Aldrin

Gay beauty pageants and early morning conversations on politically correct terms (or lack thereof) in the Tagalog language

2012-01-20T08:59:00.001+08:00

One of my dear friends, via text, so early in the morning: "Anó ang politically correct term ng baklâ?"

Me: No exact word, but roughly: effeminate homosexual.

Her: No, in Tagalog.

Me: Ah. Walâ because we are currently an unsophisticated people. But Tagalog used to have one: bayog-ín. It is archaic, but some scholars have revived its usage.

Note, though, that baklâ is largely pejorative whilst bayog-ín is neutral-to-positive. The latter is obviously older and comes from a more sophisticated past.

Addendum: There is also binabaé (for boys) and binalaki (for girls), but these are in reference to transgender, not homosexuality.

Her: Oh, okay. Salamat. I was asking kasí I saw a news clip kanina when I was on the bus going home. And Pinky Webb said 'mga badíng'. And I found it off-key.

Me: Yes, it's always off-key. It's roughly the equivalent of "faggot" or "nigger" on American television. They would never openly say it on air. Dito kebs kasí tangá tayo. Ha ha!

Her: I know! She was talking about a gay beauty pageant, BTW.

Me: Ah, gay beauty pageants. Where gay men are always assumed to be the same as transgender.

Her: I would post this conversation on Facebook.

Me: I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING!

Me: I actually get up at around 10:30, but I read your message, and couldn't go back to sleep unless I answered you. Damn you!

Image: http://www.iias.nl/nl/35/iias_nl35_13.pdf

Adorations to Hera

2012-01-17T18:18:00.002+08:00

I'm sure you're all (?) aware of the adoration trend going on in the polytheistic quarters of the Internet. I couldn't resist making one for Hera.

I drew a lot from her ancient epithets, but also added in my own experiences with her (I use 'mother' a lot, as you may notice). One other source is Ceisiwr Serith's prayer to the cow-mother Gwouwindā, which I absolutely adore.

I adore you, Hera.
I adore you, undoubted queen.
I adore you, splendid daughter of Rheia and Kronos.
I adore you, grandchild of broad-breasted Gaia and wide-arching Ouranos.
I adore you, sister and wife of loud-thundering Zeus.
I adore you, mother of peerless Ares.
I adore you, mother of youthful Hebe.
I adore you, mother of skillful Hephaistos.
I adore you, foster-mother of many gods.
I adore you, born in Samos.
I adore you, raised in Argos.
I adore you, mother of cows.
I adore you whose stream of blessings is ever-flowing.
I adore you whose shining body delights the eyes.
I adore you whose holy purity blesses all.
I adore you, nourishing one.
I adore you, fertile one.
I adore you, abundant and gracious.
I adore you, providing milk overflowing.
I adore you, lady of the pomegranate.
I adore you, lady with the lotus-staff.
I adore you, queen of heaven.
I adore you, bringer of sweet rain.
I adore you, kindler of stars.
I adore you, sending cool gales.
I adore you, shining heifer.
I adore you, dreaded lioness.
I adore you, cuckoo.
I adore you, drawn by peacocks.
I adore you, attended by the seasons.
I adore you, mother of kings.
I adore you, mother of heroes.
I adore you, source of sovereignty.
I adore you, highly crowned.
I adore you, knowing heaven and earth.
I adore you, mother of law and order.
I adore you, exalted one.
I adore you, mother of people.
I adore you, protector of women.
I adore you, patron of marriage.
I adore you, keeper of keys.
I adore you, protector at childbirth.
I adore you, keeper of harmony.
I adore you, faithful one.
I adore you, my lady, my queen, my mother.

Other adorations:

Adorations to Dionysos (thehouseofvines.wordpress.com)
Adorations to Persephone (melittabenu.wordpress.com)
Adorations to Hephaistos (aithaloeistheos.wordpress.com)
Adorations for Apollon (lykeiaofapollon.wordpress.com)
Adorations of Hekate (flamingthyrsos.wordpress.com)
Adorations for Hermes (inahawksi.wordpress.com)
Adorations for Athena (youngflemishhellenist.wordpress.com)
Adorations for Zeus (youngflemishhellenist.wordpress.com)
Adorations for Antinous (aediculaantinoi.wordpress.com)
Adorations of Ares (aspisofares.wordpress.com)
Sannion adores the trend he started

I hope we get to see more!

Hail and be thou well, 2012!

2012-01-02T22:40:00.001+08:00

Have a happy and prosperous New Year, friends. Never fail to live life excellently, and to be excellent towards as many people and non-people as you can.

Reasons for the season

2011-12-24T22:36:00.001+08:00

Okay, now this is what I intend to do as an Anglo-Graeco-Roman pagan revert from Roman rite Catholicism for the following days:

Tonight (also the new moon, by the way): give birthday presents to the baby saviour gods (Jesus and Dionysus, or Dion-esus if you will)

Light and frankincense for Baby Jesus
Wine and grape juice for Baby Dionysus

Honour ancestral mothers (Matronae) with milk, and agricultural gods with bread or grain for past week of safe and joyful Saturnalian festivities
Feast with family, wishing strength to saviour babies
Watch Jim Carrey play Grinch and miss father
Have LOTR movie marathon
Tomorrow morning: greet dawn goddess, then greet baby sun god (Sol Invictus) and invite him to bless planet for another year, wishing him long life
Tomorrow evening: greet celestial gods of the night sky
Have an awesome last week of the year
Clean house on or a day before eve of New Year

Make sure shrines, threshold, and hearth are at their best, festive condition

On eve of New Year (also the kalends of January): light fire at hearth shrine (both the last for 2011 and the first for 2012), use fire to light sacrificial fire at threshold shrine, offer goods symbolising happiness and health of family for next year (sweet fruit, butter, rice, flour, milk, honey, and oil preferably), have both fires meet by lighting candle from sacrificial fire and bringing it inside house, hearth first then dining table
Music and lights at maximum
Feast with family, wishing all auspicious and fortunate things to dominate the incoming year (top blessings are happiness, health, peace, bounty, and long life) for family, friends, and larger community
On dawn of New Year, perform very first offerings and prayers to hearth goddess, threshold god, border gods, storage gods (all household gods, to be brief), land spirits, and ancestors - make sure ritual etiquette is observed for full auspiciousness
Have super awesome start of 2012 for entire year
Live excellently for self, family, and fellowmen

Why are we so obsessed with who's gay?

2011-12-01T00:12:00.001+08:00

Perhaps because we are a hapless bunch, insecure of our own sexual and/or gender identities? Perhaps because we aren't amongst the most comfortable when it comes to the topic of sex, nor amongst the most educated? In fact, we're so ignorant that we've piled up everything we can't define about gender and sexuality into one word: baklâ.

Hapless, indeed, to have only one word (a bad word, not to mention) for everything else we are unwilling to introduce to decent society.

This is for my old phone and the ruffians who took it

2011-11-28T19:26:00.001+08:00

When you find something that isn't yours, with information readily available for you to return it to its owner, you return it. Else you are a petty thief, deserving of neither anger nor sadness, but indifference.

Nonetheless, may you perish for an afternoon.

Three poems in Esperanto I wish I had made but did not

2011-11-20T23:36:00.001+08:00

I've been too focused on French lately, that I've forgot(en) I'm learning Esperanto, too. Fortunately, my friend/language partner is still up to it. He's just made three poems, much to my envy.

With his permission, since he is blog-less, I am reposting all three. Comment away, amikoj. (As you can see, I did not even have the patience to write this introduction in la lingvo.)

mi supozis ke ĝi estis vi
starante trans la fervojo
sed ĝi estintus nebulo nur
estintus fumo nur
estintus mia penso nur
estintus io pli
trajnoj faras ankoraŭ
nebulo sternas ankoraŭ en la funga cielo
fumon spiratas ankoraŭ, pulmo al pulmo
pensojn pensatas ankoraŭ

la dioj
la dioj marŝintis ekster de aĵoj jam
ni estas iliaj piedoj kaj manoj, okuloj kaj nazoj
Mi, mi ĝuas estanta la lipa angulo de unu dioj
kaj la pubvilaro de alia

mia poŝtelefono
Mi preterlasis mian poŝtelefonon ree
sur la tablo?
sub la seĝoj?
ĉu vi povus alvokas min? rrrring rrrring!!!
ahh, tio bonfartigas min.

'Wag kang haharang-harang sa daan ko.

2011-11-09T19:59:00.002+08:00

Lalaki ako. Mahal ko ang titi ko. Sapat na 'yun para maging lalaki. Hawak ko ang kasarian ko, hindi mo o ninuman. Iiyak ako kung gusto ko, at uurong ako sa inuman kung kailan ko gusto.

Desisyon ko ring hindi mag-asawa kung gugustuhin ko; hindi ito kabasawan sa pagkalalaki ko. Kung babae man o lalaki -- o pareho -- ang hilig ko ay wala na kayong pakialam dun. Sino'ng sira-ulo bang may sabi na ang lalaki ay para lamang sa babae?

Wala nga palang kasarian ang tela. Lalaki pa rin ako kahit ano'ng isuot kong damit. Hindi malalaglag ang bayag ko kapag nagpalda ako o headband; kaya pa rin kitang upakan (at kaya ka ring upakan ng lola ko -- ang kakayahang umupak ay walang kinalaman sa kasarian o edad ng isang tao).

Hindi kita mapipigilang tawaging akong bakla kung 'yun lang ang konseptong kaya ng makitid mong utak. Wala rin akong pakialam kung utos ng relihiyon mong bano na kamuhian mo ako. 'Di ko kasalanang tanga ka. Basta, ako, lalaki ako -- isang taong pinanganak na may titi, at nagmamahal sa kanyang titi. Kung 'di mo ako kayang igalang, bahala ka, buhay mo 'yan. 'Wag mo lang akong pagkaitan ng karapatan kong pantao para pagharian ang sarili kong kasarian at pagkakakilanlan. 'Wag kang haharang-harang sa daan ko.

Siya nga pala, kahit sino pwedeng uminom ng Colt .45, mapababae o mapalalaki.

Hocus Pocus turns 18

2011-10-31T21:34:00.000+08:00

Watching Hocus Pocus on its 18th year, on the same night the movie was set in, on the same night I first saw it when I was 7. A tradition I shan't break.

I had really hoped for a sequel.

AVE MERCVRIVS

2011-10-19T15:54:00.001+08:00

Today is the third Wednesday from the Kalends (Noumenia) of October, and the third day of my three-day thanksgiving to Hermes-Mercurius as god of commerce and travel. I have so far already offered white chocolate mocha on the first day, hot chocolate with cinnamon and nutmeg on the second day at our house herm, and green tea latte today (though, I did originally promise strawberries and cream).

I joyfully consumed them all in his honour; but, of course, not without a symbolic libation (our business areas are carpeted).

As someone who depends on sales, wit, and cunning for a living -- not to mention being in a business that involves travel and hospitality -- I owe him heaps. So, be thou well, Mercator! Agoraios! Fortunus! Beloved lord and friend!

As you will recognise, this is the prayer I offer you before beginning every work day:

Hear thou Mercury, full of luck,
Who guides the traffic of merchants and travellers:
Praises I pour out to thee,
O champion of commerce, silver-tongued god.
Open my day today to all things auspicious and fortunate,
To joyous business and prosperous sales,
As you have always done, faithful friend.
Be thou increased in power, o god dearest to mankind,
So that we may be increased in joy.

