Deantastic!

30-Day Challenge: Keeping a clean routine

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Last month I said I'd start doing 30-day challenges to better my life, instead of taking gratuitous photos of random things everyday.

For March, I've decided to create, tweak and hopefully maintain a clean routine. See, I'm usually very messy, but once in a while I get an explosive, raging and often short-lived burst of productivity and cleanliness. I think it's time I make those outbursts a habit.

My routine will focus on keeping my desk clear. This means assigning actions to stuff—research projects, homework, reading assignments—as soon as they reach my desk. I can either relegate them to long-term storage if I'm through with them, chuck them in my "In" bin so I can work o them later, or stack them neatly on my desk if I plan on working on them right away.

I'm anticipating some kinks—perhaps some action items that are hard to sort—so I'll be taking note of them as the month goes by so I can apply all that I learn into a long-term "neatness plan."

It's a good thing I decided to do this in March, too. It's the busiest time of the year for me, with deadlines looming and extracurricular activities demanding my attention. I'll get to test-drive my new routine to the limit.

Colonial undertones in The Walking Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:09:00 +0000

Funny things happen to your viewing habits when you have an absurdly well-read Marxist critical theorist for a professor. Recently, I noticed that AMC's "The Walking Dead," a TV series adopted from the graphic novel of the same name, runs on quite a colonial theme.

TWD happens in a post-apocalyptic world, after humanity is torn to pieces following a horrific zombie outbreak. Government relief camps have probably been overrun by infected people. The Center for Disease Control was supposed to give hope for a cure, but it blew up on itself after it ran put of power. All semblance of civilization is now either destroyed or rusting in obsolesence.

In other words, the human race has come back to Square One.

Here's where the colonialism starts. The main characters of the story compose a group of survivors looking for resources and other possible signs of life. Most of the members of the group are white. They have a token black guy and an Asian with them. Most of the dirty work is assigned to the two of them. This includes going into town centers usually brimming with zombies looking for a meal when supplies are running low, or otherwise fending off "walkers." The group also has a gun-toting hillbilly who is constantly presented as violent and irrational. The keepers of order, those who keep things running, are of course the Caucasians.

The de-facto leader of the group is Rick, an awarded police officer. At the start of the series, Rick was presumed dead by his wife, his son, and his partner on the job (who was sleeping with his wife, on account of his being probably dead). But Rick got out of the deserted hospital he had been confined in, dressed himself—in his police uniform, which says quite a lot—and was able to reunite his family and their newfound group (and eventually boss people around). This is quite a feat, but it is necessary to establish that even after the world has ended, a a cop—an agent of the State—is still in charge of things. This theme is further strengthened by the fact that despite all the Hell the group has taken on, Rick never forgets his policeman's hat.

At one point in the series, Rick is sitting at his son Carl's bedside. This is after Carl has recovered from being nearly killed by a deer-hunting bullet. Rick takes off his hat and has Carl try it on. When he is well again, Carl asks his parents if he can learn how to shoot a gun. He takes it as a coming of age. A gun will finally make him a man—and not just any man, his father's man, the one who will assume his father's leadership responsibilities in due time.

Oh, and Carl was shot by a hunter from another group of survivors who lived on a farm ranch. The hunter, taking full responsibility for his actions, takes Carl and his parents to the farm. Its owner, Herschel, is the family's patriarch. He is a veterinarian and is therefore the closest one can get to a doctor, on account of the world having ended and all, so he offers to operate on Carl. Eventually, Rick's entire gang becomes guests of the ranch. They're offered board and lodging, and in exchange they help out with the chores. (Glenn the Asian guy also goes out to town to fight off zombies for supplies.) Eventually, they get too involved in the ranch and start feeling as though they owned it and were not guests of it. Herschel makes it clear that he expects them to be on their way once Carl has fully recovered.

But Rick says no, although he understands where Herschel is coming from. The place is nice, safe, secure, has defenses, and food and water are accessible. So they continue to insist on staying indefinitely, negotiating with Herschel. But he's having none of it.

