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Of CDO’s Lost Treasure

2007-08-12T15:50:00.000+08:00

The column title “Cagayan De Oro’s Lost Treasure” of Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez’s brought memories of silly stories in my childhood. I did spent three years of my elementary there. I learned that Cagayan de Oro (CDO) literally means “river of gold”. Back then, I believed the story that CDO’s land mass is floating like a boat and that any time would sink in the bottom of the ocean. It had me worried for a time. I also believed that people of old could just pick gold in the riverbeds like pebbles. But this silly musings turned to sadness as I read the column further.

Quarrying had ruined fossils and artifacts dating back as far as 377 AD in Huluga open site. For someone like me who knows only a little of Philippines history during Spanish colonization, such fossils and artifacts means that Filipinos exist as far as that time. It’s a time when Rome ruled the world (when in doubt, google it). I can now say to myself that our ancestors existed (though primitively) when Constantine ruled Rome and in this very year Constantinople was (unsuccessfully) besieged by invading parties of Goths and Huns.

It is apparent that most Filipinos don’t really lack knowledge our rich cultural heritage. I count myself as one of those ignoramus. My only consolation is that I do love to learn how grand our history is but there is no enough resources posted in the net (or have not researched it just yet).

But to have deliberately chosen ignorance of history in favor of gold, how stupid could a politician like former CDO Mayor Vicente Emano get? The works of renowned anthropologist Dr. Erlinda Burton of Xavier University since the 1970s are all for naught.

As the Filipino saying goes “Hindi lahat na kumikinang ay ginto”. In this case, it is gold alright but it is not as precious as the archeological fossils and artifacts that should have been preserved.

Transformers

2007-08-04T13:58:00.000+08:00

When I was watching the MTV Movie awards on the tube, I was mildly irritated with the number of nominations that the Transformers got and wondered why it won the Best Summer Movie You Haven’t Seen Yet. Perhaps it was simply because I didn’t understand the fuss given the seemingly childish movie. All I surmised from the MTV Movie Awards was that it was about robotic aliens trying to take over our earth( which is not a new idea). Well, you can’t blame my squeamishness after watching a scifi movie like War of the Worlds. I didn’t want to waste my time watching another movie with a terrible plot and trying to compensate it with computer graphics. Glad my expectations were proven wrong! Here are the characters:

Characters

Shia LaBeouf ... Sam Witwicky

Megan Fox ... Mikaela Banes

Josh Duhamel ... Captain Lennox

Tyrese Gibson ... USAF Tech Sergeant Epps

Rachael Taylor... Maggie Madsen

Anthony Anderson... Glen Whitmann

Jon Voight ... Defense Secretary John Keller

John Turturro ... Agent Simmons

Michael O'Neill... Tom Banachek

Kevin Dunn ... Ron Witwicky

Peter Cullen ... Optimus Prime (voice)

Julie White ... Judy Witwicky

Bryan Cox ... (voice)

Amaury Nolasco... ACWO Jorge "Fig" Figueroa

Mark Ryan ... Bumblebee (voice)

Summary

It was a typical battle of good vs evil and aliens trying to take over earth. In this case, the aliens played a major role in disrupting the peace of our planet( or should I say, the United States?). The quest was to get hold of a powerful cube Allspark, which has the power to turn any gadget into an intellectual robot. In the end, the triumphed of good was made possible with the help of the weak earthling (compared to the autobots---the robot that can transform into all sorts of cars) in the name of Sam Witwicky.

Plot

The first scene was a military struggle to annihilate a destructive helicopter-turned- robot (Decepticon). This scene was juxtaposed with Sam Witwicky presenting a genealogy of his great-great grandfather. Sam proudly told the class that his great-great grandfather made a great expedition around the arctic circle in the year 1897. He even showed the class all the outdated gadgets of the expedition including the broken eyeglasses of Archibald Witwicky. Unfortunately, Sam’s classmates and teacher didn’t share his enthusiasm on his genealogy. This scene revealed that Sam was not one of those “important” people of his school and that he was more of the butt-of-all-jokes. However, this scene also showed another angle of Sam: though he was resigned to the disinterest of his classmate, he managed to convince his teacher to give him an A instead of a B-. His grade on this subject played a vital role on his getting his first car. His dad wants him to get three As from his subjects and to scrape $2,000. Having made his part of the deal, he at last bought his car. His car turned out to be his guardian Bumblebee, an autobot from another galaxy.