If you like it, please continue to bless my path, my words, and my business -- and that of my kin -- every single day.

Die, Gumby

2011-10-13T10:35:00.000+08:00

This green bastard used to scare me. I'm still a little freaked out looking at him. Happy 90th Birthday, Art Clokey! We can take down the little green goblin now, thanks.

National Coming Out Day

2011-10-11T14:58:00.000+08:00

Today is National Coming Out Day. I am coming out to all of you in behalf of those who cannot.

Let it be known that I am gay. And lesbian. And trans, queer, pan, and bi. Also intersexual, asexual, pomosexual, questioning, unlabelled, and undecided. I am everything this intolerant, ignorant society cannot accept. But I am a human being and I shall not stand by as others tell me I do not deserve the same rights that they enjoy.

I am here. I will not be bullied. I deserve the same humanity.

If you can, I hope you can come out with us, too. For equality and awareness, may we achieve victory in doing so.

Reality disagrees with the CBCP... as usual.

2011-09-23T16:11:00.000+08:00

As if President Aquino's halfbaked support for LGBT rights wasn't sad enough, a certain Fr Melvin Castro had to make it all worse. Here, he says: "Essentially we don't believe that same sex attracted people are discriminated upon in the Philippines. What we do not agree is for them to have marriage."

Erm, what? In what alternate universe is denying marriage equality not discrimination? In what fucked up cosmos is all the shite that gay men and women have to put up with in the Philippines not discrimination? Can somebody give this priest back his brain?

I refuse to believe that these people speak for Jesus.

Fr Melvin Castro probably left his at the door

Bastos?

2011-09-18T11:45:00.000+08:00

Siyá: Ikáw ba, hindî ka magagalit kung lagyán ko ng titì ang picture ng tatay mo?
(Him: Wouldn't you get angry if I placed a penis in your father's picture?)

Akó: Hindî. Hindî ko namán tatay 'yan e. Walâ namáng titì sa mukhâ ang tatay ko e.
(Me: Nope. That's not my father. My father doesn't have a penis on his face.)

Sapagkát ang larawan mong pinapangit ay hindî mo na larawan... kung hindî ka talagá pangit.
(Because a defaced picture is no longer your picture... if you don't actually look that way.)

Christ or Mickey Mouse?
Neither.
This is Chrismouse.

An oath is fulfilled

2011-09-15T13:16:00.001+08:00

To Hermes
Ever our friend and ally
A holy herm now stands before our door
Wine and honey stain the stones
As sweet gifts to our Vigilant Apotropaios
So that He may guard over our garth
Our pass and paths
Averting all evil and ill
Misfortune and mischief
From hearth and hall
And kindred
Today
And ever more.

Mia klopodo po esperanto

2011-09-08T13:17:00.000+08:00

Saluton! Ĉi tio estas mia klopodo blogi en esperanto.

Mi estas Aldriko Lŭis, sed Aldrin estas mia angla nomo. Aldriko estas mia primara nomo; Lŭis estas la nomo de mia patro.

Mi loĝas en Imus kaj laboras en Manila. Ambaŭ estas bela urboj kaj tre maljuna. Vulgara, mi vojaĝas por du horojn. Ĝi estas tre laciga!

Verbojn uzis:

esti - to be
blogi - to blog
loĝi - to live
labori - to work
vojaĝi - to travel
uzi - to use

Adjektivojn uzis:

angla - English
primara - primary
maljuna - old
laciga - tired

Vi povas korekti min nun.

Conformity

2011-08-20T16:03:00.001+08:00

Do not let the seemingly uniform world stop you from being who you are. You'd be surprised by how different we all are. Most of us just try too hard to be like everyone else (whatever that means).

If I don't get to sleep tonight, I am going to start killing bears.

2011-08-17T15:46:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, I napped at around 2:30 in the afternoon. I woke up at around 4. I ate nothing but a piece of sausage. I worked out at around 7:30. I finished just a few minutes before 10. I ate a slab of tuna with chili, some Doritos, and dark chocolate for dessert. Then I had a glass of cold milk. I surfed the Intarnetz. I went to bed a few minutes before 1. I stared at the darkness. I stared some more. It went on for some time. I counted sheep. It wouldn’t work. It was already 1:30. I abused myself. I took a cold bath. I was cold and exhausted. I thought I could sleep. I couldn't. I stared at the darkness some more. I recited a mantra to fall asleep. I beat the mantra. I read a book. I drank some milk. I could not sleep. It was nearing 3. I shat and drank more milk. I gave up at 4. I prepared for work. Now, I’m at work. I have been awake for 24 hours now and will have to stay for another 4. I am expecting a good night’s sleep tonight or else I am going to start killing bears.

The kid makes an excellent point.

2011-08-16T11:34:00.001+08:00

Friend: Anó 'yan? (What's that?)

Friend's 8-year old: Si Jesus na-a-attract sa apoy. (That's Jesus, getting attracted to fire.)

Friend: Anó ibig sabihin niyán? (What does that mean?)

Friend's 8-year old: Walâ. Drawing lang. Kailangan ba laging may ibig sabihin? (Nothing. It's just a drawing. Do drawings always have to mean something?)

Might be blogging in Esperanto from time to time

2011-08-13T02:44:00.001+08:00

Okay, so I'm learning Esperanto. Just thought I'd leave you anglosaksoj a warning that I might blog in pure Esperanto from time to time. I believe this will help me learn faster as my lazy arse will be forced to study more frequently. Consider this self-blackmail.

If you speak Esperanto, though, I would appreciate it if you could comment on my grammar and vocabulary if you spot anything wrong or inappropriate.

Dankon.

Blasphemy in polytheism?

2011-08-11T10:22:00.001+08:00

The ancients had no qualms about portraying the gods in humorous or irreverent ways: that kind of freedom is one of the great joys of polytheism, and the deep and profound reverence we also show the gods is an important and powerful paradox. Our gods are not humorless tyrants. They can take a joke.

Conrad Deitrick via Polytheism

Being 'just friends'

2011-08-02T08:47:00.001+08:00

Nothing does the greatest disservice to the sacred bond of friendship than the ubiquitous phrase "just friends". Just friends? Just friends? Are you bloody mad? Have you any idea how hard it is to maintain true friends these days? It takes a lot of love to be a true friend. And if you're not a true friend, then you're not a friend at all.

It's the cake that matters in the end, not the icing.

2011-08-02T08:22:00.001+08:00

A romanticist approach to life is nice and sweet and pretty. But at the end of the day, we have to be realists. There's nothing more precious, more valuable than raw, unveiled truth: the basis for a bullshit-free world. That's where you should take root, not in short-lived conveniences.

Jesus doesn't need your repetitive rhetoric.

2011-07-23T17:32:00.001+08:00

I just saw this in my News Feed today and I thought I'd tear it up for Christ's sake (you can take that both ways).

Greatest man in history...

Speak for yourself. Nobody ever gets to declare the greatest man in history.

...named Jesus

Hardly. More like, Yeshua bin Maryam.

...had no servants, yet they called him Master.

Master can also mean 'adept' (which he was) not just 'lord of servants' (which he also was if you consider all his yes-man disciples).

Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher.

You're speaking in contemporary terms. No, he did not receive a degree from university; nobody else did. All you needed to do was to study the scriptures or the law, which all rabbis did (including Jesus).

Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer.

So could a witch-doctor.

He had no army, yet kings feared Him.

What were their names? From where? There is a story about one king who feared his coming; he was paranoid.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

If you consider the popes and the bishops and the vast papal armies part of Jesus, then yes, he did conquer most of the known world in a span of two thousand years -- quite forcibly and with a lot of blood.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

Actually, he did: He was executed for blasphemy and sedition, grave crimes at that time for both Jews and Romans.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Okay, look: Historically, we don't even know for sure if he was ever born. Aside from the gospels we have -- which, by the way, were strategically picked from 20 or so other gospels of the time, written at least a hundred years after the supposed time of Jesus of Galilee -- we have nothing else but ambiguous archaeological clues.

Re-post if you believe.

When has believing ever trumped actual doing? Even if I did believe, it doesn't really prove anything, and it won't help the cause of christian love and hope, in the same way that posting a photograph of your favourite cartoon character helps stop child abuse. If you really love Jesus (I know I do), go out there and share that love with actual people. Make it practical and relevant instead of passing on some meme on Facebook about how lucky you are to be a "Christian".

Dweller-in-the-Centre

2011-07-11T22:57:00.005+08:00

Hestia as I see Her:

Hestia sits at the centre. She makes Her dwelling in the hearts of all things. Her most popular and, presumably, most relevant function in human civilisation is that of a hearth goddess. She guards and protects the home and the frith of families, as well as the cores of entire communities. She is the light, warmth, and heart of domestic life. Where her cult is established, familial relations are well.

In the past, her cultus was tended solely by women, especially maidens, because of her association with purity, which in turn comes from her association with benign fire (fire being the only element that cannot be polluted by any external substance). Hers are the first and last portions of offerings, but never of meat or blood or other items that have been “polluted” by violence. Where she is disrespected – i.e. if the hearth is untended – domestic life is put at peril, as is bound to happen in any circumstance where family relations are taken for granted. Naturally, in myth, she remains unwed and ever-benevolent.

The mythos of her being the first and last-born of her god-siblings comes from her role as receiver of offerings (hearth fires were not only seen as places where dinner was prepared but also as places where prayers were uttered by family members). As a living metaphor for community building (the family being the most basic unit) and fire domestication, she is undoubtedly one of the first gods to be worshipped by Man and definitely one of the most important.

“Shining One,

She who dwells within,

sitting at the centre,

Guardian of family and home and frith:

Beat strong and pure in the heart of our home, [1]

And burn within our hearts no less,

Shining bright for those who gather around You, [2]

Granting grace to pray before Your pure fires.”

I missed last year's Magdalene karakol; I shan't miss it this year and for ever.

2011-05-28T23:01:00.001+08:00

Something I wrote for Her several years back.

Mayo a veinte ocho nanamán.
Simulâ na ng pagbuhos ng ulán.
Dalá ng lakambining nangantimugan.
Magdalena ang kanyáng pangalan.

Aba at Junio na.
Nagbalik na ang Magdalena.

Maryá Magdalenang dalá ng dayuhan
Salamín ng bathalumang nakalimután.
Ngayó'y sa amin nang nanahan
Naibsán ang pagtangis sa nakaraán.

Sakáy ng alon saami'y nakaabot.
Kamí'y isukob sa iyóng salakót.

Kulóg at kidlát ang kanyáng dalá
Ulán para sa nangansaka.
Pagkaing tubo mulâ sa lupà
Siyáng biyayà ng Magdalena.

Halina at kamí'y basaín.
Dingín itóng aming dalangin.

Papuri't galák sa lakambining Maryá
Sayáw mo sa amin ay ligaya
Ulán mong buhay sa amin at paritó
At sa susong-lupang inalayan mo.

Aba, aba! Poón naming Maryá.
Amen; siyá nawá ang wikà nilá.

Yes, I know, she's not at all like the biblical Mary Magdalene. This is pure polytheistic love.

