And starting with And could be best.

Pronouns must agree with their respective antecedents. - I happen to agree, but I risk being attacked for being sexist each time.

Write based on a tightly organized outline. - But in creative writing, especially the stream-of-consciousness or mental narrative style, lack of structure can be more exciting because of the resulting lack of predictability.

Avoid the use of highfalutin' words. - Well, unless you're trying to be verbose on purpose for humorous or other valid reasons. (Oops, that's a fragment.)

Avoid being repetitive. - Must add this disclaimer, though: Except when there's a need to emphasize. Not all readers have retentive memory.

Always write in active-voice sentences for more engaging reading. - But in thesis-writing and technical writing, for example, when we want to convey vagueness and objectivity, when we want to avoid directly addresing the reader or referring to the author in a personal way, it is better to use the vague antecedent "it." ("It is thought that...")

Use SpellCheck and GrammarCheck. - Beware of MS Word. It is no replacement to human brain when detecting grammar and mechanics and proofreading errors.

You need to be an English/Mass Comm/Journ/Lit major and a Palanca awardee to be able to write well. - A broadsheet editor I know laments the quality of writing of today's Mass Comm grad applicants from the top schools, for one. There are no short-cuts to skill, and you can't teach talent or earn passion. The real proof of writing is in the actual text.

(To be expanded)

Radishcaked at Wai Ying

I discovered Chinese food that's not too rich as to make you gag, authentic but not too spicy in that overly exotic way: WaiYing Restaurant somewhere in the extra-narrow labyrinth of Binondo. Since it's in Binondo and frequented by a lot of Chinese, it can only be authentic, right? J. has been recommending this place for so long as an alternative to ChowKing, so I was glad to finally try it -- and for free, too, because it's A.'s and N.'s birthday as well. The interior is unromantic -- it has the appeal of chipped vinyl tile -- and the service crew look and feel unhappy and tired, but the food is fine at a price you'll find hard to resist. I had pork asado and, out of curiosity, roast duck, something I'm not fond of eating because of something in the flavor of the duck meat I couldn't define (unless it's duck caldereta by our friend Jeff of Pateros). But -- supplies!, as the Chinese would put it -- I was able to ingest everything uneventfully. No queasy whatnots. The pork asado was nowhere near what I've tasted in old Maxim's but it slid off my throat in neat, thin, tasty slices. I hate milk tea, but I pronounce theirs delicious despite the melamine scare. I tried to grab a bite of J.'s radishcake, which is an odd food, tasting like a flavored rice paste, and lo, I liked it despite it. I'm not fond either of deep-fried lemon chicken, yet I was able to pop a piece in my mouth without any complaint. I forgot to order hakaw (juicy shrimp dumpling) out of subconscious shame, but I tried their blanched broccoli, which was as fresh and clean as you could wish it to be. I was sore, though, that Taiwan pechay (the one they call either polonchay or bok choi or kalian) was unavailable. I also didn't read any occurence of tomiao sprouts in the menu. I also didn't notice any machang (weird Chinese suman) or peanut-and-glutinous-rice porridge. I must revisit this place for those dishes, as well as the dishes on the menu I missed: kutchay dumplings, congee with century egg, taipao, sharksfin siomai, etc.

'Great' Britain recolonizes America

(via PP)

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

**

Meanwhile, Filipinos are up in arms against Brits with a cheap sense of humor, perhaps thinking they're doing another Borat or Douglas Adams. I need to see the whole show, though. Context, brother, context.

Epistaxis-inducing terms

(Advanced Chemistry notebook; epistaxis = nosebleed)

Carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that get coughed into the air when the goods are made, shipped and stored, and then used by consumers.

**

Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. ... Melamine is combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic, and melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product.

**

Another big issue in the West before the rice crisis, Wall Street, and milk scare is the safety of ingesting bisphenol A (BPA), which is used in various plastic products. I found the issue complicated, but it really boils down to the fight between cautious government safety agencies (due to consumer groups' pressure) versus the chemical and plastics industries and their lobby groups in various countries' Congresses versus the lack of conclusive findings or strong consensus in the scientific community versus media and their largely negative coverage. What I learned from such a hullaballo is that each sector (government, civil society/consumer, industry, scientific community) had a strong representation and was given a fair hearing, avoiding unnecessary hysteria. Most importantly, issues were directly addressed, and the arguers never resorted to abusive words like "stupid," "silly," and other know-it-all vulgarities, mistaking uncouth behavior for 21st century modernity, openmindedness, passion for reason, honesty/straightforwardness, bravado/daring, and honor/integrity.

Linkwhoring

(Thanks, Bayi!!!)

