I don’t have an active Blogspot account so I wouldn’t have gotten a Gmail invitation had it not been for a fellow blogger’s friend who didn’t want his invitation. I’ve previously tried to get an invitation by falling in queue, to no avail. So yeah, I’m grateful.

What is GMail? “Gmail is a free, search-based webmail service that combines the best features of traditional email with Google’s search technology to make finding all of your important messages so easy you won’t waste time organizing your inbox anymore. Gmail includes 1,000 megabytes — that’s an entire gigabyte of storage space (probably more than you’ll ever need), and an entirely new way of efficiently reading and tracking your important messages, all for free.”

As a member, I can invite two people to get a neat Gmail account. But I don’t know whom to give them to. Tell me in exactly 12 words why I should give you one of the two invitations, if you want one. Post it as a comment or talk to me through Y!M (vicrenzo). Good luck! (Deadline, tomorrow night, this same time, 19:45)

EDIT (21:45): Okay, in attempting to outsmart GMail, I lost one of my invites. You see, I thought of inviting myself so I could get another account in order to get two more invites. (Because I find it difficult choosing which entry would deserve the invite). But then, after using up one of my own, I realized that invites are only available to the people who were initially invited. Not to the people invited by existing GMail users anymore. So… there. I only have one invite left. Sorry…

I had my medical examination yesterday at UP (requirement for enrollment). So there, I went there by myself. Followed the procedures. Had my height measured. Guess what, two months ago, in the annual school medical check-up, my height was 5′5 1/2. That was just a little more than two months ago. Now, the UP check-up measured me to be at 5′7 1/2! That’s bizarre! I grew almost two inches in two months! Was that for real? It better be! But if there was some mistake in the reading, then the difference should only be a little. But no, the difference was TWO inches, it must be real. Wohoo! It must be an effect of Gordon Height (haha, endorsement!) or it may be the milk. Whatever the reason is, I’m happy. And I’m hoping it continues.

Talk about liking babies! The social worker called this morning and informed us that a baby girl is ready for our family’s fostering soon. Cool! Since my parents are at work every weekday, I’ll be left to enjoy the baby all day! (Hm, that didn’t sound right).

I accompanied my mom again at her PT this afternoon. After that, she was able to drive us a short distance to Ever. Anyway, petty joy: I just realized how I can finally use the sun shield at the front passenger seat! I know it must have been already useful to me long before, but I only realized it now. I remember times when I’d put the sun shield down and the sun would still glare in front of me because I wasn’t tall enough.

This is amusing. I found it somewhere out there. I basically have the same questions as the kid. I never really bothered myself too much about this issue because I’m too concerned with things going on in the Philippines.

Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
Questions and Answers about Foreign Policy (and the U.S. Invasion of Iraq)

(c) 2003 Anarchie Bunker
Permission is freely granted to copy, print, and distribute this material by any means, so long as the author is given proper credit and so long as this statement is included in any and all copies made for distribution.

(more…)

We went to Amadeo today for the town fiesta. Anyway, usual stuff every year. Nothing new.

It’s not that I don’t like it, but our extended family/clan seems to have a male drought when it comes to my generation and the next. Almost all of my cousins and second cousins are female. All their children are female. Most of my dad’s siblings and cousins are girls too. Almost everyone is a girl! It can be very frustrating at times. I was at the living room at Lolo’s house earlier today and I looked around and all I could see were my aunts, my female cousins, and all their little girls. It’s not that I feel awkward, no, because I’m used to it. My brother and I have been often the only boys for years (until my fourth male cousin was born). But now that I’ve come to think about it, it is indeed weird! And kind of sad. Thankfully, I don’t even feel like I’m carrying a burden of being the eldest male in my generation to continue a supposed ‘patriarchal’ tradition. Haha.

Sigh. Anyway, I see I still haven’t lost my touch with babies. I adore babies. And babies love me! If only babysitting was uso here in the Philippines, I’d probably be earning a lot with loyal and satisfied parents. But unfortunately, there are too many willing nurses to employ, to ever need babysitters.