So, the world's going to end in 7 days?

2011-05-15T09:54:00.001+08:00

So says familyradio.com. It's disgusting, really. Every time a natural disaster comes our way, a bunch of crazies claim it's part of some ancient desert prophecy. Really now?

These doomsday-mongers should really just calmthefuckdown. All these natural "disasters" are only omens of a living and breathing world, not its final destruction. A real doomsday sign would be green rain or cold fire; but why would that even happen?

Of course, the world will surely end. It's a probability supported by science. All things die. A creature's death is the end of its world, after all. Stars and planets are no different. Our planet is no different. Our species is no different; no matter how convinced others are that we're something special. There is no preexisting reason why things live or die. We just do.

But if you think a major catastrophe happening sometime soon makes these bible-thumping crackpots right, think again. "The End of Times" is something that nature determines; not man or scripture. If you're the type to identify god with nature, then yes, god determines the expiration date. But who is privy to the mind of such a god? No one. And especially not these nutters.

Why should it even matter, anyway? Should our world begin to crumble on the 21st of May, suck it up and survive. Cease your whining; it's not about us. It wasn't about the dinosaurs when it happened to them. The world is simply reshuffling, and it's best to play her game and dance her rhythms; because that's the only thing we can do.

This is a test post. Jai Devi Mata!

2011-05-10T08:47:00.001+08:00

via exoticindiaart.com

This is a test post. Jai Devi Mata!

Thor is an opportunity. People will seek out Pagans due to this film, silly as that may sound.

2011-05-10T08:38:00.001+08:00

via patheos.com

Rather than concern ourselves with whether or not the film is disrespectful, whether it’s appropriate for Heimdallr to be played by a black actor or wonder why on earth they made Sif a brunette, we should focus on the practical fallout from this film. We know what happened with The Craft, we know Heathenry is growing leaps and bounds and we need to expect this film to be significant.

I think we should look at this film as if we are a spiritually and culturally hungry person. As if we are a 16 year old young woman considering a military career and in need of a warrior ethic. As if we are a homemaker taking her kids to an action-flick who is suddenly overwhelmed by Frigga. As if we are a man with a newborn who stumbled across Asatru looking up info on the film and is looking for a spiritual tradition for his family. Because those are the people who will be coming to us with questions. We shouldn’t dismiss them for referencing Thor like so many seekers were dismissed for coming to Wicca by way of The Craft. Maybe Thor will lead folks to their path, and maybe there will be folks who need to be gently dissuaded, but they all deserve positive, straightforward and enlightening answers.

Thor is an opportunity. People will seek out Pagans due to this film, silly as that may sound. When they come we should greet them with answers and hospitality, especially if we weren’t received that way. Thor can mark a change not only for seekers, but for how our communities interact with them.

Read the rest of the quoted article here.

I wish to use the genuine love this Hallmark holiday has generated to wish all mothers the best of fortunes!

2011-05-08T22:32:00.001+08:00

May Maia, the Good Mother, the Nurturer, mother of Swift-footed Hermes, bless all mothers on this day and for ever; my mother, grandmothers, aunts, grandaunts, sisters, cousins, and friends no less.

Happy Mothers Day!

The question of the nature/nurture of gayness is getting old and irrelevant.

2011-05-08T20:50:00.001+08:00

Does a gay man really need to be "born that way" to be respected and to share equal rights with heteronormative citizens? Of course not. Genetics is beside the point. If it were entirely genetic -- and I highly doubt it is -- so what? You can't use that reason alone as a basis for human rights. We all deserve to walk our own paths, regardless if we've been "this way" since we were 5 or 50.

I've got an amazing boss.

2011-05-08T19:57:00.001+08:00

I know it's too early to say for sure, and I'm sure a few things will come up in the future where we'll disagree with each other; but, right now, I think he's a really awesome guy.

He's Bengali, by the way, and I made sure I pointed that out on my first day at work (I just love their language). Naturally, he was surprised I knew. How many young non-Indians do you meet everyday who can tell a Sindhi from a Bengali Indian. He was also amazed at how I know about bhajans and said he was touched to know I believe in Ma Durga. I told him I've got a few Hindu friends, but what I really wanted to say was: "Yes, I know, I'm smart".

He's definitely one of the best foreigners I've met. On his first day, he already learnt a few useful words in the local language and he refuses to eat hotel food because he prefers to eat where the natives do, claiming you have to acquaint yourself with the spirit of a place every time you visit another country. Amazing, isn't he?

Anyway, I'm really excited to be under his guidance. He's really smart, very cultured, and he has an amazing way of telling stories where he just goes on and I don't get bored or sleepy.

I pray for his genius that it may bless him, his family, and all his endeavours for all the days to come. Nômoshkar!

Still my favourite Bengali song: Beautiful voice, language, song, scenery; beautiful everything.

2011-05-08T18:45:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

English lyrics:

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Bengali lyrics:

Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
dao more shei gaan

Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shopto-shindhu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan

Shei shurete jagbo ami
Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
dao more shei gaan

At dahil masokista akó ngayón, pinápanuod ko nanamán 'to para magngúngumawà akó.

2011-05-08T18:32:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

Waaaaaaaah!

Beltane: Where exactly is this happening in the Philippines?

2011-05-01T21:54:00.001+08:00

Today is Beltane! At this sacred time of the year, we nature-worshipping bumpkin-wannabes gather once more to honour the fertility of the land and the vibrance of life, symbolised by the courtship and marriage of the divine powers behind nature. Joy once more returns as life conquers death; oak defeats holly; summer overpowers winter. All the earth is alive again! From plants to animals to humankind! Let us all celebrate the vital passion that now gushes forth from the womb of the earth!

Can you feel the surging force of this joyous sabbat yet? Take a look at some photos I took recently to celebrate this vibrant season of life.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Can you feel the loving embrace of drought now? Truly, the return of summer is celebrated the same way across countries. After all, if it's happening in Britain -- home of 25,000 year old Wicca -- it should be the same in the Philippines, yes? Right? Right?

See the full gallery on Posterous

In case you're daft today, I was being sarcastic. The tomatoes seem to be fine, though. Who's in for a tomato sabbat?

Catholics shouldn't need the Vatican to declare who they should pray to or how.

2011-05-01T21:17:00.001+08:00

People should be able to choose their own saints. After all, another man's saint can be another person's wretch. You can't force a person's blessedness down people's throats; they need to decide on that for themselves.

This is not meant to dismiss the recent beatification of the late Pope John Paul II in any way. I actually like him; I'm happy a lot of people like him, too. That personal conviction is enough for me, though, and others have no business telling me it isn't.

Likewise (let's pretend I'm still christian), just because the Vatican lists Boniface (he-who-was-hacked-because-he-was-a-selfrighteous-antipagan-arsehole) a saint doesn't mean I should like him or start praying to him. A shared religious experience is an amazing thing, but ultimately religion is a personal matter.

Conclusion: The Vatican is outdated and unnecessary. Revere one, three or a thousand, or none. It is your business and you should decide on what you believe; what others say is merely commentary.

Every Filipino is born ready to fend off attacks from evil witches and flying fetus-eating vampires. Fo' realz!

2011-04-30T14:03:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

This is so funny because it's true! *ROTFLMAO* I can't count how many American horror films I've seen and yelled: "That's not how you should do it!"

Yeah, we third-world rustics know everything about monsters. Fo' realz!

If it was Kate's idea to plant trees in Westminster, I love her already!

2011-04-30T12:34:00.001+08:00

According to this article, the idea was definitely hers: Kate loves the outdoors and, according to the Daily Mail, she ordered more than four tons of foliage to create an English country garden setting inside Westminster Abbey, including pyramid-shaped ornamental Hornbeams to frame the choir and a "living avenue" of 20-foot-tall, 15-year-old English Field Maples through which guests walked to their seats. The cost? About 50,000 pounds, or $83,335.

I hope the trees get replanted, though!

I am serious when I say I am a monarchist.

2011-04-30T10:46:00.001+08:00

And it has little to do with the recent wedding of the Duke of Cambrige, Prince of Wales-Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Kate of wherever-the-fuck-is-Middleton (I say this in jest; don't kill me).

I admit, though, that my allegiance is hardly rational and is almost purely sentimental (so don't argue politics with me just yet). I am an advocate of secularism and I love my democracy; but my concern and affection for Their Majesties go back several generations in my family and are very difficult to dismiss. I choose to continue keeping that love.

All that said, I wish the royal couple well. If the United Kingdom must remain a constitutional monarchy -- and I pray it does for it to remain the United Kingdom -- it is only natual that we wish the newly-wed couple the best of all things: Hail and be well, Ye Duke and Duchess of Cambrigde! We wish you continuance and prosperity. God save the line of Kings!

PS: The Majesties mentioned above refer to the King and Queen of Spain, but may also extend to their kinsmen (which just about includes every royal house in Europe), thus also the Queen of the UK (sovereign of my adopted culture) and her newly-wed grandson.

This is how you should oppose us, CBCP: With reason and dignity.

2011-04-28T10:58:00.001+08:00

It is entirely possible to be against the RH Bill and not be a moron or an arsehole. I still side with the more practical priests who support the RHB, but I can definitely respect the views of this bishop.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma has proposed a non-antagonistic way that the Catholic Church and other opponents of the Reproductive Health Bill may use in campaigning against the controversial measure.

In a pastoral letter dated April 19 and read during the Easter Sunday masses, Ledesma said that the best way to say “no” [to the RH Bill] is to say “yes” to natural family planning.

The church strongly opposes the bill for promoting the use of contraceptives a number of which are allegedly abortifacient.

In explaining the natural family planning program of the archdiocese, Ledesma said that 1) all modern scientific NFP methods should be included; 2) NFP method should reach out to all parishes and chapel communities; and 3) NFP is being promoted without backup contraceptives.

He cited the archdiocese’s engagements with local government units in Misamis Oriental, Camiguin and Cagayan de Oro in promoting the NFP.

The archbishop emphasized that they are pushing NFP as an “engagement, not collaboration” since the Church wants it to be independent of the LGU. He added the NFP can only succeed if there is widespread acceptance of it by both the church and LGU.

Ledesma reiterated the stand of the church against abortion which he said is also in consonance with the Philippine Constitution.

He further stressed that instead of the government policy drifting towards “reproductive health,” more stress on responsible parenthood should be pushed. He explained that responsible parenthood can be differentiated from reproductive health to mean the “parents’ exalted role in giving birth to another person, body and soul…”

This should not be misconstrued however as abetting the country’s high population growth, he said.

“Christian parents must exercise responsible parenthood. While nurturing a generous attitude towards bringing new human life into the world, they should strive to beget only those children whom they can raise up in a truly human and Christian way,” he said. (BenCyrus G. Ellorin/MindaNews)

Read the rest of the quoted article at mindanews.

Ang kahibangán na itó ay maihahalintulad sa kaululán ng isáng asong malapit nang mamatáy sa rabies.

2011-04-28T10:20:00.001+08:00

These faux holy men are free to believe in the bogeyman under their beds, but if they must mention the spirit of deception, I believe they are more acquainted with it. We musn't tell lies, bishop. We musn't tell lies.

