What religion does to my people

I'm searching for interesting pages. Instead, I find what religion can do to people. It is as if the people arguing about God are in the medieval period. I suppose in some ways they are. They are arguing about semantics.

Regulation of Thought

My absolute love for America lies in the promises of its Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Translated to my experience, this means that a colonized immigrant can come to America and wake up with respect to the history of the world and the actions and effects of American government. This means taking everything that is wonderful with everything that is blasphemous in American culture and politics.

However, I tend to believe that a majority of the people in the United States still need to wake up to the going ons at Washington DC promulgated by neoconservatives who would put forward their fears over the ability of America to address issues of world concern. And damn it, they have hijacked my beloved Republican party and made it into another monster.

While surfing, I found the this warning about HR 3077. A search of the internet resulted in the final write-up. The good news is that funding has been renewed. Bad news is that with all things that fucking Republicans create, they create another layer of bureaucracy which supposedly fucking Republicans HATE!!! What the hell is that???

Signatures on Degrees

I thought I was in bad shape when I received my degree without Chancellor Chang Lin Tien's signature on it. But slanderous has her degree with Herr Gropenfuhrer's handprint all over it.

I feel bad for slanderous, but damn I am high right now!!!

The Last Samurai

While waiting to watch "Matrix Revolutions," I saw the previews of the "Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise. Unfortunately, I saw the movie in San Francisco which meant that many of the viewers did not appreciate the premise of the Last Samurai. The audience booed and hissed at Tom Cruise specially when it showed that Tom Cruise would be able to hit the sack with a Japanese woman.

Now, I am a fan of Tom Cruise. I saw his magnificent movie "Top Gun" as a freshman in college and the movie appealed to that warrior side of me. The warrior side values glorified death above everything else. A heroic death. Maybe that little part is programmed into every little boy through the actions of testosterone. I just know that ever since I could form thoughts, I had wanted to die a heroic death. I imagined dying on the football field as I crossed the goal line. I imagined dying on the battlefield holding down the line. I imagined dying from shopping at Safeway.

As I grew to understand mass communications and psychology and marketing, I realized that this warrior side is often the target of many ad campaigns. And so it is with the Last Samurai. Who wouldn't want to be the last hero left standing up? Everyone dies except me. Hey, I can go along with that.

However, some people have expressed their reservatiosns. The SO exasperatedly asks, "Why does Tom Cruise have to be the last samurai? Why is a white man the last samurai? Why does Tom Cruise end up shacking with the wife of the samurai that was killed? In real life, that woman would sneak up to Tom Cruise and slit his throat." Others have asked others to boycoot the film.

I will probably not watch Tom Cruise and the Last Samurai in the movies, but I might rent it. For one, there is a good looking Japanese actress in the film. Who knows? It might be another Lucy Liu who had to perform topless in one of her beginning movies. It's an opportunity.

An interesting tidbit was a casting call:

CASTING CALL

Casting beautiful Asian women for Warner Bros.' The Last Samurai PremiereAfter-party to be held in Westwood on Dec 1st.. Women will be dressed as village women from the film's wardrobe department and mingle 'in character'through the party, helping to create the ambience of ancient Japan, circa 1870's. There is no pay, but a chance to be part of this year's biggest Hollywood premiere with a guest list including Tom Cruise and the rest of The Last Samurai's fantastic cast!!

If interested please forward a picture and information ASAP to:

Cheryl Rave
Entertainment Producer
Obtained from slanderous' journal.

Ah yes, who says that capitalism is dead? If it will sell or make money, they will be done.

Here's a question. If I like women from Asia, does that mean that the exoticization of Asia has enveloped me in a cocoon of conspiracy? Crap, I have all this baggage of decolonization to take care of. Now, I also must deal with exoticization issues? Will it never stop?

Jumps, Starts and AAA

Last night, a cousin of the SO was stranded because of a dead battery. Since she is trying to develop a mature relationship with her parents, we have been coaching her on the art of communicating with the parents. Dead batteries is one of those topics which can set back the creation of mature relationships.

We pointed out to her that it was important to check to make sure that the lights in the car had not been left on. Check! How about the radio. Is it off? Check! And the lights in the inside of the car. Off! This makes sure that the dead battery was not her fault. And by the way, Northern California has been experiencing such cold weather that it is most likely a problem with the battery itself.

We tried to jumpstart the car to no success. We had to call AAA for a jumpstart. I recommend to everyone to obtain a membership to AAA if you own and drive your car. They have a battery service that services your car during daytime hours.