And the kicker: a member of Rick's group finds out that Herschel keeps zombies in a barn on the ranch. The zombies are fed chickens everyday. Herschel still thinks of the zombies as people, and he says modern medicine will eventually find a cure for them. And they're undead, so they can afford to wait. (Herschel has not been informed of the destruction of the CDC at this point.) Rick thinks it's too much of a risk, so, despite it being Herschel's ranch, they break the barn doors open and kill all of the zombies inside. Herschel is on his knees and weeping.

This story's been told many times before.

How would you write a news story on a fairy tale?

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 10:11:00 +0000

Here's how esteemed British news outfit The Guardian would cover the story of the three little pigs. In my Introduction to Journalism class, we were made to write a story on a fairy tale or children's story of our choice. I wrote about "The Emperor's New Clothes." It was a simple crime story, so we didn't really do any news analysis, but what The Guardian did in the above video is really, really interesting.

On yesterday's events at Quirino Grandstand

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Now that the Iglesia Ni Cristo's Grand Evangelical Mission at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park is over, I think it's worth clarifying the circumstances around the event and contextualize how media organizations treated the story in the days leading up to Tuesday.

Most media outfits have prominently and ill-advisedly angled the GEM story on the Church's alleged support for impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona. This angle has little basis in fact, but the newspapers and TV stations ran with it anyway, probably because it was an easy way to get hits and readers.

Reports have also frequently taken to calling the gathering a "prayer rally"—a term the Church has not used in recent memory. Maybe newsrooms haven't done away with the term because another religious group known for more frequent massive gatherings at the grandstand uses it.

The fact is that the event is what the Church calls it—a Grand Evangelical Mission, where members invite friends and loved ones to listen to the teachings that the INC espouses in a bid to attract converts to the faith. The GEM is no new thing. It is a cornerstone of the Church's missionary activities. The INC has been conducting evangelical missions such as this one since Brother Felix Manalo began preaching the Church in the Philippines in the early 20th century.

True, the Church has not conducted a missionary activity of this size and magnitude in recent years, which is another point reports have used to justify the Corona support angle. Mainstream media has failed to properly contextualize the gathering in this regard. At the beginning of the year, the Church leadership declared 2012 the Year of Intense Propagation of the Gospel (Filipino: Taon ng Puspusang Pagpapalaganap ng mga Salita ng Dios) to ramp up its missionary efforts as the INC approaches its centennial anniversary in 2014. The massive GEM, held not only in Luneta but in several other sites across the country, is in line with this year's theme, and not with any partisan political issue.

Anyone who might have still been speculating about the political intentions of the gathering should know that throughout the one-and-a-half hour event, there was only hymn-singing and a study of the INC's teachings (as is normal in this kind of activity). Not one mention was made about any political issue, much less Corona's impeachment. Any argument about a politicized INC gathering should by now be dead in the water.

I think the intention of the event can be better seen through the experience of tour guide Carlos Celdran, who was "surprised and pleased" at the atmosphere during the event. "You guys truly are a show of force. Disciplined, United, Dignified and EGALITARIAN," Celdran said on his Facebook page. "You have a lot to teach us all about being Filipino."

At the fair

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:42:00 +0000

It was the last night of the UP Fair on Saturday. Katz and I went, along with her sister Sanse and Sanse's boyfriend. We chose Saturday because that's when all the big bands were scheduled to perform (including Parokya ni Edgar with an "exclusive performance," whatever that means).

There were more rides and games this year than last. We spent a lot of time trying our luck in the shooting games. Katz won a ginger doll, which she named Barry. I won a Winnie the Pooh phone dangler. It wasn't even the bear's entire body, just his head. So I named him Paulo. (Pooh-ulo? Get it? K.)

Katz thought we should try the rusty Flying Fiesta ride (I'm not sure what it's really called but that's the name of the similar ride at Enchanted Kingdom). I was hesitant at first—the ride at EK made me woozy—but Katz was game, so I didn't object.

At the end of the ride, I looked at Katz. She was nauseated, and had her head buried in her arm.