What is so wrong with being able to make your own choices that concern your own body, your own reproductive system free from another person's boot on your face? What is so wrong with having the right to quality healthcare and proper education about your own body? What?

This insanity bears striking resemblance to the madness of a dying rabid dog. All the better, then. Die, culture of deception, die. Die, culture of hypocrisy, die. Die, culture of ignorance, die. Die, Dark Ages, die.

The second highest leader of San Pablo diocese has expressed dismay that high ranking people who promote the controversial Reproductive Health Bill (Responsible Parenthood Bill) are employing the devil tactics of deception to lure unsuspecting Filipinos to favor its passage into a law.

Barcenas knew that by definition “reproductive rights may include some or all of the following: the rights to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence.”

Our enemy in fighting against RH Bill (otherwise known as House Bill No. 4244 the proposed Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011) is not the person (RH proponents) endorsing it but Satan who is behind them and seducing these people to spread the lies and make people believe that abortion is not allowed in RHB.

“In this fight against RH Bill, our true enemies are not the people (who proposed it) but Satan. It is the evil that is manipulating the minds of all (pro RH Bill Congressmen) or those higher ups in the world. This is the reason why it is difficult to fight this enemy,” the prelate admitted.

He said this issue about the RH Bill is not only the concern of Catholics (Christians) but of all Filipinos of good will.

Meanwhile, Diocesan Family Life Director Fr. Jerry Oblepias has expressed his doubts whether President Aquino has studied thoroughly the controversial Reproductive Hill bill (RHB) when he said in public that “I’m against abortion” but at the same time strongly pushing for the approval of the bill.

“Perhaps the president does not know the whole content of RH Bill. He said that he is against abortion perhaps just to appease the Catholic hierarchy,” Oblepias said.

“My (humble) advice (to our President) is to understand that Easter is a celebration of life. And (my advice) to those who support the RHB, they don’t deserve to celebrate Easter (because) it may be an outright contradiction (if they do so),” Oblepias concluded.

The CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines) has said that although the RH Bill’s title has been changed from Reproductive Health (RHB) to Responsible Parenthood Bill (RPB), investigations made by Catholic experts showed that the contents of the two bills are all the same. (Fr. Romy Ponte)

Read the rest of the quoted article at cbcpnews.

It's official: I am a terrorist. Fear me!

2011-04-27T10:58:00.001+08:00

According to these crazy old men, at least. So. Freakin. Scared.

Advocates of the reproductive health (RH) bill are no better than terrorists because the measure could lead to the death of innocents, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Tuesday.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, CBCP vice president, said condoms and abortion were tantamount to killing the innocent.

The Catholic Church, led by the CBCP, opposes the bill because it believes the measure will allow couples to gain easy access to condoms and other methods of contraception that can cause abortion.

Palma expressed dismay over lawmakers supporting the RH bill, which seeks to provide couples a choice of what family planning methods to use.

Reacting to reports that the bill was gaining adherents even from other religious groups, Palma said on Radyo Inquirer dzIQ: “I hope that it is not true. If it is, we can only pray.”

“If people vote because of money then it’s almost like becoming Judas,” Palma said.

He said he wished the President would recall the “walang mahirap, walang corrupt” campaign promise “because threatening legislators that they will not receive their pork barrel if they will not support RH bill is a form of corruption.”

Malacañang has not issued any statement to the effect that the President would not release pork barrel to legislators against the bill.

President Benigno Aquino III has said he was against abortion but favored giving couples “the right to choose how best to manage their families.”

Emphasis mine. Read the rest here via inquirer.net.

Friendster to say good bye on 31st of May. Not just a rumour.

2011-04-26T23:55:00.001+08:00

It's a bit sad, I admit, but I'll get over it. Definitely exporting my profile tonight.

Farewell, old friend! I had a great time.

MANILA, Philippines -- Social networking pioneer Friendster has advised its millions of users to take their files elsewhere, or face oblivion by May 31, when the site begins a reincarnation of itself as a non-Facebook-competing, "entertainment and fun" service.

TechCrunch, an IT-website, has reported that "Friendster has advised registered members to install a custom application that will export all their profile data as most of it will be deleted on May 31, 2011."

The report, along with several others that discussed how Friendster planned to stay relevant in the age of Facebook domination, has sparked rumors of a winding down or at least a reinvention that will see the destruction of a social networking site that has connected people and made them friends.

But Friendster itself has explained to its users in its help page that the removal of all users' information -- blog, photo, profile -- is to pave the way for the introduction of a new Friendster.

"We are introducing a new and improved Friendster in the coming weeks that will be focused on entertainment and fun. There will be new features that will leverage on your online activities and will enable you to connect with friends or engage new friends with similar interests."

Friendster said the "improved site is designed to create new profiles that allow you to connect differently with people and do things differently than other networking sites. Basically, the new site will complement your existing online presence in other social networking sites."

To do this, Friendster will retain users' friends lists, basic profile information, wallet and games.

Attempts via phone and email by abs-cbnnews.com to get more details about this from Friendster failed.

TechCrunch described the impending move "exactly like Myspace when they started feeling the Facebook heat for real."

This observation comes against a backdrop of intense attrition for social networking sites.

"Tech industry analysts comScore say figures show MySpace lost more than 10 million unique users worldwide between January and February... Year on year the site has lost almost 50 million users, down from close to 110 million in February 2010," BBC reported in March.

Yet, in a ZDNet Asia report just this month, Friendster CEO Ganesh Kumar Bangah may have hinted how his company views this kind of brand reinvention.

In that report, Bangah pitched for a unique value proposition in an attempt not to be sidelined by a global social graph dominated by Facebook.

"Friendster... will be re-launched as a social entertainment site that will leverage the global social graph using Facebook's "Connect" feature... will not compete with but instead will complement Facebook," ZDNet Asia quoted Bangah as saying.

A preview of what the site may have in mind may be the announcement last September that it is launching social media portals for music and social gaming fans in Asia.

Friendster claims to be a leading global online social network with 95 million members worldwide.

via abs-cbnnews.com

Brainless bishops launch tactless non-Easter related offensive in pulpits versus the much needed RH bill.

2011-04-24T20:00:00.000+08:00

I added the necessary adjectives to describe exactly how I feel right now. There is nothing in the bill that pushes for abortion. READ! And stop spreading lies, you cheap hypocrites. If you can't subscribe to logic, fight fair at the very least.

On the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Catholic bishops in various parts of the country stepped up their campaign against the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

In San Fernando, Pampanga, the chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Commission on Family and Life asked the faithful to pray for the conversion of lawmakers as defenders of Filipino families.

“Let’s pray for our congressmen, congresswomen and senators so that they and their families will be blessed by the Lord and they shall receive graces in understanding the irreversible consequences of the [RH bill] that is being tackled in Congress,” Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said in a circular read in parishes in Pampanga on Easter Sunday.

Aniceto, 73, said Jesus Christ fulfilled God’s salvation by winning over death and freeing humankind from sins. This paschal mystery, he said, happened in the context of families among Israelites in the Old Testament and among the 12 disciples and Christ’s followers in the New Testament.

In modern times, he said this meant renewing baptismal vows or living according to the teachings of God.

“The family is an important element in the liberation of those in Israel against slavery by the pharaoh. The family is the true defense of humankind,” Aniceto said in a three-page circular written in Kapampangan.

In March, Aniceto called on Catholics in Central Luzon to fight the passage of House Bill No. 4244 (the proposed Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011) with “deeper spirituality.”

The bill mandates sex education in all schools and promotes birth control, both natural and modern methods.

In Nueva Ecija, Representative Rodolfo Antonino, who is among those against the RH bill, said name-calling had no place in the debates surrounding the pending measure.

“The anti-Christian labels should not be brought up,” said Antonino, when sought for comment on President Aquino being called “anti-Christian” and a “bad Catholic” because of his position on the RH bill. Antonino said making one’s position known on the RH bill should be an individual decision.

Instead, he said, the RH bill should be viewed as a family issue. Antonino, who represents Nueva Ecija’s fourth district, made public his opposition to the RH bill during a recent pro-life rally led by Cabanatuan Bishop Sofronio Bancud.

In Lucena City, Bishop Emilio Marquez called on the faithful to protect and defend the “unborn child” from being “killed” with the impending passage of the RH bill.

“We should respect and defend life because it is very important, it is God-given. Unfortunately, there are people who want to kill the unborn child inside the womb of their mothers,” said Marquez in his homily during the Easter Sunday Mass at the Saint Ferdinand Cathedral.

Marquez said the resurrection of Jesus Christ gave hope to people in becoming “good Christians.”

He then asked the churchgoers to raise their hands if they supported the bill.

Not surprisingly, nobody raised a hand.

Emphasis mine. Read the rest at inquirer.net.

I get really angry when people laugh at others with 'disabilities'. Challenge assumptions!

2011-04-24T15:42:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

This has got to be my favourite Byzantine hymn evar!

2011-04-23T21:56:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

Greek transliteration:
Christós anésti ek nekrón,
thanáto thánaton patísas,
ké tís en tís mnímasi,
zoín charisámenos!

English translation:
Christ is risen from the dead,
By death He conquered death,
And to those in the graves
He granted life!

Orthodox priests can be titanic arseholes at times, but I've always loved their chants and vestments!

2011-04-22T22:46:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

Morons everywhere!

2011-04-19T21:39:00.001+08:00

What customer said: Pa-load!

What I did: *reached for phone*

What customer said: 0918...

What I said: Saglit lang ho...

What customer said: 0918...

What I said: Saglit lang po. Pwede?

What I really meant: Saglit nga lang! Pag-dampot mo ba sa phone, loading screen na agad?! Cheese and crust!

Salvete, Lares Familiares!

2011-04-18T21:48:00.001+08:00

Kind divinity of this homely enclosure, this habitation;
With the kind divinities of this land, this foundation;
By the auspices of the Gracious Powers
That have established their province amongst us;
Do bless and watch over the people who live here:
Our family, our collective numena and individual genii;
All who we call our friends,
All who we invite as guests,
And all that we own,
In this day that is today and every single day.

Salvete!

Brings back happy memories, this.

2011-04-18T10:51:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

Still makes me happy, actually. I wouldn't mind this playing at my funeral.

Farewell, AJ Perez: I do not know you, but I wish you well as you go.

2011-04-17T10:26:00.001+08:00

Antonello Joseph Sarte Perez, more popularly known as AJ Perez, dies at 18.

I had no idea who he was until he died. I do not watch local entertainment very much. But still, I mourn him: Someone so young snatched from our world by an untimely death. That I knew him very little does not matter to me, at all. A death is a death and we all must mourn our dead, for we are all born of the same earth and must return to the same stars.

I have always had an undiscriminating empathy for those who pass away and those they leave behind, regardless of whether I knew/know them at all. With the recent passing of my father, that sensitivity has only grown deeper, especially for those who meet death at such a young age and by accident. That sort of shock, pain, and loss is undescribable.

Antonello Joseph, brother in the earth, I wish your spirit strength to fly to the land beyond the setting sun, beyond the curtains of this world, beyond pain and strife and sorrow. May your memory and legacy live on in the hearts of those who love you, and your guidance shine on those you love.

I pray for the same peace for all who have died today. In truth, may the Ancestors receive you all in love.

Kristy Fermin has been on my 'Fuck You Very Much' list since god-knows-when.

