Required Reading II

Was called on to recite in class. Didn't remember anything from the chapter. Typical.

Required Reading

My school readings are insanely boring and sometimes my mind drifts off into a meandering state. I often catch myself doing this, but usually I'll have "read" a page worth of material before I can stop myself. Sometimes I go back, most of the time I don't. In case you were wondering, here are some of my thoughts while drifting off . . .

"Need to check the movie times for Robinson's Place. I should probably do it now before I forget, but I don't want to break my train of thought. Doh! I'm drifting off again. What did I just read . . ."

"Vagabond. Where have I heard that word before? I think it was from a song. But what song was it? What does it mean??? Think it's something like a vagrant? . . ."

"Acquiesced. How do you pronounce that? I've seen that word a lot but it just looks weird. Note to self: look up acquiesced on howjsay.com . . ."

"I'm hungry. I wonder what I can eat. I don't think there's anything in the fridge, I should probably go to the grocery store later . . ."

[Cinematic Orchestra starts playing on my iPod]
"Dude, this sounds like something I'd write if I was in a band. No singing, just music. [Starts playing along on my air guitar] I'm such a loser . . ."

"How many more pages are left in this chapter. I'm getting bored. This book is boring. I don't like my Great Works class. The teacher's condescending. And this book is boring. It's not making any sense. Ileto is all over the place. And I'm going to have to sit through an hour and a half of him on Friday. I hope he doesn't speak Tagalog. I hope he's not boring . . ."

"Phooey, what was this chapter about?"

Casting Call : The Yiddish Policemen's Union

I'm not comfortable giving faces to characters in my favorite books. But I heard they were making a movie out of The Yiddish Policemen's Union so I figured I should give the characters faces as I would have pictured them before Hollywood ruins everything for me.

Meyer Landsman : Benicio Del Toro

Benicio is one scary dude, but his brooding and washed up look totally resembles Meyer Landsman.

Berko Shemets : Danny Trejo

It took me forever to think of someone for Berko's character, because how many big half Indian actors can you think of? I picked Danny Trejo as I was browsing through imdb pages and figured he looks more like the part than any white guy I came across. Wouldn't stick with him in the long run though.

Bina : Brunette Kristen Wiig

I know she's more a comedian than a serious actress, but I can see her being the assertive, bossy character of Bina. She can play the part with a little skin pigmentation.

Mendel Shpilman : Kevin Connolly

Without giving too much away, I can see Connolly play the drugged out victim from the first chapter. He's relatively small, he's got an appealing personality, and he looks harmless. And again, I can't give too much away.

Re: Can the Netherlands beat Spain?

I’m finding it quite difficult to think so. You can argue that they’re undefeated, that they shocked the world by eliminating Brazil, and they’ve got a terrific feel for the game. But look at the countries the Netherlands defeated: Denmark, Japan, Cameroon, Slovakia, Brazil, and Uruguay. Group E did not contain that many contenders, so it’s not shocking that the Netherlands got out of the group with only wins. They proceeded by defeating Slovakia. Then they beat Brazil. That’s quite a feat, defeating the world’s number one team. But if you remember, Brazil fell apart in the second half as Ronaldo lost his temper and was ejected from the game.

The Netherlands needs a Brazil type collapse from Spain to win. They need a Switzerland-like goal to come out on top. Spain is just too good. They’re too good at controlling the ball, completing passes, stealing and intercepting passes from their opponents. But maybe, just maybe Spain’s offense might collapse. In their past games they’ve had breakaways but failed to capitalize. Apart from Villa, their strikers haven’t been that menacing. But Spain is still a great team and they very well may be the next World Cup champions.

With that said, I predict a Netherlands victory 2-1. Spain will get frustrated with wasted opportunities, and the Netherlands will manage to maintain ball control. They’ll have good shots at the goal and in the end, will come out on top.

(I don’t know how I convinced myself that this will happen)

Indestructible

iPods are amazingly durable. Just the other day I dropped my iPod from five feet off the ground and it survived. A five foot drop can break a lot of things – cell phones, televisions, guitars. Five feet is high enough to hurt a person.

Nalgenes are equally, or quite possibly, more impressive. They say Nalgenes are indestructible – able to survive drops from tall, tall buildings. Their hardened plastic, on impact, will not shatter but will absorb the shock. They will be bruised and may even dent but you can count of them to not crack, and they will survive all sorts of abuse.

I love my iPod, and Nalgenes are awesome, but they are not perfect. My iPod’s volume button is stuck because I accidentally dropped my iPod on its side. I cannot raise the volume with the volume button, I can only lower it. Nalgenes also have their sweet spots. In high school we tested the durability of the water jug. We filled it up to its brim, capped it, and then threw it as high up as we possibly could, confident that no type of impact could possibly break it. It landed on its soft, plastic lid, cracking the only part of the bottle that wasn’t made from the same polycarbonate as the rest of the body. From then on I couldn’t carry my Nalgene around with me.

