Non-blogger post

I'm not a blogger. (Woah, big shocker.)

My blog is like a scapegoat for my boredom although it does not, on any level, mean that I do not like blogging. It's just I don't have a good level of self-discipline to produce an entry about everything worth blogging that I get into. In fact, I'm writing this in the middle of studying organic chemistry, a beautiful subject I hate with every fiber of my existence because I never grow confidence talking about it. Moving on.

Here are what happened to me recently (not that you care, but I wouldn't assume that you don't care plus it will be fun reading how I had fun when I was young in the future):

Armi showing me how to it properly.

1. Discovered Up Dharma Down. My friends are big fans of the band but I wasn't. Definitely not because I didn't like their music. I was never compelled enough to actually look for their songs and listen to them. My first encounter is a live performance where they played at arm's reach. I'm a lucky guy. Now, as a testimony of how much I adore the band, I'm becoming a problem to my friends. I want to be a singer and dreams as such often involves croaking: "Luhaan, sugatan, di mapa...kinabangan" again and again with an obscene amount of feelings. 

2. Went home to Iloilo for my best friend's party. I don't have photos except this one with my co-host who is just so pretty and so sexy I feel so ugly. Ugh, perfection.

Excuse me for ruining the photo.

It was fun! Got to reunite with a lot of my elementary classmates that you should have seen me talking about the past so enthusiastically. When you're in grade school, you take yourself very seriously that it becomes a self-incriminating memory.

3. I'm with my mom right now. She went here in Manila and she'll be staying for about a week to stay with me for a while and go places with her friends. I like it when my mom is here because I am temporarily away from the shackles of living within an allowance and ironically, the lifestyle of a hoarder. Yay!

4. I have a vinyl disk. I'm still looking for my own player though. It's a magnificent first edition of the LP Loverboy by a band Loveryboy from the 1980s. Canadian!

So there you go, four long and almost useless posts compressed into a short list. Oh the pros and cons of non-bloggers. Joy!

And BTW, I'm in an early stage of creating an online brand selling awesome things. I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen but planning it makes me happy and that is good. If it ever pushes through, support me and buy the shiz!

wingspan300.sulit.com.ph <- shop my preloved items there! (books at awesome prices whattup!)

Indicator of a flaw in the system

Wrong people given authority - a wonderful, giant CHECK!

Sotto's anti-RH speech copied from US writer who writes about recipies

Sotto's description of the purported ill effects of birth control pills on unborn children was lifted nearly word for word from the blog of "Sarah, the healthy home economist," a US-based writer who also opposes vaccines for children and offers recipes for goodies like grain-free pumpkin cookies.

...

3. Sotto’s speech:

“Pathogenic, opportunistic flora that take hold in the gut when the pill is used constantly produce toxic substances which are the by-products of their metabolism. These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and they have the potential to cross the placenta. Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxin.”

Sarah’s blog:

“Pathogenic, opportunistic flora that take hold in the gut when The Pill is used constantly produce toxic substances which are the by-products of their metabolism. These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and guess what, they have the potential to cross the placenta! Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxins.”

View the whole article here from gmanetwork.com

As a nation, we hire the worst people. This plagiarism was first pointed out by the Filipino Freethinkers.

I did not hear Sotto give the speech or even read a transcript. All I knew was that it was very moving and he shed tears. How dare someone shed tears reading a copy-paste speech from an online blogger who thinks vaccinations are bad? When the ridiculousness of the caliber (or lack thereof) of the people leading our country surfaces, we laugh, then we feel hopeless. This hopelessness would not be made possible without you, Sen. Sotto. 

Reese & Vica: Crossing Neverland Album

Favorite track: (the first song is a jackpot!) Copycats

"Take off your clothes, take off your skin and bones"

Listened to this album while chewing off a Snickers bar for breakfast and sipping on my morning coffee. It felt very appropriate.

The duo will definitely have something good down the road.The lyrics are dark, not cheaply sentimental with very homey guitar play. The album is a good debut because it makes me want to watch out for more of their originals. There is room for creative maturation but this 9-track collection of originals contains a lot of passion and talent that only gives me optimism. I am also hoping they get to play with more instruments soon! This album embodies the reason why I will try my best to go out of my way to support the local music: talent and wonderful promises.

By the way, my friend says (in repeat) that we are new Reese & Vica fanatics. Of course we are. Like them on Facebook here and you should definitely ask them where you can get a copy of their album because I am definitely happy having my own.

Also, check out their first song to be written in Filipino, Silip! Awesome.

Note: I need a lot of improvement as a music writer that is why I don't have much context or comparisons to decorate the band with.

Bottom line: good album, get a copy.

If I am to describe the album: will be played if ever I end up opening my own coffee shop.

I DON'T GIVE A FOLK!

After a long week of photos of people getting displaced and harmed by the flood, and also of volunteering and witnessing the persistence and compassion of the Filipino people, we decided to go out and have a special Friday night for the unlike-anything-else week we just experienced.

A friend's organization, the UP Underground Music Community, created the event at Tomato Kick Katipunan. Of course, with his invitation, we attended. Check the awesome poster below:

They also accepted donations at the event so I was able to drop off a small bag of extra clothes I had sorted in my dorm cabinet for the flood victims. Every bottle of beer bought that night also equaled a 20 peso donation to the flood victims courtesy of Tomato Kick (who also provided food for the volunteers early that day at the U.P. IskOperations.) There you go. The perfect reason to get hammered.

