Please Learn Your Gitlapi

Codename Bubbles Paraiso: “Ni-text ko na siya.”

(Aldrin chokes a little but continues...)

Aldrin: “Salamat.”

Bubbles Paraiso: “Ni-bigay ko na rin 'yung pinabibigay mo.”

Aldrin. “...”

Bubbles Paraiso: “At ni-bigay ko na rin 'yung email address mo.”

(Aldrin jumps on his chair, shouts kamikaze, and pricks the hollow bubble of her life-force.)

I do not get it. I was willing to let "ni-text" go, but "ni-bigay"? Mad! I have also been hearing "ni-tawag" and "ni-kain" lately. Where ever do these people get that sort of shit?

Ni-bwibwisit niyo si Balagtas eh! Learn your fucking gitlapi.


(Modified: 28 May 2008)

Because We Do Have Mail Order Brides!

I know I endanger myself by saying this but I shall say it anyway. I do not think Alec Baldwin said anything inaccurate about "getting a Filipina mail-order bride ... or a Russian". Something wrong, maybe, that can be argued, but not inaccurate. First, it is a well known fact; mentioning it does not make the situation any worse (or not saying it, any better). Last time I checked, there is nothing wrong with mentioning facts. Should he have said Yemeni or Ecuadorian mail order bride instead? We all know the best ones are here (or in Russia). Second, he said that in jest. Do Filipinos not make jokes about other nations and cultures everyday? I would even say, to borrow Jimmy Santos' iconic phrase, "three times a day". Everyday, you hear people joke about Indians, Chinese, Arabs, Africans (or any dark-skinned fellow), and even our own kind. We are not exactly the model nation when it comes to battling derogatory remarks or "racism". Now, I know that Alec Baldwin is not a model for good values either, but that is not the point. You can argue about him being tactless or insensitive but he did not say anything that was not already begging to be noticed.

Filipinos, and especially that joke of a senator Bong Revilla, should not be so sensitive on the issue (and we all know how Bong is just desperately playing hero because of the nearing elections - said he intends to beat Baldwin if he would ever travel here - what shame). It just shows how improperly touchy we are. If one has dirt on one's nose, another is bound to notice it, and another to tell you. Natural course of things!

The Gods know I love this country. And that is why I do not want it to be thought of as something so pathetic as to readily place other nations in their jokes yet unwilling to be the matter of jokes themselves. Two words: balat sibuyas.

Perhaps it is in the manner that we say things that count. Argue Baldwin's manner of saying things, argue the manner in which we are presented in jokes, argue the context. But as for the facts within the jokes themselves, I believe there is no reason to overreact and no reason for Baldwin to apologise. Instead of whining about how he had the nerve to joke about our local mail order brides, why do we not do something about it?

"Let us make it clear to the world: Filipino women are not for sale. Not even for sale to Hollywood actors," Loren Legarda says. And I agree most definitely. So, let us fucking stop selling them!

When the selling stops, the buying will too. Duh.

Hoping For Hypatia's Justice

Right now, I am having a total geekgasm with the upcoming film Agora, directed by Alejandro Amenabar and starring Rachel Weisz as Hypatia of Alexandria. It has just premiered at Cannes and is due for general release in December. I have been waiting for this since for ever! Her extraordinary life and brutal death had always struck me with awe and sadness.



Some people "blame" religion for her death. I disagree that it was religion per se. Her religion served her well, obviously. It was ignorance and fanaticism - the religion of the Christian mob of that time - that served her a brutal death, and for all of us - the destruction of an entire library of precious knowledge and the plunging of Alexandria and the Hellenistic world into a dark age, thus "El mundo cambió para siempre" (The world was changed forever). I mourn for that time in history. Sad day for reason, philosophy, scientific learning, and even religion.

A little more information on Hypatia:

Hypatia (high-pay-shah in English, hu-pat-tea-ya in Greek) of Alexandria was a Greek scholar from Alexandria in Egypt, considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy.

Her contributions to science are reputed to include the charting of celestial bodies and the invention of the hydrometer, used to determine the relative density and gravity of liquids. Her pupil Synesius, bishop of Cyrene, wrote a letter defending her as the inventor of the astrolabe, although earlier astrolabes predate Hypatia's model by at least a century - and her father had gained fame for his treatise on the subject.

One day in March 415, during the season of Lent, her chariot was waylaid on her route home by a Christian mob who blamed her for religious turmoil. Some suggest that her murder marked the end of the Hellenistic Age, although others observe pagan philosophy continued to flourish until the age of Justinian in the sixth century.

The Christian monks stripped her naked and dragged her through the streets to the newly Christianised Caesareum church, where she was brutally killed. Some reports suggest she was flayed with ostrakois (literally, "oyster shells", though also used to refer to sharp roof tiles or broken pottery) and set ablaze while still alive, though other accounts suggest those actions happened after her death.

You can watch the teaser trailer here in its official site or in YouTube.

Hephaistos Be Praised!

Wow. It worked. My threat actually worked. At almost exactly 24 hours after I posted this, I'm back online!

Hephaistos, Skilled Hand and Mind, be praised.

Someone's Incompetence At My Expense?

Obviously, I'm still offline. I'm on my 19th day without any internet connection. I've literally got hundreds of messages to read (and reply to) in my inbox and dozens of blog drafts itching to be published. I've got tonnes of material to research on, too! Not to mention, I'm absolutely left out on all the intarwebz updates. How long does it bloody take to transfer accounts?! The old house is just a few blocks from the new one! Gah.

Why am I raving on "incompetence"? Kasi nung pinuntahan namin ang buwakanenang (toot) na iyan, pagkatapos ng 11 araw, hindi pa pala nagalaw iyung transfer papers?! And now we wait for another 10 days?! Gahhhh! I swear, if they hit on 20, I am so going to transfer to another provider.

Just ranting---in an internet cafe with abysmal speed. Ack.