2011-04-15T11:33:00.001+08:00

Abuse of Power by Coalition Against Trafficking In Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) on Monday, April 11, 2011 at 6:38pm
Dear Editor,
Women friends asked me, why is Cristy Fermin even allowed to say the following on air in defending Willie Revillame?
1. "…dalawang lalaking personalidad lang ang parang pinapayagan ng publiko na maging ‘matulis’. Si Rico J. Puno lang atsaka si Willie. Pag sila ang nagdeliver para bang malaking karangalan mo pag mabastos ka."
2. "(Aiza) Seguerra should not talk about morality as she lives an immoral life."
The first justifies sexual harassment when done by certain individuals. Is there a worse way of humiliating women than by dignifying harassers? The second maligns lesbians as immoral. Both are appallingly, terribly sexist statements which condone abuse of women.
Media has long played a critical role in objectifying women, including children (as shown by the now controversial episode of Willie Revillame’s program), and this has led to the normalization of abuse against us. Men have thought it acceptable to harass or buy women (and children) as long as one is able to ‘deliver it well’ ala-Rico J. or Willie R. Those who own media outfits as well as advertisers capitalize on the sexual objectification of women and children. Homophobia and stigmatization of lesbians is also a form of gender-based violence.
We have had enough. It is high time that we talk about the role of media in stereotyping, sexualizing and justifying abuses and violence against women and children. It is heartening that artists are speaking up against these forms of abuse.
Corporate media, stop profiting at our expense!
Civil society, let us join hands in shaping a more responsible and gender-sensitive mass media.
–
Jean Enriquez
Executive Director, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia
Pacific (CATW-AP)
Telefax: +632-4342149

via sssip.wordpress.com

No Earth Day on Good Friday?

2011-04-14T14:26:00.001+08:00

MANILA, Philippines -- Since this year’s Earth Day celebration falls on Good Friday, a Roman Catholic prelate asked President Aquino Wednesday to postpone the celebration and move it to another day.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), said the President should postpone the celebration of Earth Day in deference to the holy observance of Good Friday.

“I told the Archdiocese of Manila that Earth Day cannot be celebrated because April 22 is a holy day because it’s Good Friday,” he said over Church-run Radyo Veritas 846 yesterday.

“The Church is busy during Holy Week and its observance is more important,” added Pabillo.

During Good Friday, he said, most of the faithful are also busy reflecting.

“If it’s possible the government should just move the Earth Day celebration to another date since most of the people are reflecting and making sacrifices that day,” Pabillo said.

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. It was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in, first held on April 22, 1970.

via mb.com.ph

If two fucking holidays coincide, they coincide. You do NOT move the date just because ONE institution finds it inappropriate for their members to celebrate two holidays on the same day.

Harry Potter TV Show? Watch and weep.

2011-04-13T10:15:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

At first, I was: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then, I went: Oh, fuck.

Now, I'm all: MAKE THIS REAL OR I'LL START KILLING PEOPLE!

Gratitude to Ronald Lim for sharing this. Broke my heart.

Broke my heart, this movie. Still hurts. I want my heart back.

2011-04-13T09:47:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

I think I may have actually died watching this.

Mother Earth granted human rights in Bolivia.

2011-04-12T18:57:00.001+08:00

Bolivia is set to pass the world's first laws granting all nature equal rights to humans. The Law of Mother Earth, now agreed by politicians and grassroots social groups, redefines the country's rich mineral deposits as "blessings" and is expected to lead to radical new conservation and social measures to reduce pollution and control industry.

The country, which has been pilloried by the US and Britain in the UN climate talks for demanding steep carbon emission cuts, will establish 11 new rights for nature. They include: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered.

Controversially, it will also enshrine the right of nature "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities".

"It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all", said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera. "It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration."

The law, which is part of a complete restructuring of the Bolivian legal system following a change of constitution in 2009, has been heavily influenced by a resurgent indigenous Andean spiritual world view which places the environment and the earth deity known as the Pachamama at the centre of all life. Humans are considered equal to all other entities.

But the abstract new laws are not expected to stop industry in its tracks. While it is not clear yet what actual protection the new rights will give in court to bugs, insects and ecosystems, the government is expected to establish a ministry of mother earth and to appoint an ombudsman. It is also committed to giving communities new legal powers to monitor and control polluting industries.

Bolivia has long suffered from serious environmental problems from the mining of tin, silver, gold and other raw materials. "Existing laws are not strong enough," said Undarico Pinto, leader of the 3.5m-strong Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, the biggest social movement, who helped draft the law. "It will make industry more transparent. It will allow people to regulate industry at national, regional and local levels."

Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said Bolivia's traditional indigenous respect for the Pachamama was vital to prevent climate change. "Our grandparents taught us that we belong to a big family of plants and animals. We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family. We indigenous people can contribute to solving the energy, climate, food and financial crises with our values," he said.

Little opposition is expected to the law being passed because President Evo Morales's ruling party, the Movement Towards Socialism, enjoys a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament.

However, the government must tread a fine line between increased regulation of companies and giving way to the powerful social movements who have pressed for the law. Bolivia earns $500m (£305m) a year from mining companies which provides nearly one third of the country's foreign currency.

In the indigenous philosophy, the Pachamama is a living being.

The draft of the new law states: "She is sacred, fertile and the source of life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation."

Ecuador, which also has powerful indigenous groups, has changed its constitution to give nature "the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution". However, the abstract rights have not led to new laws or stopped oil companies from destroying some of the most biologically rich areas of the Amazon.

Bolivia is struggling to cope with rising temperatures, melting glaciers and more extreme weather events including more frequent floods, droughts, frosts and mudslides.

Research by glaciologist Edson Ramirez of San Andres University in the capital city, La Paz, suggests temperatures have been rising steadily for 60 years and started to accelerate in 1979. They are now on course to rise a further 3.5-4C over the next 100 years. This would turn much of Bolivia into a desert.

Most glaciers below 5,000m are expected to disappear completely within 20 years, leaving Bolivia with a much smaller ice cap. Scientists say this will lead to a crisis in farming and water shortages in cities such as La Paz and El Alto.

Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, has become an outspoken critic in the UN of industrialised countries which are not prepared to hold temperatures to a 1C rise.

via guardian.co.uk

Emphasis mine.

At first, I went like "whaaaat", but then I realised that this kind of philosophy should have been running the world right from the start.

Law may need some revision, though, but I think it's on the right track.

This sliced my heart. Then I burst into laughter.

2011-04-12T00:44:00.001+08:00

via smilepanic.com

1. Because I love Keanu Reeves, his acting prowess aside. Actually, I think he might have been my very first boy-crush!
2. Because this is so mean that it's hilarious. I hope Keanu does cheer up on Cheer Up Keanu Day because I'm going to start hurting people if he doesn't.

If my father were here, we'd be talking about this for hours.

2011-04-11T01:11:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

I'm a bit scared, I admit. Okay, maybe even more. Like what I told my father here: If the aliens are going to be cool like those kids from that Witch Mountain movie, bring them on. If the aliens are going to be like those insectoid-bastards from Independence Day, no thank you.

Janus-Hermanubis

2011-04-07T10:23:00.001+08:00

Ever at guard between worlds is the Waywalker

Who is the Pathfinder

Who opens doors and keeps pathways safe

Who is our Guide, the ever vigilant

Who stands at the threshold, looking both ways

Who asssists travellers, living and dead

Who is our swift-footed Messenger

Who is ever clever

Who speaks with the best wit

Who is the Giver of persuasion

Who presides over commerce

Who is agile and the Lord of games

Who shakes the idle with laughter

Who is lucky in all things

Who is Master of chance

Who protects our flocks with sleepless vigilance

Who is our watchful Shepherd.

Hail the Traveller, the Fortunate, the Way-maker, the Guardian!

Hail our Lord and Brother!

Words by Aldrin, Art by Stuart Littlejohn

It was Hermanubis who held my father's hand and sang this song to him as they raced to the undying shores.

2011-04-07T09:16:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

Hail the Traveller! Guide of Souls!

Bisexuality as transitional homosexuality?

2011-04-06T11:03:00.004+08:00

I have the habit of converting lengthy comments into blog entries, so you'll have to get used to this.

Yesterday, somebody asked me why a lot of people equate bisexuality with homosexuality. I argued that homosexuality (same sex is hot) is just one part of bisexuality (both sexes are hot) with the other part being heterosexuality (opposite sex is hot). So, in a way, yes, bisexuality may be (arguably!) a form of homosexuality. After all, exclusivity is not implied in the term.

I think the bigger issue, though, is that some people think of bisexuality as an "impossibility" since you either like males or females, and can't genuinely like both. Even amongst self-identified homosexuals, there seems to be a prevailing notion that their former (or occurring) heterosexual feelings (ie. bisexual feelings) are stages of confusion or denial. And whilst it can certainly be confusing to a number of people, to call it "denial" is putting our fluid nature in a box. A very, very small box.

It's true, we probably don't actively choose who we find hot, but we're not predestined to fall into neat boxes, either. That's just sexual calvinism and it's not very intelligent.

I stand by many of our social scientists that bisexuality may actually be the default (?) and most natural form of human/mammalian sexuality. Most other animals are known to exhibit mixed sexual behaviour rather than a strict homosexual or heterosexual lifestyle, after all. Homophobia seems to be uniquely human.

I think humans are mostly just sexual beings: Only a very small percentage of the species is actually into pure androphilia (love of males) or pure gynephilia (love of females). This nature, however, can sometimes be superceded by our societal or self-constructed biases (or both), as evident in our race.

Related to all this is the equation of sexuality with gender. Like, if you're a man and you like other men, you have to be effeminate. Almost just as silly as sexual calvinism, but I shall bore you with that at another time.

Nestle 100 Years "Pag-Ibig"

2011-04-06T09:49:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

This commercial is so cute and aww in so many ways.

On unapologetically ithyphallic gods.

2011-04-06T00:11:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow is the Festival of Min.

According to the festival list in the temple of Rameses III, the festival of Min began on the new moon of Pakhons and lasted for four days. Representations on temple walls depict the Pharaoh hoeing the ground and watering the fields while Min looked on, and on this date, the start of the harvest season, the Pharaoh ceremonially reaped the grain. This is a time to celebrate the growth, fertility, and abundance that Min represents. If you have a garden, spend time in it. Get fresh vegetables and make a feast in his honor – especially lettuce as this is his sacred plant, said to be produced from the god's semen. Min is an unapologetically phallic god, therefore anything sensual, ribald, and downright sexy would be a great way to honor him at this time. Just be careful – he is very much a god of fruitfulness! [Neos Alexandria festival list]

Since it's nowhere harvest season where I live (at least not the primary crops), I think I'm going for the other aspect of this festival – especially after being alerted to this. Fucking blew my brain to bits, that.

Anyway, is anybody else celebrating the Festival of Min tomorrow? This is actually my first time to formally honour Min or any other Egyptian god other than Hermanubis (who is really Graeco-Egyptian). Also, is it just me or does Min bear striking resemblance to Frey? Any other ithyphallic gods of fruitfulness in mind?

Secrets of the Kapamilya newsroom - Mosquito Press

2011-04-05T16:23:00.005+08:00

via mosquitopress.net

What could be truer! Applies to Kapuso et al, too.