I took the scholarship qualifying test by GSIS this morning at Araullo High School in Manila. That’s the school in front of Manila Medical, corner of Taft and UN avenues. The test was fairly easy, but the test-taking itself was a discomfort. The test took more or less two and a half hours, without breaks. The room I was assigned at was right beside UN Avenue, so it was distractingly noisy. What was more irritating was that the room didn’t have any electric fan, and the windows were barely opened. Hah! Lahat kami sa kuwarto nagpapaypay ng papel. The desk chairs were too small for me too. But that’s too much complaining already.

It would be great to pass and get a scholarship though. Imagine, my parents wouldn’t have to pay anything. And I’d still get a hefty allowance from my college education plan, in case I get the scholarship and I wouldn’t need to use it to pay the tuition. Now… wait, that makes me a little guilty.

Speaking of feeling a little awkward because of my family’s fairly comfortable life. I was in the cab after the test. Of course, I couldn’t resist, I interrogated the driver and asked about his political sentiments etcetera. FPJ, s’yempre. But before I even got to say anything after that, nagpasensya na s’ya sa ‘kin. He might have thought that I’m one of those middle class people who despise ignorant actors turned politicians, and the masa who support them. Naku manong, ngayong si Gloria na ang nangunguna sa mga survey-survey na ‘yan, masaya ako’t si FPJ ang iboboto n’yo sampu ng inyong mga kakilala. Basta hindi si Gloria! (Walang kokontra, ganyan din kayong mga kapwa kong burgis na si GMA ang iboboto para hindi manalo si FPJ!) Oo, tama daw ako. Naghirap lang daw ang buhay sa tatlong taon ni Arroyo. Ganon, medyo nakagaanan ako ng loob ng driver. Pagdating sa bahay, ang hirit naman n’ya, ang laki naman ng bahay n’yo… Yeah, that’s the awkward feeling part. (Hindi naman gan’on kalaki, ngayo’t nasanay ako sa mga ‘mansyon’ ng mga kaklase ko, pero siguro malaki na ‘yon sa kanya).

While I wasn’t online for two days, I spent some of my time watching some VCDs gathering dust in our cd rack. Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor, Gladiator and Armageddon. I think I’ve seen enough blood, battles and deaths for now. I’m reminded too much of the costs of war. Too much that it dangerously makes me numb to the many human casualties.

Oddly, even if it was the least dramatic (and least realistic for me) of the four, it was Armageddon which… moved me. Especially that part when Harry (Bruce Willis) was saying goodbye to his daughter (Liv Tyler) before he (I think everybody has watched it anyway) died in order to save the world.

Anyway, what’s common among the movies (except Gladiator, I guess) is classic American arrogance. Or whatever you want to call it.

The bias is there, of course. American lives are so much more important than yours, than mine, than anybody else’s. They are always the heroes, world problems are their business, and that’s not enough, they’re always the victims too (aside from the Jews, of course), when worse comes to worse! The Germans, the Japanese and all other American enemies since then (and till now) are the ‘bad guys’, and it’s okay and justified to make a carnage out of them without sympathy. Well, the winners do get to write history (and make movies about it). I guess there’s little I can do about that.

What I’m saying is, in connection to the films, the movies asked me to sympathize with the American protagonists. Yes, most of the time, it presented fundamental and universal human tragedies among families, brothers, friends and lovers. And I’m not that numb to not feel that! But I found sympathizing difficult to do sometimes. For some reasons including those in the previous paragraph. For one thing too, I’m not American, so the patriotic approach in the two war movies didn’t affect me. At all.

Life is sacred. Being an ‘enemy’ (also because it’s relative to which side you’re on), a ‘criminal’ or a non-American should not give you less of a right to live. Yes, while I’m at it, I’m against death penalty too.

Yeah, I guess I’m exaggerating. They did make the movies, and I guess it’s their choice and right to protray themselves the way they want to. And I guess it’s just my/our fault that I/we chose to watch them and yet complain. (But see, the choice is often between Filipino movies with uninteresting plots, and big-budget Hollywood blockbusters, it’s not as if the choice not to is easy). Hollywood does have dominance over international movie markets.

Bikoy’s rating:
Saving Private Ryan: 8.5/10
Pearl Harbor: 6/10
Gladiator: 9/10
Armageddon: 6.5/10