The succeeding scenes further revealed that Archibald Witwicky was indeed important . He was the one who discovered the evil Megatron in the artic regions. Mr. Witwicky’s eyeglasses, which is now in possession of Sam, has the imprint of the location of the Allspark. Sam-the-insignificant-in-school became the only hope in stopping Megatron from destroying the earth.

Analysis

Transfomer was only possible because of computer animation breakthroughs. To hold the interest of the various kinds of audience i.e. computer geeks, action freaks, teenagers, etc, they made the story revolve around Sam Witwicky, an unpopular and insignificant teenager and the gorgeous and sexy Mikaela.

Not only does the movie Transformer showed how robot becomes cars (and vice versa), it also lets you see the Sam, the main character, as a transformer (although in another light). It lets you see the transformation of a nobody into hero.

Sam’s transition from being insignificant to significant started on the day of his having his first car. In American culture, getting a car is a very important event to teenagers. It’s like an initiation of becoming accepted by the caste system of “teenagerhood”. The popular have at least one of these qualities: football player/cheerleader, hunks/gorgeous, and wealthy. Their caste system is further defined on who already has a car, not to mention who got the most expensive car. Having a first car sort of elevates you from the bottom caste (if you unfortunately don’t have the popular qualities). Car represents freedom from parents. Cars signify maturity of a teenager, mature enough to be trusted with a costly gadget.

Sam’s insignificance was further highlighted with his vain crush on gorgeous Mikaela, who is a girlfriend of an ostentatious football player. Sam’s luck seemed to have elevated when he got his car. He was able to go to a picnic by the lakeside attended mostly by the ‘popular’ kids. Mikaela, who walked out of her jerk of a boyfriend, began walking home. It was at this time that he was able to give Mikaela a ride home. Despite the robotic exterior usually associated with apathy, Bumblebee as a car began revealing his humane side by playing the subtle matchmaker, i.e playing a too meaningful song to suggest something (“Who’s gonna take you home?” when Mikaela started to walk home) breaking down to give Sam more time with Mikaela, etc.

The gravity of the dilemma in the movie is emphasized when focused on the military futile attempts to fight the Decepticons. However, the story usually takes a lighthearted turn when focused on Sam and Mikaela’s plight. The military complicated mission captured mature audiences while Sam’s plight captured the younger audiences. This is what made the movie successful.

Of Congo’s Deplorable State 3

2007-07-31T22:28:00.001+08:00

Congo: Literature About It

Sadly, I didn’t read Heart of Darkness of Joseph Conrad which depicts Congo’s struggle. I’ve read only about Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twains and it wasn’t about Congo. I guess I have to read more and I’ll tell you about it later. Apple, my sister commented that Congo must have been the one referred to in King Solomon’s Mine, a book written by H. Rider Haggard.

Now that I thought about it, there was this poem about Leopold’s horrible deeds and there was this movie entitled Blood Diamond. Gee, guess I have lots of stuff to occupy me in the next few days.

P.S I guess the miseries experienced of the citizens in the bottom of social ladder are mainly caused by those who were on top of the social ladder. Look at Congo, had their leaders been responsible enough, their country would have had the chance of peace a long time ago when they had their first independence. Look at Iraq, the same issue with Congo. Their national problems was made worse when foreign country leaders like US (I’m only blaming the leaders) “helped” with the wrong motives. I’m glad Philippines had Rizal when Filipinos thirsted for freedom. Today, because of our education advancement, Filipinos are prevented in resorting to barbarism (although most of our politicians are not far from those Congolese horrible leaders). I guess Rizal was right after all when he wanted Filipinos to prioritize education…or we could have ended like the Congolese.