Of love and beauty and Hellenismos.

2011-04-04T23:10:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

What could be more beautiful than getting married to the person you love, in the land that you love, in the ways that you love? I love everything about this video. Someone get me the title of that song!

Cutest kids ever.

2011-04-04T22:09:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

Stand Up! - Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

2011-04-04T18:05:00.002+08:00

via youtube.com

Four things I feel about this video:
1. Don't stand up for any form of bullying, full stop.
2. I love that this is set in Ireland.
3. I was crying at the third minute, I had to pause.
4. Wouldn't this be a million times cooler if it actually happened? This should be shown in schools, like, seriously. I'm sure there isn't enough of this happening in real life, so I hope we can encourage the new generation to make a stand against ignorance, intolerance, and hate. Don't wait. Make the move.

Gratitude to Marlon Lacsamana for sharing this video. Please flood my Wall with more of this.

Child Witches Accused in the Name of Jesus

2011-04-04T17:39:00.001+08:00

via youtube.com

What could be more urgent than to tend to our abused children who have to endure the painful consequences of their parents' ignorance? How many more thousand years do we need 'til we finally see Jesus' gospel of love manifest in his flock? What have these churches really done for Africa?

Thank you, Marlon Lacsamana, for sharing this video.

On Faith, God, and Faith in God.

2011-04-03T19:03:00.003+08:00

This is what I mean, and I hope what other people mean, when I say that faith in God gets us through our problems:

It is through our awesome family and friends and our own innate awesomeness that get us through life's adversities and struggles. This awesomeness is the immanent, pantheistic God.
It is through faith in ourselves and faith in the people who love us that we have faith in God.

What I don't mean, and I hope what other people don't mean, is that:

All help must come from a supposedly all-loving transcendental God who afflicts us with all sorts of maladies to "test" our faith. Cancer is there to test us if we can still have "faith" despite the unbearable pain, and tsunamis are there to remind us to return to God because we've all been so wicked. Either way, there's nothing we can do; it's all up to God.

Which do you think is closer to what you mean? More importantly: Which do you think is more rational and more applicable to the human condition?

Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English

2011-04-03T17:51:00.002+08:00

via ted.com

I wholeheartedly agree with Ms Ryan. No language, and especially not one's own, should be pushed aside for the sake of the lingua franca. There is so much beauty and depth in our local languages, and yet so much stigma attached to their use in intellectual discourse. We all know why. The question is: What are we doing about it?

Gratitude to my friend Doni for sharing.

Afternoon muffins with Granny.

2011-04-03T16:34:00.001+08:00

I am, at the moment, baking blueberry muffins with Grandmother. The aroma is killing me!

Hail Blueberry Muffins! Salve Vesta Mater!

Homosexual priest suspended for defending gay 'marriage' legislation in Argentina

2011-04-03T12:57:00.001+08:00

BUENOS AIRES, March 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Nicolas Alessio, a homosexual priest who denies the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality and has publicly agitated for the approval of Argentina’s new homosexual ‘marriage’ law, has been suspended from his priestly functions following a trial by the Archdiocese of Córdoba.

In an interview following the ruling, Alessio said that he was refusing to comply with the suspension, which requires him to cease administering the sacraments, claiming that he owed obedience to his ultra-liberal order, which calls itself the Enrique Angeleli Group of Priests, and openly supports homosexual ‘marriage’. He told a reporter that only force could stop him from continuing in his duties at his parish

“I obey my community first, before him [Archbishop Carlos Ñáñez], and his canons and decrees and sanctions,” he said. He noted that the whole group has refused to comply with the archbishop’s order to retract their homosexualist position.

In a videotaped speech posted on YouTube, Fr. Alessio is seen at a rally in support of homosexual ‘marriage’ where he “asks forgiveness” for the Catholic Church for opposing the homosexual political agenda.

“First, I want to ask forgiveness because I belong to an institution that is still converting to the gospel of Jesus, a Jesus who never condemned homosexuality, who never condemned homosexual marriage, and, to the contrary, this same Jesus condemned the proud, the powerful, and those who discriminate.”

“I want to ask forgiveness for this institution that doesn’t want to lose power and still wants to manage our consciences, wants to manage the consciences of Argentineans, wants to dominate the consciences of all of those who want to live in freedom. I want to ask forgiveness for this Church that is not resigned to lose power and wants to impose its truths as if they were unique and absolute.”

Alessio openly acknowledges that he himself is a homosexual, and denies it is an illness based on his own experience. “It not only is not an illness, it not only is not a deviation, much less a sin. Homosexuality is a gift, it is a richness of nature, that must be recognized and respected,” he says in the speech.

In contrast to Alessio’s statements, the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual behavior is “intrinsically evil”—evil by its very nature—and that the homosexual orientation, while not a sin, is an “intrinsically disordered” attraction that must be resisted.

Appearing to endorse polytheism, Alesso goes on to say that “Those who speak, and believe themselves to have the authority to speak in the name of God (...) Please, the gods, the gods are more pluralist than we are. The gods are liberty, the gods are love, the gods are a rainbow of diversity and the gods are with us.”

Argentinean television reports that sources within the Catholic hierarchy say that if Alessio refuses to obey the Church, he will be excommunicated.

via lifesitenews.com

I digress, but I am both surprised and excited that this Catholic priest said "gods".

Some good changes.

2011-04-03T12:24:00.001+08:00

Just when you thought you had the perfect host, you meet posterous.com. Now, I no longer need to shut down my Tumblr because Posterous allows me to autopost to both my Tumblelog and Blogspot, and automatically shares it on my Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Although I'm a bit disappointed that their theme editor isn't as user-friendly as Blogger's (because I'm no CSS major), they had me at 'keep all your communities happy at the same time with a single service'. I'm easy to please.

I won't be importing -- ZOMG another awesome feature! -- old Blogger and Tumblr entries, though, so you may need to check the old hosts for my pre-2011 ramblings.

And no, nobody pays me to say these things. I genuinely like articulating these changes. Can everyone see the font I installed?

May Father Janus and Brother Mercury Cyberneticus bless this blog.

I have changed the blog's name to 'The Nomadic Mutt'.

2011-04-03T00:19:00.001+08:00

Happy St Patrick's Day?

2011-03-19T11:59:00.003+08:00

(Let's pretend I published this on time.)

Happy St Patrick's Day! Beannachtaí na Fhéile Pádraig!

Now, before any of you accuse me of betraying my Pagan ancestors by supporting the religious coercion of pre-Christian Ireland, I happen to have had been celebrating St Patrick's even before I rediscovered Paganism. And I never celebrated the man himself, anyway. What I used to do was to celebrate traditional Irish culture. And it's still what I intend to do today.

First, let's get our facts straight:

Most of what we know of St Patrick comes from the 7th century, roughly two centuries after his death, but he did write two letters: Confessio and Epistola.
Patrick was not born on March 17th. As with most Christian saints, his feast day is on the date of his death.
St Patrick was not Irish. He was a Roman Briton. That's Patricius for you. His name in Old Irish is Cothraige (Pádraig in Modern Irish). I'm not sure if this was his original name, though, as I read something about some Celestine dude (fine, he was a Pope) who gave him the name Patricius. Previously, his name had been Maewyn Succat.
Patrick's first encounter with Ireland was when he was a teenager, as a kidnapped slave. There are sources that say his master Milchu was either a warrior-chieftain or a high-ranking druid. After a life of tending herds and herds of his master's sheep, he escaped and went back to Britain just in time to enter the priesthood in Gaul and become a bishop. He returned to Ireland with a vengeance. As an evangelist. Yikes!
Patrick was not the first Christian missionary to Ireland, nor its first bishop. And he did not completely convert Pagan Ireland, either. Several Irish kingdoms were still Pagan well after his death. We even have accounts of druids teaching well into the 7th century. The great bulk of Pagan influences that crept into Irish Christianity is proof of the gradual and unorganised christianisation of Ireland.
The preservation of much of Ireland's pre-Christian literature actually owes itself to the Christian monks who took down the old tales and mixed them with biblical stories. The druids were quite fond of oral tradition and so did not write anything down (that much).
The affair with the snakes is fictional. There were never any snakes in post-glacial Ireland. The poor things couldn't cross the sea when the sea levels rose.
The snake myth comes from St Hilaire of France and was merely added to the hagiography (saint-study) of Patrick c. 11th century. Those snakes weren't originally meant to symbolise pagans or druids, either. They were initially just, well, snakes. Nevertheless, the mythical snakes and their identification with Irish Paganism have become a part of popular folklore, especially amongst some Neopagans these days. ADF founder Isaac Bonewits (may he rest in peace) even wrote a song about it and renamed St Patrick's Day as "All Snakes Day".
Legend has it that Patrick used the shamrock (three-leaf clover) to educate the Irish on the concept of the Holy Trinity (three persons, one god). However, the shamrock (and the number 3) already had some special significance for the Irish before Christianity, so Patrick probably didn't have a hard time.
The original colour associated with St Patrick was blue. Green only came to popularity in the 17th century as a symbol of Ireland (not St Patrick).
St Patrick's Day is a holy day of obligation for Irish Catholics worldwide and has been a public holiday in Ireland since 1903. It has, however, gradually become more of a secular celebration of general Irish culture (yes, including the beer) in other parts of the world.

I don't like him, but I don't hate him, either. He wasn't that bad, you know. Patrick was no Charlemagne. He didn't massacre whole tribes just so they could accept Christ. He didn't go chopping down sacred trees or desecrating holy wells, either. We still have lots of them in Ireland. Patrician Christianity actually sounds very Pagan. Have you seen his prayers? The bishop had his awesome moments.

I still won't be celebrating the man, though. Today is still about Ireland for me, but especially Pagan Ireland. Today, I'm going to listen to nothing but Irish music and will continue to support artists who incorporate (or play entirely just) traditional Gaelic music. I will continue practising my bódhran and whistle, and maybe even my fiddle. I will continue studying Gaeilge: I will not let it die. I will promote the Gaeltacht. I will honour the old Gael heroes, especially Great Cú Chulainn whose hero-feast is also on this day. I will honour the old Gael gods (even if only on this day): I will pour them milk and honey, as traditional, or recite a bardic poem. I will continue writing the old Ogham. I will never let anyone again spread lies about Gaelic culture, calling it outdated or uncultivated. And the Gaels will never have to leave their homeland again because of eviction or persecution, or for any other unjust reason.

May the land of Éire be a safer place to live for all Her people. May the culture of the Gaels flourish for more generations to come.

Happy Ireland Day!

Hypatia Day

2011-03-15T17:04:00.005+08:00

"All formal dogmatic religions are fallacious and must never be accepted by self-respecting persons as final."

"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all."

"Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond."

These are words attributed to Hypatia of Alexandria, considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy. Today marks her 1,596th (?) death anniversary. Although she was widely esteemed for her wisdom and ethical virtue in life, she got caught up in political turmoil and was murdered by a mob of zealots. Her murderers were nonetheless honoured, and their leader made into a saint. Today, we strip them off of this false honour, and deliver it to the sixty-year old pagan they murdered.