We bought snow cones (apparently, cold food after a dizzying ride is supposed to make you feel better) and stood around as Up Dharma Down played their set. I'd hoped that once she'd rested we could squeeze ourselves into the crowd like we did last year, and hopefully catch Moonstar88 play Panalangin (the only OPM song I've LSS'd on in four years). After a while, though, Katz decided she was too dizzy. We left at a little past 11 and hung out on the Main Library steps.

All in all, though, it was still a fun night. The most exciting part happened before we even got in: Katz and I had four extra tickets, so we scalped 'em for P150 each, P250 for two, P400 for four (we bought them at P90 apiece). Apparently, I was yelling too loudly, and I caught the attention of a couple of the fratmen manning the grounds.

One of them asked how much I was selling my tickets for, and I smiled and said, "Oh, P90."

"P90? I heard P150."

"No, no, just P90," I said, nonchalant.

They asked to see the tickets and, after verifying their authenticity, let me go but stayed close behind us. I continued to hawk the tickets at the original P90 price, and a few guys asked for a discount. "P70 nalang, presyong kaibigan."

The fratmen, still behind us, said, "Hindi pwedeng ibenta ng P50, P90 lang talaga."

In the end, we sold all four of our tickets. It was a great night.

So, the 365 thing isn't for me.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:37:00 +0000

This probably won't earn me many points in the "ability to carry things through" department, but I'm cutting short my Project 365. It's supposed to give people the confidence of knowing they can be consistent enough to do one thing everyday for an entire year, but it just isn't the type of self-growth project for me.

Instead, starting in March I'll be embarking on monthly projects—things I'll strive to accomplish from the first to the last day of every month in an effort to better my life. I got the inspiration from Matt Cutts, head of Google's webspam team, who did monthly 30-day challenges last year. Hopefully, these projects will be more fulfilling and have more purpose than Project 365. I already have quite a few project ideas in mind for March.

25-34/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:49:00 +0000

Allow me to dump all my Project 365 photos into one entry. I'm feeling too lazy to create individual posts for each one.

Last weekend, Katz and I went camping in Makiling, Laguna. The trip was a requirement in our Military Science class, which we're taking up to fulfill our National Service Training Program (NSTP) requirement. All college students in the Philippines need to participate in the NSTP as a prerequisite to graduation. The precursor of the NSTP was the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program.

Ooh, and I finally have a new pair of headphones! I bought the JVC Flats upon Ade's recommendation. They're dirt cheap—P410 at Compex in SM North Edsa—and are quite good. The bass can get quite muffled on these, though. Ade says an amplifier might improve their performance, but I haven't any money left. (I'm taking donations, if anyone's willing.)

24/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:40:00 +0000

KFC fries and a sweet, sweet smile.

23/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:56:00 +0000

Went to Nueva Ecija—Katz's family had a reunion. The elementary school her cousin went to is at the end of their street. Most of the houses on their street are owned by relatives. The school is smaller than the place I live in. It's so provincial! Monday was fun. Life's fantastic.

22/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:49:00 +0000

21/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:48:00 +0000

Remember how I told you Katz and I signed up for military science class? It's actually kind of fun!

20/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:49:00 +0000

If you stand in the middle of CM Recto (where the plants are, at the lower right portion of the photo) and speak loudly, you can hear your voice coming at you from all directions. It's pretty cool.

19/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:46:00 +0000

I'm not sure what I would make of any guy who looks at this catalogue to decide what to get for his girl on Valentine's.

18/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:44:00 +0000

17/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:44:00 +0000

May nagshooting sa Maskom.

16/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:07:00 +0000

Recently I've been posting many photos of food for this project. That's a good thing, right?

15/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Sunday dinner was a plate of caesar salad and a personal Supreme pizza. I should remind myself to go to the Katipunan branch next time, where they let you customize your Super Panalo meal (the Technohub branch doesn't, which is why I opted for the salad and the pizza instead).

14/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:40:00 +0000

Katz cut her hair for the new year. Fierce.

13/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:39:00 +0000

12/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:39:00 +0000

11/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:38:00 +0000

10/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:53:00 +0000

9/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:52:00 +0000

8/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:28:00 +0000

7/365

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:43:00 +0000