Of Congo’s Deplorable State 2

2007-07-31T22:26:00.000+08:00

........Now that that point has been established, let me tell you a little about Congo’s political history. Congo was a Belgian colony from 1870-1908. King Leopold of Belgium, professing humanitarian objectives, acquired it as his private property in 1885 and named it Congo Free State. During Leopold’s regime, around 15 million Congolese died due his exploitation. This exploitation is to cater Leopold’s desire for rubber. Rubber was a growing market due to the development of rubber tires. The Force Publique (FP, an equivalent of our Guardia Civil during Rizal’s times) enforced rubber quotas by cutting off the natives’ limbs. (E.D Morel, Roger Casement, Mark Twain, and Joseph Conrad expressed their sentiment. Well, I’m only familiar with Mark Twain and Joseph Conrad, both of whom are writers.)

From 1908 to 1960, condition of Congo improved a little when the Belgian government took over. “The colonial administration implemented a variety of economic reforms that focused on the improvement of infrastructure: railways, ports, roads, mines, plantations and industrial areas” (Wikipedia). But this doesn’t mean Congolese’ human rights improved. Congolese’s lacked political power and faced legal discrimination caused by lack of education. I have to say that their situation was no different with the Filipinos during Rizal’s times. Democracy was out of the question. In 1955, the so-called "évolués" ( the Congolese upper class who were mostly educated in Europe…hmm the Ilustrados in Rizal’s times?) initiated the campaign to end the inequality.

Congo achieved its independence in 1960. It had its own parliamentary president and its own prime minister. Unfortunately, both the president and the prime minister developed a crisis. Such crisis gave Mobutu, army chief of staff, a chance to acquire sentiments and inspired mutinous acts. With the Belgian and US financial aid, Mobutu succeeded in toppling the frail government. Mobutu later became the head of state and would hold election wherein he was the only candidate.

“Relative peace and stability was achieved; however, Mobutu's government was accused of human rights violations, repression, a cult of personality (every Congolese bank note displayed his image, his portrait was displayed in all public buildings, most businesses, and on billboards, and it was common for ordinary people to wear his likeness on their clothing), and excessive corruption. In 1984 he was said to have $4 billion (USD), an amount close to the country's national debt, deposited in a personal Swiss bank account.”(Wikipedia)

Although Mobutu was forced to flee Congo in 1997 but fighting is still continues until today. The illegal extraction of minerals in Congo such as coltan, cassiterite, and diamonds only financed its self destruction.

Of Congo’s Deplorable State 1

2007-07-31T22:02:00.000+08:00

I thought Philippines has the most backward implementation of social justice. However, when I read the news about how the Congo women were abused by the armed forces, police, and rebels alike, I can’t help but be thankful I’m a Filipina.

The July 30, 2007 tells of South Kivu’s (a province of Congo) violence against women. To give you readers a clear picture of what’s going on in there, let me quote Ms. Yakin Erturk statement after her 11-day mission.

"The atrocities perpetrated by these armed groups are of an unimaginable brutality that goes far beyond rape," she said in a statement. "Women are brutally gang raped, often in front of their families and communities. In numerous cases, male relatives are forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers or sisters."

The statement continued: "Frequently women are shot or stabbed in their genital organs, after they are raped. Women, who survived months of enslavement, told me that their tormentors had forced them to eat excrement or the human flesh of murdered relatives."

These appalling situations can be blamed partly to their volatile political state.

Very Brief Political History of Congo

I want my readers to bear in their minds that Congo has rich mineral deposits like coltan, cassiterite, copper and diamond mines. So you can just imagine the clamor of the US to “help” like what they are doing now in Iraq. The US along with the Belgian gov’t “help” consisted of financing Mobutu, an army chief of staff, to maintain “order” with a coup.

My New Honey, Part 1

2007-07-23T09:24:00.000+08:00

I have dark circles around my eyes that made me look like a raccoon. My only consolation is that raccoons are cute.

I blamed the raccoon look to stress (well, that’s when I tell my friends when they asked me about my eyes). I love reading and I concluded that washing my face afterwards must be the cause of my raccoon look. I didn’t mind it back then when my skin is healthier and I have other things to worry besides my look.

