As part of our campaign nationawide campaign against the ATB, I, along with other members of the LFS smeared red paint and lied-down in the streets fronting the steps of Palma Hall in the University of the Philippines in Diliman.
Of course, it is apparent that such a draconian piece of legislation such as the Anti-Terror Bill or Human Security Act of 2007 shall only embolden the military to continue on their killing spree against legitimate political and progressive organizations that they label as "left."
I'm not supersticious. Just the thought of lying in the streets, full of paint that is supposed to be blood, and the sound of camera shutters from the media made me feel as if I'm in SOCO or CSI. It really was chilling. 
A prelude of things to come? Though I hope not, the very fact the the hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings remain unsolved and Karen and She are yet to be found makes the protest action seem a real prophecy.
Afraid. It really is a scary thought. The beginnings of another Martial Law? No. Martial Law II has long been in this country since GMA took to power. What we have here now is Martial Law institutionalized, legalized.
One thing is missing from the protest action though. It is the fact that alongside this renewed efforts by the administration to stifle dissent is renewed vigot and grim determination from all sectors of society.
We shall fight. We shall not be afraid. This is dark times indeed. But we shall fight.
patay-patayan
deathnote
Just finished watching the 37th episode of deathote, the latest Japanese anime that I've been hooked into lately. It seems as if it is the last in the brilliant anime series, which also has its roots in Japanese Manga. From what I know, it has already been made into a live action movie and a live action TV series of the same title.
Basically, the story revolves around Yagami Light, a bored highschool student that acquires a deathnote dropped by a bored Shinigami (death god) to the human world. Though there are rule in using the note, the basic premise is that any human whose name is written in the deathnote shall die. Light then uses the deathnote to "create a new world" by killing criminals.
The governments, alarmed by the sudden deaths of notable criminals turn to L, the world's no.1 detective to capture the killer that has been given the nickname "Kira" (japanenese for killer, i think).
The story then develops in a cat and mouse chase where the two main characters attempt to outwit each other.
I won't go into the details of the series since I am not a fan of spoilers. However, there are a few points of interest that about the series which is the reason why I'm writing this post.
Most notable of these is the theme that the anime is playing with. Besides death, it also questions our concept of "justice." The anime does not present a clear cut line as to who is the protagonist and antagonist. Is it the Kira, the person who places justice into his own hands by killing known criminals? Or is it L and the police, establishments funded by governments and the state to "maintain order", to "serve and protect."
Deathnote allows the audience to choose as to whom his/her sympathies lie and who is doing what may be considered as "just."
It is interesting to note that the anime potrays the definite action of the state's coercive force (police and military) once another entity (such as Kira) challenges their capacity as "law enforcers."
Despite the fact that crime has almost vanished since the powers of Kira was unleashed and criminals became "judged," the police became more obsessed with hunting down Kira.
Another thing that got me hooked was the fact that deathnote does not provide all the details of what is happening and explains a few vague points later on. This is crcial since it leaves the viewers hanging, theorizing about what was happening, making guesswork at what are the plans of the characters, and then hoping that he/she was right in what he thinks to have occured.
However, be warned. It is not for children and is way too mature for the regular anime addicts.
pervert's guide to cinema
the other day, i joined vencer, rico of kabataan party and a few others to watch The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, a lecture by philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek.
This is probably one of the coolest, and heaviest films that I have wathced for some time now. (The last one was a year ago with Waking Life).
Basically, Zizek used cinema as a means of explaining his arguments on psychoanalysis and at the same time, using psychoanalysis to explain the value of cinema in our time.
Zizek steps between iconic scenes in cinema history, including the fruit cellar in Hitchcock's Psycho, or in the scene where Morpheus offers Neo the two pills in the Matrix. In explaining his points, he used various movies, from the Marx Brothers to Hitchcock, Chaplin's The great dictator to Alien.
Of course, I'm yet to fully grasp the arguments being presented by Zizek in his lecture. For one, my knowledge of Freudian psychoanalysis is very much limited, second, we had some trouble with the speaker we were using, and third, it was real heavy stuff.
One of the points that I remember him saying was that today, Cinema is actually a necessity for us to understand reality. Especially since we are afraid to confront this reality or because reality is not "real" but is constructed.
I also remember him saying something about video gamers. Of course, it has long been said that people play video games because it enables them to be who they want to be but cannot because of the limitations set by society. However, Zizek points out that video gamers may also play games not because it allows them to be who they want, but who they really are.
The art of cinema consists in arousing desire, to play with desire, but at the same time keeping it at a safe distance. Domesticating it. Rendering it palpable…
The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire? There is nothing spontaneous, nothing natural about human desire. Our desires are artificial. We have to be taught to desire.
Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn’t give you what you desire. It tells you how to desire.