Honour her today (and for the rest of your life, if you can). Uphold her virtues and the things she loved. Read on Neoplatonism, astronomy, or mathematics. Study the Hellenistic civilisation of Alexandria. Learn Greek. Do rituals in her honour: Fast for an entire day as a form of ritual reconciliation, as she was murdered during the season of Lent, or recite a poem or prayer in the fashion of the ancient Greeks.

However you do it, the important thing is that she is remembered, and that the events that led to her death (and the deterioration of Alexandria) never be allowed to rule again.

Who was Hypatia?
Some of us know her through their religion (like me), some of us through their science, and some of us through Rachel Weisz. As a Hellene and a freethinker, I feel that it is my obligation to write about her on this day. Below, I have listed several important details about her life, most of which I owe to the Mos Maiorum Foundation's well-researched article on Hypatia, written by my Heathen friend Hrafnkell Haraldsson.

The exact date of her death is unknown, as only the month is historically attested. Traditionally, the occasion has been placed at the mid point of the Ides of March (the 15th), during the season of Lent.
Hypatia was the daughter of Theon, who was head of the Museum or Library of Alexandria during the reign of Theodosius I, possibly its last.
She was around sixty years old when she was murdered.
Hypatia was a Neoplatonist philosopher. She most likely assumed the divinity of the entire cosmos.
Hypatia was a Pagan, though her Paganism was likely of a philosophical or intellectual variety than the popular form celebrated through public sacrifices. We know little of her private rites, however.
She was the author of several commentaries, including one on Diophantus, an astronomical canon, and a Commentary on Apollonius' Conics.
Hypatia was not a fan of religious intolerance and coercion: Pupils of all sorts of inclinations were drawn to her, not only Pagans, but also many Christians, two of which would later become bishops. She did not seem to have "converted" or even tried to convert any of her Christian pupils to Paganism, even the philosophical variety.
Hypatia was not a Pagan activist: She is not known to have joined any of the public riots between Pagans and Christians, as her own circle included both.
The burning of the Royal Library of Alexandria may or may not have occurred during her lifetime. There are four possible time periods in which the Library may have been burnt down:

Julius Caesar's Fire in The Alexandrian War, in 48 BCE (an unfortunate accident).
The attack of Emperor Aurelian in 270 CE to suppress revolts.
The outlawing of Paganism by Emperor Theodosius I or at the decree of Patriarch Theophilus in 391 CE.
The Muslim conquest in 642 CE.

There is also the possibility that the Great Library was not entirely destroyed at any of these time periods, but slowly deteriorated over the passing of these events. We do, however, have evidence of several Pagan temples, which may have doubled as schools, libraries, or research institutes, being converted or destroyed at that time.
Hypatia was a brave woman: There is basis for the rumour that she stood "like a lion" between prefect and bishop; that she shared with Orestes the conviction that the authority of the bishops should not extend to areas meant for the imperial and municipal administration.
Hypatia was riding through the city in her chariot, on her way home, when the Christian mob, led by the parabalanai, turned their frenzy upon her. The ringleader, acting under Patriarch Cyril's direction, was apparently a lector named Peter. Hypatia was hacked to death in the gloom of the so-called Caesar-church (Caesareum) and her body burnt. This church was the old centre of the imperial cult in Alexandria and was recently converted (as had so many temples) into a church. It was also the see of Cyril himself - his headquarters, if you will.
Some reports suggest she was flayed with ostraca (pot shards, not actual oyster shells) and set ablaze whilst still alive, though other accounts suggest those actions happened after her death.
Cyril justified the deed by proclaiming it part of the unrelenting war on Paganism. The path was now clear to turn on both Jews and Pagans and make Alexandria a Christian city (a specific kind of Christian, to be exact).
Two scholars have different opinions on who is to blame for her murder: J.M. Rist blames the rabble, claiming Cyril had no part to play in their conclusions about Hypatia’s influence over Orestes, and excuses Cyril of all charges save one, that of covering up the crime. But Dzielska holds Cyril responsible, even if he did not commit the murder himself (and she does not think he planned it either), though he created the atmosphere that led to her death as "the chief instigator of the campaign of defamation against Hypatia." After all, it was his city, and his watch, and the parabalanai were under his direct command, as was Peter the Lector. Another scholar, Pierre Chuvin, has a harsher verdict. He makes clear that "His hands cannot have been entirely clean, since the murder was committed in his own patriarchal church."
The murder of Hypatia, a sixty-year-old woman, was not only an act of hatred but also a criminal offense warranting a swift and severe response from those charged with upholding the law. That response never came; those who committed the crime were unpunished. In fact, as we already know, Patriarch Cyril was canonised a saint.

A gruesome tragedy, no doubt. But well remembered. In the words of Newell Fisher, the atheist Druid who spearheaded Hypatia Day on Facebook: [This] is a sobering reminder to always be prepared to look again at history before assuming that things could not have gone another way.

Khaire Hypatía.

What's with the accent?

2011-03-05T10:54:00.003+08:00

Remember this? I finally got to write the second part (after 3 years). Some important points were directly taken from the first part for those too lazy to backtrack.

...

I live in a country where accents are a big deal. I'm not sure how true that is, statistically speaking, but my day-to-day experiences are convincing. It annoys me, for the most part, but it can sometimes be amusing.

That local twang.

Your everyday tindera might not care, but if you intend to work for a high-paying job, they expect you to lose your native accent. Apparently, the accent that identifies you with your ethnic heritage is not good enough (unless you're a politician). You have to "correct" it, twist it to sound more "international", regardless of the fact that "beri mats" would still be perfectly understood by most people. I own a small store and I still get what they mean when they say "fuji bar".

Status affects the accent and accent affects the status.

It really does. Your accent may either invoke prestige or invite ridicule, according to the biases of your audience. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy says: "I used to say that whenever people heard my Southern accent, they always wanted to deduct 100 IQ points." And isn't that still true for many of us? Home County Brits looking down on Northerners? Manilans on Visayans? It has got to go.

That non-US accent.

In Manila, speaking with a General American accent will earn you extra points in a job interview, but speak with a British accent and you will capture hearts. Trust me, I know. It's what pays the rent. You have to be British, though, or at least have had lived in Britain for several years. People will never understand how you got the accent without actually living there. It's such an enigma, and it doesn't always help to explain in detail because most people have such short attention spans. But it's absolutely normal, of course, to have an American accent without actually living in America. Fucking fair, in'nit?

People seem to forget that this so-called "British" accent (the Hugh Grant accent), more accurately called Received Pronunciation, is an international standard just like General American. As a matter of fact, RP was already the international standard way before any American accent was heard outside the Atlantic. Singapore? Hong Kong? India? Australia? New Zealand? New ENGLAND? All British. Why can't a Filipino take up this accent instead of the usual American? Don't let the trend stop you.

You can't prescribe accents.

Not anymore, at least. You can't assume that every Filipino will speak in a certain way. It's a small world, after all, and telly does quite change a lot. School teachers are no longer the only source of edumacation. It's sad, because it shouldn't have been that way, but I avoided my English school teachers at all costs.

What fake accent?

Anybody know that Filipino-British model-turned-actor(?) Jonathan Mullaly? Jon Avila it is now, I reckon. Well, he was once rumoured to fake his "British" accent. I'm not sure who spread the rumour, but I bet it was a tabloid writer. Imagine the horror of having a peabrain who has probably never been to England, or if he has, never gone anywhere outside his flat, tell you you're faking your own accent. The poor bastard probably didn't know there are countless accents in Britain (a ridiculous number), and that it just so happens that Jon, who may after all have a mixed accent, speaks with an accent he has never heard of.

"If yowm saft enuff ter cum dahn 'ere agooin wum. Yowr tay ull be spile't!" That's English traditionally spoken in Black Country, just beside Birmingham.

What about Geordie? "Gan man an hide thysel! Gan an' get thy picks agyen. Thou may de for the city, but never for the west end o' wor toon."

See?

Besides, what makes an accent fake, anyway? Accents change all the time. You're not even born with an accent. You learn it. Some parts of it you inherit at an early age from your elders, some parts from your neighbourhood, some parts from school, and so on. Would you say that the accent you had when you were seven is more authentic than the one you have now? Or the other way around, perhaps? Some celebrities are even questioned for their "fluctuating" accents such as Madonna who lived for a while in the UK. What did everyone expect, that she'd remain steadily New Yorker even after being surrounded by Brits for several years? People change and so do their accents, and it's not always because they want to sound cool. Most of the time, they can't help it. And when they can help it, it's still not necessarily done to impress you, but to accommodate you. I tend to be a very accommodating speaker myself. There are times when I deliberately modify my pronunciation so others might shift their focus away from my phonemes and more on what I'm actually saying. Who hasn't traded their Western pronunciations for local ones in places like Quiapo?

I do, however, find it pretentious when Filipinos forget their native accent after A YEAR OR LESS living in the US. Learning the accents around you is expected, but forgetting the one you grew up with isn't that easy.

But you can have more than one "natural" accent.

Just as you can have more than one parent language, you can also have more than one parent dialect or accent. This is especially true for people who grew up with more than one English dialect. Some people will learn just one from such a setting (my brother did, he stuck with GA). Some will learn several (as I did).

I grew up with a wide variety of speech patterns: Mother spoke a very standard local variant of English (she frowned when I spoke anything else, telling me not to sound too foreign) whilst Father frequently switched from RP to GA and back. Television wasn't any better as a "neutraliser" as Brother and I were raised on a mix of Sesame Street, John Hurt, The Simpsons, The Godfather, Charlton Heston, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, and a bunch of other "oldschool" thespians. Irish and Scottish characters were always a favourite, though, and we haven't really got(ten) rid of the tendency to pronounce "rain" and "row" as monophthongs. We quite fancy it, actually.

RP was the strongest influence for me, however. Obviously. As far as I can remember, the voice in my head had always been RP-ish (special thanks to Pa and Sir John). I assumed it was the correct accent and the Eurocentricity of some family members only enforced the idea even more. But I never really got to openly use it full-time because I felt it made other people uncomfortable. And it did. They would twitch and I would stop speaking. It made me very conscious of the way I talked and my timidity fed on it for several years.

It was only when I left school and started working that I was forced to conform to a single standard (or at least, one standard at a time). My coach was convinced to have me choose sides. It wasn't really a hard decision to make. I chose to follow that accent in my head and it was the most liberating thing that had ever happened to me. I had finally "outed" myself as an RP speaker.

Nonetheless, I still switch between accents according to the occasion, mood, or person I'm speaking with. When I'm all formal or when I need to explain something in detail, I use my default British Received (or occasionally, Transatlantic). In slightly more informal situations, I slip into a more Estuary-type accent. And when I'm with family or close friends, I toss several different accents all at once. It's always an accent party with familiars!

You can't "lose" an accent if you've only got one.

An issue of semantics, but it's basically true. Because we all have accents. As long as you can speak a language, you will have an accent. It's part of the package. "Switch" is a more accurate term than "lose", I suppose. You can switch from one accent to another and back, or mix several accents together, or have one fade in the background whilst using the other more frequently.

Use a more neutral accent!

Which one? Accent neutrality is always relative. If I were a Scot from Edinburgh, the neutral accent to me would definitely be Edinburgh Scottish (and even there you are bound to hear variations). This is probably why many Manilans think they are "accent-less" ... because they live in the capital and their dialect (Manila Tagalog) is the basis of the standard (Filipino). Now, imagine if the capital had been somewhere in Batangas.