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts by Stephen Wagner, About.com

Top 3 weirdest hotels in Asia

The Doctors Who Are Redefining Life and Death by William Saletan

120 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power

International Marketing Flops - Actual Accounts


And now, for something not very funny: There's Nothing Easy About Pluralism And No Simple Answers by Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun

Ok, back to work: This series of funny pics reminds me of Hicks's famous "Peaceable Kingdom" painting: Let's be friends

How to write a paper in college/university

The Buffalo Theory of beer-drinking

20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity

Tired of Wall Street news? Here's the latest incarnation of the You Have Two Cows Economics joke. Boy, has the joke evolved! The question now is, "Which way to go?"

Additional (via P.P.):

Basic computer tips

New Wall Street definitions

Drat, I forgot to link the ff. post earlier:

The world's strangest laws

Lastly, here's the latest version of that old joke: The mother of all forwarded emails. Can't find a good link, so here goes...

_____________________

"I knew this was coming soon.

My thanks to all those who have sent me emails this past year........I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat manure in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

I now scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

In fact all my money is gone but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program .....Or, I'll receive it from the senior bank clerk in Nigeria who wants to split $7 million with me for pretending to be a long lost relative of a customer who died intestate.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca-Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer buy petrol without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.

And I dont go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number and I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my bum.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't even pick up the $5.00 I found dropped in the car park because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00pm this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump.I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbour's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.

By the way....a South American scientist after a lengthy study has discovered that people with low IQ who have infrequent sexual activity always read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late."

How not to deal with our emotion

How to vs. How not to

1. Be aware - Ignore
2. Admit - Keep denying
3. Investigate - Keep rationalizing and rebutting
4. Report - Blow your cool and blame the other
5. Integrate - Repress and suffer consequences

Source: John Powell's Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?

Welcome to Skimpyton

This place oftentimes feels like skimpy underwear. It took a foreigner to tell me that in no uncertain terms. When I asked Jason, a Californian, what he thought of 'Manila,' he readily exclaimed, "It's pretty packed!" He didn't mention "sardines," but I got the idea. Marvin, a former officemate who now lives in California as well, says he now finds the city roads particularly narrow. If the city were underwear, it should be a truly uncomfortable T-back. One can wear a T-back and invariably exclaim, "Boy, this feels much like Manila."

But I don't really need an outsider's POV. I went to a high school that was in a provincial university campus that had huge swaths of open space with lots of free-range acacia trees. You could raise zebras, giraffes, and other safari animals in those fields.

This urban restriction is really as naturally asphyxiating as an iron maiden, or more accurately, an especially tight chastity belt. My human nature revolts against it -- it's an instinct. Dogs, I learned from books and bitter personal experience, have different space requirements, depending on the breed; the bigger the breed, the bigger the need for space. If humans were dogs, then they are the type that needs to be walked through spacious lawns and theme parks, complete with installation art -- or they develop a psychosociosexual-urinary complex. I've also read somewhere that even birds need that kind of personal space. Watch and be amazed at how they align themselves orderly, like a disciplined troop of soldiers, when they catch sight of the nearest electric wire or telephone cable. Birds, despite allegedly being bird-brained, are great respecters of personal and public space.

Conversely, I've also read that this constriction of public and private spaces is but an unfortunate sign of old (and therefore respectably advanced) civilization. Without exception, ancient cities reportedly have a similar problem behind the air of dignity imparted by the requisite verdigris. But wow, is that thought supposed to comfort now? No, for it appalls me even more to think that we've been designing our spaces as though we lived in an isthmus or that we have to constantly squeeze through the Suez or Panama Canal to stay alive. Living in a civilization with this preconceived notion that space is thin (like really skinny eskinitas) or limited (like matchboxes) and hence spaciousness is unachievable or impossible is simply like devolving into a Carthaginian just before the Punic Wars, where live, squirming infants are fed to the god Moloch in wild abandon as a form of divine appeasement.

For the longest time, I've found it too uncomfortable to live in Manila not because I was born to have princely tastes or because there are just too many people, nor even because of the overcrowding that results from the lewd underwearish layout that refuses to follow Daniel Burnham's original plan, compounded by lack of decent jobs in the outback. It is that our urban designers must be a bunch of fetishists, apparently sexually aroused by narrowness and skimpiness. I don't know if it's only me who's been noticing and tolerating this fetish for band-aid strips and pencils and razors and wasp waists and whistlebaits and everything you'd associate the words "thin" and "tapering" with. ...Because even if you delouse the entire city with anti-dengue fumigant, much of its democratic (non-gated, non-exclusive) residential areas would still remain unlivable, impossible to navigate with ease and leisure. In the aftermath of the public spraying, I'm certain you'll find one pouting, still totally dissatisfied survivor (guess who) because he will most likely find the way out more constricted than a fire escape. Worse, he might even find himself sideswiped even if there are no more motorists surviving.