Barbara's Prayer for the Virgin Mary

I am anticipating that this poem will be part of Barbara's next book.

I have been trying to redefine the image of the Virgin Mary in the last few years. The difficulty has been to find the process. How does one change what one has been taught from the earliest age? How do you change what you see naturally?

Well, I read the angel-corpse who eats adobong aso at pusa. And visit houses made by Pin@ys.

Sophie, oh Sophie, where are thou?

Am I the only one wondering where the wonderful feline has gone? Did the corpse end up having Sophie for merienda or better yet for pulutan? One can simply imagine said corpse licking her wings after a delectable bite of pulutan followed by a case of San Miguel dark beer. (Which reminds me, now that I have killed enough taste buds perhaps it is time to taste San Miguel Negra.)

There used to be a black cat who just loved to go into my apartment and other apartments in the complex. She just loved attention. She purred and rubbed herself all over the denizens of said complex. Whenever I opened the door, she would come down from the second floor and happily meow to come in. While most other cats are snobs, this one was starved for attention.

Which now makes me think of cat adobo. Why do Pin@ys eat dogs and not eat cats? For the life of me, one would think that they would also eat cats. Is this just discrimination? Hmm, I better ask the corpse.

Unicorn with a Horn

Well, apparently, I am an innocent who happens to be a female exhibitionist who is banished to the 8th level of hell. I would prefer to be a voyeur, but in life you can't get what you want all the time. I've been working on the website and have been looking for photos and stuff that I can place in the website.


You are Form 3, Unicorn: The Innocent.

tests, tests and more tests

I simply am confused as to how Sunny is only 15.8% geek. I know that he programs in several computer languages. I know he definitely makes his own webpages. (By the way, mine will soon be up.) He's probably solved a Rubik's cube because he's Pin@y.

He's gotta be a fan of Star Trek (Trekkie). All FIVE series! All SEVEN movies! He must have seen them ALL! Multiple times! He must own the DVD and VHS of the Star Trek series! Like ME! I think he cut out in the middle of the test. Or else, he's not even trying. I bet you that a student probably knocked on the door for office hours.

We'll see what he gets in the Ultimate Personality Test. Hehehe. Shh, he's supposed to be grading papers right now. I'm just distracting him a little bit.

There is a certain charm however to taking these quizzes. It reveals a little bit of ourselves. For example, that personality test is probably more accurate than I would prefer. Moi? An exhibitionist? Perhaps an avenging angel. But definitely not an exhibitionist angel. Just because I dream of standing in front of a podium and giving a political speech does not mean that I am an exhibitionist. Sure, I love the limelight, but only when it's front of thousands of people. With respect to that political stuff, yes, I am trying to convince my friend to run for city council, congress, and the US Senate. How cool would that be? Hi Elaine!!!

Exhibitionist

I always thought that I was a voyeur. Man, I just love to sit and watch things happen. But instead, my personality is that of an exhibitionist. Maybe I should retake the test.


Exhibitionist


The ULTIMATE personality test
brought to you by Quizilla

Dreaming of Adobo

Well, after confusing myself, let's deconfuse by the power of cooking. The wilyfilipino has thrown the proverbial palayok of invitation into the wide world of the internet for an adobo blog entry . However, the SO asked if it would be possible to actually hold a physical gathering of the adobo hunter-gatherers preferably in a large room while they were bringing their adobo concoctions.

And if the party would hold up to the messed Pin@y standards of having a grand prize, first prize etc, I would have to enter the whole cooking frenzy. But, since we and specifically I am decolonizing, I have begun to think that being the best is not always the point. (Hell, look at Apo Marcos and where being the best brought him. Dictatorship. Sometimes, I think that there is a colonialist conspiracy which teaches Pin@ys all the messed up ways so that the Pin@y community will never gain the political and economic power which we can exert. Teach the Filipinos that being the best is important so that they will rip their country and their local communities to shreds.

So, we probably should not have a grand prize etc etc because it only introduces a sense of competition which is not exactly what we desire. Let's face it, we are no longer in grade school and don't need to build each other's ego. If you wanted to go do that, you should go to soc.culture.filipino. They have tons of people waiting to do just that. I am sure that your adobo is out of this world. Did you bring enough for twenty people though?

Thus, we have what you would call a taste test extravaganza. Does anyone think that there is hope for an adobo gathering? I have already heard that Barbara is ready to bring laing. The SO was thinking of hosting the event, so if you all ask nicely, she just might. We can ask the fallen angel what kind of wine goes with twenty pots of adobo. Who knows? The fallen angel might cook her own version of adobo. Wouldn't that be a sight? Mmm, corpse-adobo.