English is no exception in this matter, however internationally acclaimed some of its accents are. Even more so, actually. Such a widely-spoken language is bound to be pluricentric. David Crystal writes "[a] totally uniform, regionally neutral, and unarguably prestigious variety does not yet exist worldwide. [And whilst] the notion of a 'standard pronunciation' is useful in the international setting of English as a second or foreign language, but here too there is more than one teaching model - chiefly, British Received Pronunciation and US General American."

Our sense of identity affects the things we learn and choose not to learn, as well.

Remember how partial I was to RP growing up? That plays a huge factor, too. You can't learn something if you don't want to. There was a point in my life when I deliberately avoided the American dialect because, not only was I partial to anything European, I had a distaste for anything American. Some Filipinos tend to avoid their own local dialect of English, too, and we see this everyday in countless numbers of wealthy ex-peasants who roam the metropolis shedding their indigenous identity for Starbucks. The changes are deliberate because there is a conscious motive. I can only hope for these absurd biases to die off someday.

All accents, dialects, and languages are made equal. Use as much as you can to your liking, or as few, but another person's speech is no better or worse than yours.

And because I'm still bad with endings, I will stop here. There will probably be a third part. Maybe. Or I could write about grammar. Bad SVA is a disease. Ye cannae spak the leid without the propar grammers.

Revisiting 'To Each His Own Accent'

2011-03-04T11:30:00.001+08:00

I made some changes to the original.

Read it again here because the second part (after 3 years) is on its way in a few minutes.

I'm thinking of blogging on Blogger again.

2011-01-31T23:19:00.003+08:00

Tumblr sort of felt like a place mostly for reblogging.

Then again, I've invested quite a bit on my Facebook Notes, it'd be inconvenient to move out (again). Facebook allows me to control who can see certain posts, too, which neither Blogger nor Tumblr can do.

But meh. It's not like I'm posting a lot these days. I'll think about this when I return to writing.

On equal respect and reality.

2010-12-05T17:59:00.001+08:00

Last Saturday, I went to my first LGBT Pride March under the banner of the Filipino Freethinkers. It was worth every bit of sweat. My heart is swelling with so much pride it could shit exclamation marks. LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!

I could not be thankful enough for the multitude who came to support the cause; all the people who honked and cheered, all the people who shook hands and smiled, all the people who had cheerful thoughts in their hearts as united marchers blocked the roads. And the children! I wish we could all be like the children who asked whether Jesus truly loved gays.

Sigh.

Unfortunately, although the metropolis seems to accept LGBT with undoubted sincerity, gay men and women are still not real men and women. At least, that’s how our mainstream media sees it. In one TV journalist’s words: “…gays and lesbians are just as worthy of respect as real men and women”.

See, they respect us. Just not enough to think we’re “real”.

Apparently, it’s always just an act to them, this being non-heterosexual or non-straight. It’s always just a reaction to the normal: a by-product, nothing authentic or rooted. Masculine gays will always be just acting masculine because love for one’s own gender will always be the province of heterosexuals. Gays can’t be butch! That’s an oxymoron! Gays will always act like the sex opposite to their own.

This is because gays are not real, according to nature. Their view of nature. Not as real as the straights, at least.

But we should know better.

I am not a fan of labels or boxes. The whole idea of dichotomous identities is still foreign to me. But how ever we name ourselves, gay-straight-omni-trans-bi-nameless, we are just as real as everybody else. And we have to let others know that. There is no ‘everybody else’. No ‘other’. Just us. Just everybody.

Will I ever be able to update this blog?

2010-09-08T14:50:00.000+08:00

As a matter of fact, I might. Yea, but no, but yea.

Stay tuned, betches!

2010/01/12-18: Gloomy Bear, Ang Ladlad, Haiti, Vodoun, Pat Robertson, Avatar, Vatican, Christianity, Pussies, Marriage

2010-01-26T22:19:00.001+08:00

Video: I hope only the sanest of souls get to watch this. The neck biting, er nibbling will be in my... http://tumblr.com/xit5m1cdr
Photo: Some bishops oppose SC ruling on gay group. Bigotry is their daily bread. http://tumblr.com/xit5m0xyy
Video: Haitian ambassador on Pat Robertson’s wonderful interpretation of the Christian vision. (Related... http://tumblr.com/xit5m0kpp
Photo: The world’s tallest man, 8 ft 1 in (246.5 cm) Sultan Kosen, welcomes the shortest man in the world, 2... http://tumblr.com/xit5m07od
Photo: Courage and comfort for Haiti. Let’s help in any way we can. That could be us there. Think Ondoy or... http://tumblr.com/xit5j0j83
Photo: “I see you…” — ~~The Dark Lord Sauron~~ Na’vi greeting (via joriben) http://tumblr.com/xit5j01ca
Photo: Pat Robertson blames ‘devil pact’ for Haiti quake. The man is a legend at saying the craziest things.... http://tumblr.com/xit5izpw3
Photo: Gay teen worried he might be Christian. Abomination! Such a ghastly, unnatural inclination cannot be! http://tumblr.com/xit5izdpg
Photo: Pope says gays endanger humanity. Papa Ratzi is evil and he doesn’t even know it. Or does he? Waste of... http://tumblr.com/xit5iz1eb
Photo: Help the 205 pussies. Help a pussy, please? (Seriously, let’s help the cats.) http://tumblr.com/xit5i3yk9
Photo: SC orders Comelec to count Ladlad in 2010 polls. Whilst I do not agree with everything that Ang Ladlad... http://tumblr.com/xit5i2jnj
Photo: ‘Renewable marriage’ proposed. I wouldn’t mind if they had this here. http://tumblr.com/xit5i17fa
Photo: Vatican says ‘Avatar’ is no masterpiece. Joining Ross Douhat is Papa Ratzi who really needs to get a... http://tumblr.com/xit5hztc1

2010/01/05-11: Tagalog, Emma Watson, Bear Grylls, Percy Jackson, Dolphins, Portugal, Martha Stewart, Mashup, 2012, Television

2010-01-26T18:54:00.002+08:00

Photo: Nameless wanker calls Tagalog worst language ever, Philippines most retarded Asian country, Filipinos... http://tumblr.com/xit5fsty7 11:42 PM Jan 11th
Photo: It’s sister and brother, Emma and Alex Watson. Both are cute, but I prefer them in more traditional... http://tumblr.com/xit5eoova 11:08 PM Jan 10th
Photo: Man vs. Wild - Pacific Island - Bear’s Enema. Choose your side: (a) Sometimes you just gotta say “I’m... http://tumblr.com/xit5enwog 10:34 PM Jan 10th
Photo: Can’t the Kyklopes Just Make More Lightning? Hellenismos + Hollywood = We’ll find out soon enough.... http://tumblr.com/xit5emjoh 9:34 PM Jan 10th
Photo: Scientists say dolphins should be treated as ‘non-human persons’. This doesn’t surprise me a bit.... http://tumblr.com/xit5el7x2 8:34 PM Jan 10th
Photo: Catholic Portugal set to legalize gay marriage. Most of Europe has moved on. America is struggling.... http://tumblr.com/xit5ejvdv 7:30 PM Jan 10th
Photo: Martha Stewart Celebrates First Gay Wedding Ceremony. As it should be. (via tristantrakand) http://tumblr.com/xit5eim81 6:29 PM Jan 10th
Photo: DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop) - Mashup of Top 25 Billboard Hits. Not a... http://tumblr.com/xit5ehasu 5:29 PM Jan 10th
Photo: Bizarro! What an ethnically accurate cartoon! http://tumblr.com/xit5eflug 4:22 PM Jan 10th
Photo: True. Especially if your idea of telly is either ABS-CBN or GMA-7. http://tumblr.com/xit5eelca 3:46 PM Jan 10th

2009/12/29-2010/01/04: Tyrant, Car, Cats, Zeus, Clovers, Emma Watson, USA, Hera, Love, Peter Pan, Morality, Demons, Gays, Pantheism, Reason, Faith, Tremors, Islam, Poverty, Spelling, Celts, Harry Potter, 2010, Healing

2010-01-09T22:54:00.000+08:00

Photo: Keep your punishing, judgmental, fear based god to yourself. Absolutely. http://tumblr.com/xit56icrf
Photo: My kind of car. Would’ve been perfect for my old job! http://tumblr.com/xit56h9om
Photo: I miss Powder and Binx. Brother and sister. Salt and pepper. http://tumblr.com/xit56gdar
Photo: Zeus. Son of towering Sky and broad Earth. http://tumblr.com/xit56ffk0
Photo: As a wee lad, I used to scour gardens for clovers just because I was crazy over Ireland. It was an... http://tumblr.com/xit56eo65
Photo: Beautiful. Intelligent. Witch. Perfect. http://tumblr.com/xit56dxx4
Photo: Only in Amreeka. No offence. http://tumblr.com/xit56d6ff
Photo: “Hera: You are the shimmering peacock whom Zeus knew before all other creatures.” — Rebecca Buchanan http://tumblr.com/xit56cfyq
Photo: If the world was this small, would we love each other more? If so, shrink the world. http://tumblr.com/xit56brui
Video: Gold absolutely, jeffreybower. He even sounds like Peter Pan! I wonder… http://tumblr.com/xit56asx2
Photo: Shet. I really like this Peter Pan. http://tumblr.com/xit568n9q
Photo: What morality. http://tumblr.com/xit5670ln
Photo: “If you support gay marriage, we’re going to let the homeless starve!” Not the God of Love and Peace... http://tumblr.com/xit566pgd
Photo: GOPs New Prayer Guru Says Gays Possessed By Demons. Depressingly and dangerously stupid. http://tumblr.com/xit566def
Photo: Hollywood’s Rampant Pantheism. These conservatives badly need to get a life (and wake up). Other than... http://tumblr.com/xit56624p
Photo: “Reason is humble, faith is not. Reason is open to the possibility that its claims are wrong, faith is... http://tumblr.com/xit565pt5
Photo: Sun and moon ‘set off deep tremors on San Andreas fault’. I don’t mean to scare people, but I think... http://tumblr.com/xit565bta
Photo: Danish cartoonist intruder shot. These onion-skinned fundamentalists should get a life, really.... http://tumblr.com/xit564wqe
Photo: Hangga’t hindi kayo natatauhan sa mga pinagsasabi niyo, nawa’y mamatay kayo ng dilat ang mata at... http://tumblr.com/xit564ipc
Photo: Brilliant! I wish I had this when I was training the kids on commonly misspelt words. Is it such a sin... http://tumblr.com/xit564ilu
Photo: e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies. Certified geekgasm. I’m reading about my... http://tumblr.com/xit563wcn
Photo: “And wtf is a hufflepuff?” — Harry Potter http://tumblr.com/xit562wa1
Photo: Peter Jackson named a New Zealand knight. Sir Peter Jackson. Sounds lovely, dunnit? (via The... http://tumblr.com/xit55zfr8
Photo: Happy International New Year! Live long and prosper! http://tumblr.com/xit54hwxw
Photo: Spirit of what mends our brokenness, hear us. From within, arise. From without, surround. Spirit of... http://tumblr.com/xit543j1a