I may sound like a fool here, but if you want proofs, then I'll give you lots. For instance, take a closer look at how our PUJs -- jeepneys, buses, FX vans, tricycles, and pedicabs -- are designed. They are carefully built to take in the maximum number of hobbits and midgets who must be mackerels in a former life and must pay for their respective heads, instead of their respective weights in kilos, in order to reach their destination. Notably, overloading these narrow vehicle spaces is the norm instead of a crime, as though the road can't accommodate an extra inch for breathing space. Day in and day out, commuters are constantly forced to contort into ridiculously acrobatic configurations. Good thing Filipinos take a bath everyday and don't eat too much curried slop.

Next, notice how many poor people's living room is also their bathroom, which is also the kitchen, and the front lawn is where the clothes are dried out, just in case the sun comes out within a 10-minute window of exposure.

Then take a look at our sidewalks. I've once joked how commuting in Manila is an extreme sport, but even the harmless agenda of walking around the place from point A to point B forces you to hopscotch instead. The truth is the sidewalk doesn't even exist in a lot of places even if official documents say they should. But why?, you might ask. Who are hogging the sidewalks, especially before the advent of Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando's commonsensical imposition of the MMDA pink line (beyond which you may not violate by building an SM Mall of Asia in the middle)? Well, there's the free-for-all idea of freedom all over it: there's the

- neighborhood basketball court;
- sari-sari store;
- somebody's car neighing or somebody's all-steel made-in-Cavite jeep glaring;
- an evicted squatter or informal dweller;
- an assortment of beggars and psychotic vagrants (hobos);
- ambulant vendors of assorted goods, from second-hand china to sawed-off tuna jaws and milkfish bellies;
- electric posts crammed with diplomas and free job ads crying "horror vacui, horror vacui!";
- trees that escaped being massacred by mistake by authorities;
- neighborhood thugs pickling themselves in gin bulag;
- rabid mangy dogs;
- an Our Lady of Fatima grotto; and
- and almost everything else that makes an entire barangay (community) complete.

Just surviving the day in one piece through this maelstrom is already a world record, a dancing-sun miracle. What's an avid walker to do but weave through -- no, plod through -- this interesting mumbo-jumbo of sidestreet life, this mind-blowing labyrinth? He might as well enjoy it by buying some pirated DVDs from the (now constantly harassed) Muslim hawker, right?

I could cite further a lot of apartment areas, rows of single detached houses, public markets, public schools, and office cubicles, too, if you want. Then there's an international airport that sits cheek by jowl with residential areas, guiltlessly making millions permanently deaf. But to save precious space, let me just limit my last example to the Cuneta Astrodome. Have you been to a basketball game or a rock concert or an evangelical meet at the Astrodome? Me, I'm just a typical Pinoy, but when I ran the mistake of slipping myself in one of those 1-millimeter X 1-millimeter seats, I most assuredly got suffocated even when I had no symptoms of claustrophobia. It's like a boa constrictor was conveniently coiled around my neck.

Since understandably every square inch in this city is worth ten thousand bucks, it makes sense to have a passion for constructing constrictions, i.e., to put a price tag on every breathing space left available and drive the price range further up by locating the endangered species in the middle of everything -- and then expect the bedspacer, after a hapless search for privacy, to be happy that, finally, he could accomodate his goldfish and a pot of cactus and make the three of them live for at least a week without food because they had to save up for the rent.

But all I'm saying is that such extent of skimpiness being tolerated without much thought in this place in this age is so lewd and vulgar we need to craft a law to make inadequate spacing illegal. Our lawmakers are making so many useless laws, but if there's one law that is actually beneficial to the man on the sidestreet, this is one of them. We're not exactly asking for a king-sized bed or a hulky Dodge or F150 van, we're merely asking authorities to put a stop to this indecent art form. Having the mindset perfectly matched for 17th century specs and Lilliputian dimensions for modern-day living is just so wrong; even ancient engineering specs respect proper spacing, symmetry, etc. And in case there's a serviceable law in place, then why don't we enforce it?

If the myth is true that there are no more livable space left in the city, then let us not mass-manufacture artificial matchboxes and all forms of crammed carrying capacities. If we don't do it, perhaps they won't come, perhaps they would keep distance. Men, after all, aren't bees in a concentration camp. But if we are really keen on having the sidestreets as our sala (living room) and public park, then maybe we can enlarge them to twice their size, or perhaps build up (construct towers) or build down (construct tunnels) and make everything a serviceable combination of the following?