As I said, it never bothered me before until now. I can’t help but be convinced by the ubiquitous beauty magazines that healthy eyes will make me look years younger. Now that I’m 26, the area around my eyes has gone noticeably transparent which made the dark circles more apparent. No amount of sleep was able to lessen the dark circles. I stopped washing my face with water blaming it for the dark cirles. Effect? Nada. I even resorted to Avon eye cream. I think the Avon made it worse. I started to feel itchiness in my eyes and i only find relief by rubbing them. I know the “beauty law” against eye-rubbing but I can’t seem to resist it. There are also times when I find my eyes very painful as if pricked by tiny needles and my eyes becomes watery for no apparent reason. That’s when I decided to stop my Avon eye cream. Fortunately, the pricking sensation stopped but the itchiness remained. Now that I think about it, I’ve experience eye-itchiness long before I used the cream. The cream only magnified it. I lived through the itchiness until my readings pointed to the itchiness as the culprit of my not-so-cute-anymore raccoon look.

My reading gave me a pleasant surprise. Who would ever think that honey has been used as antibacterial and anti fungal long before the scientist came to prove its worth? I guess I found an all-in-one solution to my beauty problems. Here’s what I found out….

The itchiness of my eyes may be due to an infection of my conjunctiva (conjunctiva is the thin, transparent tissue that covers the outer surface of the eye. It begins at the outer edge of the cornea, covering the visible part of the sclera, and lining the inside of the eyelids. It is nourished by tiny blood vessels that are nearly invisible to the naked eye. The conjunctiva also secretes oils and mucous that moistens and lubricates the eye, blah blah blah). Eye rubbing may have caused the tiny capillaries around my eyes to burst. To make it non scientific, the dark circles around my eyes are simply bruises, sort of debris of dead blood. The first step to eliminating my raccoon look is to cure my conjunctivitis.

Recipe for Conjunctivitis :

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon warm bottled water

This post is unfinished. I still have lots to share about honey for overall healthy body.

http://itotd.com/articles/218/honey-as-medicine/; http://health.learninginfo.org/benefits-of-honey.htm; http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/food/honey_cure.html

Filipino Social Cancer: Prevalent Disease

2007-07-21T14:29:00.000+08:00

I hated studying for history subject way back in high school and college. I just don’t see the point of memorizing all the facts when I knew that after the exam, my brain won’t be able to remember it. Exams were usually composed of identifying obscure dates or names of persons which has no personal significance to me except to comply with my course requirements. Although it reflected my poor emotional quotient at that time and it consequently made the teacher conclude that I have poor IQ (which I vehemently disagree, he he he), my not memorizing everything sort of made me feel smug. Maybe because I’ve managed to convinced myself that I was right.

Six years after college, I still feel the same way about the exam but not about learning history. When I say learn, I mean really learn history by heart. Not just being able to memorize dates and people. The reason for my change of heart is that I finally read “life and Works of Dr. Jose Rizal” (by Zaide). By doing so, my patriotic heart awakened in me. I even wished that if only Filipinos were half as patriotic and principled as Rizal, our country would be a better place.

Rizal proved with his life that Filipinos can be as great as any race. He testified this with his poems and novels and many other endeavors. He’s right. Filipino’s are ingenious and talented when given the chance. However, most Filipinos of today fall short on Rizal’s patriotism.

If I look at our country now, it was not better than the Rizal’s time. True, our government was administered by Filipinos but what of their value for our country? Philippines has remained the milking cow for people who wants to advance their personal interests. It’s as if the Spanish had simply shed their race and become Filipino so they can continue abusing the poor Indios. I say Indios because we are still ignorant despite our education. We failed to learn what Rizal and the other heroes had valiantly fought for: justice for every Filipino. What’s more saddening is that the injustice comes from Filipino.

The history of this social problem is very complex to trace. However, I can think one cure: patriotism. If only we love and value our country as much as Rizal, our social problems would be healed.

P.S. of course, this is for those Filipinos causing the social cancer and for those who remained complacent despite their power to do something.

Earning through blogging

2007-07-17T20:54:00.000+08:00

Just made a discovery that is making me a little lightheaded. You can actually earn money by just blogging! …

I finally decided to take writing seriously by blogging. To my delight, the blog site I came across has an option wherein you can insert into a template automatically an income generating ad powered by google.

But to get you started, you still have to have a blog. You can search for a site that gives you a blogging space for free. If you’re interested to learn more about earning money while doing your pastime, please take the time to visit my site at http://emeraldtobias.blogspot.com to see for yourself how i did my blog or e mail me at emz_81@yahoo.com Now we can be egotistical then getting paid for it. He he he.