-Slavoj Zizek, Pervert's Guide to Cinema, 1997
powto no. 3
detail of dambana ng kagitingan, summit of Mt. Samat
powto no.1
from here on end, i shall be posting more pictures. as a friend of mine told me once, humans are visual learners. and who am i to argue since with an education major?
and to begin, here is powto no.1. enjoy. :)
viralinks
Ok. I know that I've started blogging again for just a few months now after I stopped a while back. For that, I am yet to increase my "authority" as a blogger. And I do know that it takes months, even years to do that, especially with countless blogs out there and new ones being started each day. And yes, one has to admit the truth that there's a lot of bloggers out there that has far more interesting stuff to tell or writes the same stuff that i blog about, only better.
of course, it won't help if one gets a boost here and there, especially from fellow bloggers.
while hopping blogs, I found this real cool tool that I can use to boost the PR of blogs.
Its called Viraltags, the brainchild of blogger Andy Coates and developed by other bloggers such as Jimmy Huens
The idea is to get bloggers create links for one another which in turn boosts one's popularity in the web. So join the bandwagon I do with Viralink. I just hope it works for me...
Instructions:
1.) Copy and paste the entire matrix of “ViralTags” below.
2.) Substitute the Host Tag and one of the “ViralTags” in the matrix with your anchor text of choice containing your blog’s URL. Please keep anchor text to a maximum of 3 words to keep the matrix size manageable.
3.) When you get a ping back from someone that has your link in one of their “ViralTags”, practice good karma by copying his/her Host Tag’s anchor text (automatically the associated link will also be copied) and paste it over one of your “ViralTags” below.
4.) Encourage and invite your readers to do the same and soon this can grow virally.
=========== Copy and Paste below this line ===========
Host Tag: goodbye blue monday
Naknampucha! | flowers in the window | gags211 | JohannTheDog | Rescue Me | Viralink | George Bush's Impeachment | The Tech Thing | only the best | blank canvas | Siyete | Jehzlau Concepts |Mommy's Getaway | Pro Audio Matrix | Resource Economics | Visit Egypt Online | Useful Blogging Tips | Chicago 2016 | Global Tips and Tricks | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags |
ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags |ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags | ViralTags |
Important: Once I get a ping back from you, I will add your anchor text and the associated link you designate as “Host Tag” here, replacing one of the “ViralTags” from the matrix above. As more and more bloggers copy and paste this matrix, the more backlinks you will have from your anchor text. If everybody who copies and pastes from your blog does the same, pretty soon this will spread and go viral. Remember, the sooner you participate, the more links you will receive!
=========== Copy and Paste above this line ===========
There it is folks. This should help you improve your Technorati ranking, SERP and Google PR. Please leave comment here if you have copied from this matrix so that I can add you just in case your ping back didn’t reach me.
Rules
No Porn Sites
Only 1 link per person (i.e don’t hog the viralink!)
Please don’t tamper with other peoples url’s
Sirens of Titan
Just finished reading Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s Sirens of Titann, his second novel, published in 1959 after the Player Piano.
For anyone still looing for the meaning in life or for a good book to read, may I suggest this fun book. Its general themes include the concept of freewill, omniscience, and even the purpose of humanity, but packaged like another sci-fi story. It presents the Marxist conception of religion as an opium of the people which drives its followers to do often insane acts.
And much like other sci-fis, it contains imaginative concepts about time, like the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibula. There is even a crazy war between the Earth and Mars!
Crazy, weird, fun, heartbreaking, with a twist of romance it has pretty much everything that one can find from a Vonnegut novel which I never just seem to get grow tired of.
A definite 5 out of 5!
As an endnote, I present to you here a definition of the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibula, as defined by Dr. Cyril Hall, in the fourteenth edition of A Child's Cyclopedia of Wonders and Things to Do, as copied from Sirens of Titan.
Chrono-Synclastic Infundibula — Just imagine that your Daddy is the smartest man who ever lived on Earth, and he knows everything there is to find out, and he is exactly right about everything, and he can prove he is right about everything. Now imagine another little child on some nice world a million light years away, and that little child's Daddy is the smartest man who ever lived on that nice world so far away. And he is just as smart and just as right as your Daddy is. Both Daddies are smart, and both Daddies are right.
Only if they ever met each other they would get into a terrible argument, because they wouldn't agree on anything. Now, you can say that your Daddy is right and the other little child's Daddy is wrong, but the Universe is an awfully big place. There is room enough for an awful lot of people to be right about things and still not agree.
The reason both Daddies can be right and still get into terrible fights is because there are so many different ways of being right. There are places in the Universe, though, where each Daddy could finally catch on to what the other Daddy was talking about. These places are where all the different kinds of truths fit together as nicely as the parts in your Daddy's solar watch. We call these places chrono-synclastic infundibula.
The Solar System seems to be full of chrono-synclastic infundibula. There is one great big one we are sure of that likes to stay between Earth and Mars. We know about that one because an Earth man and his Earth dog ran right into it.
You might think it would be nice to go to a chrono-synclastic infundibulum and see all the different ways to be absolutely right, but it is a very dangerous thing to do. The poor man and his poor dog are scattered far and wide, not just through space, but through time, too.
Chrono (kroh-no) means time. Synclastic (sin-classtick) means curved toward the same side in all directions, like the skin of an orange. Infundibulum (in-fun-dib-u-lum) is what the ancient Romans like Julius Caesar and Nero called a funnel. If you don't know what a funnel is, get Mommy to show you one.