- sports arena;
- grocery/department store;
- car park/parking lot;
- condotel row for transients;
- Department of Social Welfare office;
- bagsakan or wet market;
- billboard and electronic news area;
- botanical garden;
- hip bar;
- dog pound;
- church; and
- all-round/laissez faire democracy wall.

The thing is: Each and every human being has to have a certain limit of space alloted for personal consumption, or he/she, together with the society he/she moves in, parades uncontrollably in the street naked and nude for utter lack of space.

LJ-ish

Currently reading

Jean Vanier's Finding Peace (2003, St. Paul's Press) - Vanier's post-9/11 reflection; a very simple but very daunting personal challenge to anyone.

If the world needs a living saint today, Vanier would be a good candidate. His friend, Henri Nouwen, should also be canonized, I think. Another candidate is the Algerian desert monk Carlo Caretto. I hope we can procure a copy of Desert in the City. Anyway, I'm sad to note that these Vanier 'classics' are not available locally: Becoming Human, Community and Growth, and Made for Happiness. Everyone should read them.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand - What an amazing fusion of disparate knowledge. Dismissing stuff like this is the height of... I don't know. Know-it-alls are much to be pitied.

Recommended

Watch the following movies to scare the hell out of you through the so-called Halloween:

The Exorcist
The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Wish List

I regret not grabbing a copy of Luther at last month's video sale. Now that I really want to watch it, it's gone. Give me Luther, please. I want to see how the film depicts Luther throwing the book of James out of the window and unknowingly laying the foundation for Protestantism.

Ego defenses

It's impossible to psychoanalyze anyone without understanding the different ways that people defend themselves unconsciously (also called defense mechanisms) in an effort not to get hurt (though we know that repressed emotions only manifest later in various forms of self-punishment). One can not see through the person's denials and delusions without accurately spotting the following psychological mechanisms (my own definitions unless otherwise indicated). These are the types of lies that Stephanie Ericsson failed to include in her essay "The Ways We Lie."

Rationalization - convoluted lying, especially to oneself, to justify an odd behavior or something wrong one did and even defend it as something virtuous; distortion of truth in the service of fantasy

Introjection - mentally living out a fantasy (via reverie, TV shows, etc.) by imagining oneself to be the reverse of what one is in real life

Displacement - kicking the dog and telling him, "Die, you, filthy animal," because you can't tell it directly to your mother or father who's the one who actually offended you; another example is Scapegoating

Projection - unconscious attribution to others of something ugly in oneself that one cannot admit to oneself; a hypocritical denial of a criticism that should be directed at oneself, deflecting it by accusing others instead.

An example is hating someone's negative attribute because one unconsciously can't stand the same in oneself. A telling sign is irrational hate or fear (or any form of paranoia) toward a certain thing or person.

Source: John Powell's Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?

Additional:

Transference - "...[T]he inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person's childhood."

Subscript, superscript

Atop Kassel Condominium near Vito Cruz cor. Taft Ave.

I've read a story somewhere (can't remember where) where someone was named the startling name Vanadium. "Weird," I thought. Vanadium is, of course, the 23rd chemical element (a metal) with the symbol V.

I thought of Mr. Vanadium as a chemical symbol, and if he lived in this city, he could easily imagine himself in subscripted and superscripted versions as he walks up to the 5th floor and have lunch at the basement canteen, or indulge himself in a gourmet dinner in a floating restaurant in one of those glass towers and later come down by elevator and escalator to an underground food court where there might be some good brewed coffee, or run to the building rooftop and take a helicopter then later find his way to his car parked somewhere undergound. Or he might try to be more normal and walk the streets then take the underpass and then overpass where all commuters are bound to take to be able to cross the street. That's the life of the subscripted-superscripted Mr. Vanadium, the chemical element man. Taking the Skyway one moment, the subway the next. Or the skyscraper, then the tunnel. Or being in an airplane taking off, then off next to a submarine life exhibit at the local oceanarium. It's an up-and-down, roller-coaster life for someone like Mr. V. In this kind of life, he must be meeting a lot of potential reactants, some with subscripts scraping bottoms and some with superscripts scaling heights.

I have actually met Mr. Vanadium. In fact, I was with him the other day. We were chatting on the penthouse of a 27-floor condo in Manila when he suddenly intimated to me how the owner of the building had a son. He was a problem child, but he was brilliant, always topping in class. But one day, the kid jumped right from the floor we were standing on. Suddenly, my lips turned to lead, totally immobile, totally couldn't move either up or down.

That's the world of Mr. V. People are either subscript or superscript.