My friend and I are also in the early parts of our immersion in local independent music. I love indie music but my playlist is filled with overseas acts. The event made me realize something. THERE IS A LOT OF LOCAL TALENT that will make you proud and happy once you hear them perform. Manila is a music and art community. Bottom line: Support Local Independent Music (or, according to the Underground Music Community, "S-L-I-M").

Till the World Ends, a Britney cover by Reese and Vica

The duo is just awesome. The one posted is a cover but they have a number of originals. I know this because I got a copy of their "Crossing Neverland" album for free! It is so cute with the doodles (watch out! separate blog post). It's so amazing because they're so young and the album is already so good. If you want a copy(you should get one!), you can contact them through their Facebook here.

Ourselves (The Elves) playing their first gig. "We are not a cutesy band."

A Sound of Music cover by Bullet Dumas. Awesome guy. Check out his Facebook page here and listen to his great originals!

Kaleidoscope Eyes rocking it out. 

I am not partial to the bands mentioned here. I was just unable to take photos/videos/notes consistently. You know that feeling when you discover an awesome band? Multiply that by around ten and that is exactly how I felt so I forgive myself for not taking good photos of every single awesome act that night. For more information, here is the Facebook event where all the acts are listed together with their home pages for your convenience. Make for yourself some juice and take time to go through each of them.

SUPPORT LOCAL INDEPENDENT MUSIC. 

If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

Hohol at the Ateneo College Covered Courts #rescuePH

Hohol (noun, verb) - "hang-out hang-out lang", tambay

My high school bunch and I who moved to the capital city has been struggling ever since graduation to find time to hang out. Most of them are in U.P. Diliman, some in U.P. Manila and there are even fewer of us here in Ateneo. Logistics is always a big problem.

When heavy rains and flooding leading to class suspensions hit Luzon, we decided to spend time together helping out at the relief operations in the Ateneo de Manila College Covered Courts. We also checked out the U.P. operations at the College of Kinetics Gym nighttime last August 8, 2012 but it was already closing down to prepare for the second wave the next day. I also wasn't able to take photos. 

It is so nice how universities, being huge groups of able-bodied students, responded very quickly to the call of duty. 

Flooding in Katipunan was very minimal compared to what was happening to the rest of the region so it was easy for us to travel around the Ateneo-UP area.

On our way to U.P., we passed by the "Penetrator" - A Proud Filipino Invention. Made me smile.

Dana sorting out donated clothes into piles for children and adults.

Food which were donated by the box were prepared for repacking.

This was taken during the first day of the operations. The goods were still on their way to the covered courts.

Volunteers can rest.
A well-equipped snack bar was also put up at Manang's where hungry volunteers can grab snacks and chill some more. Finally got to wear the shirt I made! It looks cool. I'm so proud. Haha.

Operations are still on-going today at the Ateneo College Covered Courts. Donations can also be dropped off there. An enthusiastic crowd is always on the watch, jumping up and down, ready to accept your donations and very willing to breeze you through the short donation process.

Yesterday, our shifts began around 11:30 AM and we left a few minutes after 8:30 PM, tired but very happy. Yesterday alone, 2,294 family packs were prepared. These packs include necessities that will keep a family alive for 3 days. There will also be a thanksgiving mass open to everyone later at 5 PM. Also, the operation is in need of more food items (canned meats), clothes, toiletries, medicines, blankets/towels/mats. See you!

Donate to the Habagat flood victims, PH #rescuePH

Top: The RecRoom, a venue hall located near the Ateneo dorms, has been converted into an evacuation center for members of the Ateneo community

Since yesterday, classes in the Ateneo has been suspended. The dormers and other groups volunteered to receive goods and prepare them for distribution at the Cervini Hall lobby. Today, August 8, the operations will be moved to the Ateneo Covered Courts where there will be more floor space for more goods that will hopefully come.

You can drop-off your donations at the Ateneo Covered Courts starting 1:00 PM today! Goods can also be handed over at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health beside Medical City, Ortigas Center, Pasig

We are accepting biscuits and other ready-to-eat goods, clothes sorted by gender and size, WATER, medicines, medical supplies (Band-aids, alcohol, Betadine), rice, etc. These goods will be repacked or cooked then dispatched to evacuation centers.

Also, the Ateneo DReaM Team has been working with rescue groups since late last night. If you know someone who is in need of rescue or immediate help, please don't hesitate to input their names/contacts/address in the crowd-sourced document here:

bit.ly/besafemanila

There are also emergency contact numbers in the document. Call/text them for immediate help.

The Ateneo Distaster Response and Management (DReaM Team).

Please stay safe. Please do try to do everything you can to  help keep everyone safe. These trying times, we must not falter. 

Emergency numbers from WhenInManila.com

Tie dye shirts - Yes to DIY!

Just retried tie dyeing last night! The plan was actually to make gradients but I had to divide the t-shirt using string and tape to prevent thorough mixing of the two dyes thus the weird outlines. Nonetheless, I'm happy with the outcome. The orange-yellow one used to be a plain yellow shirt I had to buy because we bought an extra one while making a club tee. The red-blue one was a plain, white V-neck tee. I don't have any idea why I own one.

I used powder fabric dyes I bough from a bookstore for a very cheap price (I don't really know dye prices but a sachet was cheaper than a donut!).

***

I'm in the library just fresh from making this decision: I will pass this paper for Organic Chemistry tomorrow, automatically slicing off 3 points from the maximum of 50. The extra night will hopefully give me more time to refine the whole thing and make it look better. The teacher is very particular with content so I think it was ok to let go of 3 points for better content. 

Yay!