R. is a friend, a very durable friend. He can survive five foot drops and all sorts of abuse. He weathers life storms yet still keeps a positive outlook on life. He loses life’s games yet continues to carry on knowing he can win tomorrow instead. But over the past few months I learned he had a sweet spot as well. “No” is such an easy word to use and abuse. If you say it jokingly or seriously it can still have the same negative impact as an unintentional slap to the face. It doesn't matter what tone you say it in, you can even say it with a smile on your face, but what “no” infers, probably means much more to R. than to you or me.

So sorry R. for being a No person. Sorry for the abuse.

President Noynoy’s Inaugural Speech

You can find the actual transcript here. The English translations can be found here.

On June 30, 2010, President Noynoy Aquino was sworn into office at the Quirino Grandstand. There was a sea of yellow and a sea of hopeful faces. I was going to critique President Noynoy’s speech by pointing out things I’m doubtful of or things I disagree with, but his speech filled me with hope for the Philippines. We share the same disdain towards the Philippines’ slow economic growth, we share the same resentment toward poor governance, we share the same contempt towards the corrupt, and we share the same dream for a better country. I am hopeful for the future because President Noynoy knows what to do, and he’s got the whole country backing him up.

Yet, I’m wondering why he cut God out of his speech. His mother was a devout Catholic; she wore it on her sleeve. I’m surprised President Noynoy didn’t do the same, because in the end he is still accountable to God. In the end, it is not man who controls his path, but the God of the universe.

In the end, I applaud President Noynoy for giving us what we need: hope.

“For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.” Isaiah 61:8a

Re: When will the Philippines get a World Cup team?

You can draw similarities between the World Cup and the Olympics, such as they both happen every four years and they are both global events. But what makes the World Cup different is that it's only one sport, people are actually passionate about that one sport, and not all countries are represented -- i.e. the Philippines.

This makes the Philippines one of the worst places to be during World Cup season. You're more likely to find a rowdy crowd in North Korea than in the Philippines. Filipinos aren't interested in soccer. They have the same attitude towards it as the USA -- football (I mean soccer) is a slow sport with not enough action. In the Philippines the fast-paced, high-tempo aggressiveness of basketball is king. We celebrate it as though we invented the sport -- but the truth is, we suck at it. We don't have superhuman characteristics like height or speed to be good at basketball, we're too malnourished for that. Despite this basketball is our prime sport followed by billiards, boxing, and then ice skating.

Football's unpopularity does have its perks. It's such a niche that you're forced to talk with people you hardly ever talk to, because out of your 400 facebook friends only 4 people stay up till 230AM to watch the game.

Here's what needs to happen before the Philippines can get a World Cup team.

1. The USA needs to win the World Cup.
   The Philippines' culture is intertwined with American culture. We watch American movies and TV shows, we listen to American music, we eat American, and we root for American sport teams (ew Lakers). We are superficially American. What I'm really trying to say is that soccer has to take off in Americaª before it can take off here.
2. We need to implement a soccer program in our public school.
   We're not exposed to soccer enough. We don't get the opportunity to play until it's too late. Other countries are passionate about soccer because they grow up with it. They learn it while they are young and they start developing strange tendencies to do everything with their feet. If you throw a ball at a Filipino he will catch it with his hands. If you throw a ball at a European, he catches it with his chest.
3. Similar to the economy, we need better infrastructure.
   I'm talking about lots of grass. We don't have a lot of grass in the city -- where things really matter. The only place where soccer can take off is at DLSU, UP, UST, and Ateneo, because our campuses are either big enough, or have already designated an area for outdoor sports. You can't even tell us to play in our backyard, because we don't have one.
   
   

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ªIs soccer finally taking off in America?

No. Once the World Cup ends it's going to be back to basketball, football, baseball, golf, tennis, nascar, and wrestling -- everything except for soccer. Why? Because soccer is the world's sport, and America is no good at it. The United States will only watch a sport if they're the best -- or at least competitive. And when will we know that the United States is competitive? When they start showing soccer games on ESPN. Same goes with cricket and rugby.

Can soccer take off in America?

Yes. Next World Cup season, once America beats Brazil, or a team equally challenging (instead of beating Algeria, ranked 30). You need to have dignity before you can feel proud.

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World Cup quarterfinals predictions
Ghana 1 - 0 Uruguay
Brazil 3 - 1 Netherlands
Germany 2 - 1 Argentina
Spain 2 - 0 Paraguay

if only i had tumblr...

... i could post videos to really great songs from some of my favorite movies.