The one thing though is that people who are going to enter the adobo taste test extravaganza really should research where their recipe comes from. Is it something you learned from your mother or your yaya? Where in the Philippines were they from? Why do you put corn in your adobo? Heck, why do you put green peppers in your adobo? So, the fried eggs that are so tasty are also in adobo? Hmmm. Yes, we want titillation and ecstacy, but we also want to know if you are pulling our legs and winging it.

Sexuality

With the insistence of the SO, I ended up taking the gender test. I had always thought that I had a balance of female-male energy. Heck for the longest time, I was wondering about my sexuality. Was I gay or not?

And how can I not wonder about my sexuality? I used to cut out pictures of women in those beautiful long evening gowns. I would stare at the faces of models on Cosmopolitan and marvel at their beauty and make-up style. I yearned to style the hair of the models. But of course, while I fantasized about these models, I would also fantasize about them going to bed with me. Can you imagine me, the Seducing Hairstylist cum Fashion Designer?

(me, with a very high pitched voice proclaiming gayhood) Oh! Come sit down my deahhr!!! Are you call comfy? What hair style do we want? Oh, we want short and sassy? All the more to attract the boys? Wash the hair. Then, seduce the client with a deep voice saying, "You have very beautiful eyes. I haven't seen eyes such mystery since looking at this Mary Magdalene's eyes in my dreams."

Bwahahhahah! Hmm, I wonder if I can wear a cape as a hairstylist? Charing!!! But of course, just like with other aspects of my life, I would get bored with the drudgery of everyday life of a hairstylist. All that curling of hair, cutting of hair, seducing of clients. I am sure that it would all get too boring. Although, I certainly bought into the fantasy of Warren Beatty and his hair stylist who sleeps around in that movie Shampoo.

And yes, I was also interested in fashion design. What can I say? I love the female form. One credit to Andoy Cunanan was that he ended the career of the maverick fashion designer Gianni Versace. Now, I believe it was Bill Blass who said something like "Versace butchered the female form. His clothing was not flattering to the female form at all." But to be fair (not like those liars at Fox News who lie and lie and lie and toss red herrings all about), I believe Versace was also honored with an exhibit at the Museum of Modern art in New York City.

But back to my sexuality. To tell you the truth, if the measure of gayness was only limited to evening gowns, hair styling, make-up and making esctatic love to women, then hell yeah, I would be gay. But, there's just that one thing about being gay that I have no attraction for. Men. Who the hell would want to sleep with men? They are stupid, dumb and can barely think with two heads. Give me the softness of women, their gentle caresses and I can style their hair any time. Oh, by the way, apparently, the test could calculate with 86% certainty that I am female.

You know, for every question, we track very carefully what each gender answers. This allows us to guess with the utmost accuracy what you are. And in the rare case where we guess incorrectly (like now), we have the opportunity to learn from nature's mistake. You.

People like you, who walk the scary line between man and woman, are *very* helpful in understanding exactlywhat it means to be human. Thanks, and good luck.

Hmm, if I am a female who likes other females, does that mean that I am a lesbian? Shit, I don't feel the urge to buy myself a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or do other lesbian stuff. Well, except to sleep around with other women who are not lesbians. But then, wouldn't I just be a woman thinking she's a lesbian who does not like other women so in reality I am just a man who is really a woman?

Barbara Pulmano Reyes

One of the recent additions to the links page is Barbara Pulmano Reyes. I have known Barbara for about five years and have been in awe of her for at least nine years. The first time I saw Barbara read was at "Flipside" a show sponsored sometime in the mid-1990's by Maganda magazine and Pangit, the graduate student group at Berkeley.

I was videotaping the whole event and was really critical in my head of the many Pin@y performers. I was still in my lack of Pin@y pride days (no excuses, I'm just slower than everyone else). Anyways, the show that evening featured :


A Pin@y folk song singer who blew everyone away with high voice.
Michella Gravange with guitarist who made me write poems.
A Pin@y urban cowboy, and some others and:
Barbara Pulmano Reyes


I should say that I was critical, but my brain was being blown away by the great talent of everyone. Then, Barbara hit like a storm. My first impression was "What the f*ck!?!" You see, Barbara had tatooes on her arms way before it became a fashion statement. She had huge tatooes of alibata or baybayin on one arm and another set of tatooes on the other arm. Barbara was not an ordinary woman. In fact, I bet you that she scared the shit out of every single guy in the room.

She then began to read one of those typical boy-angst-me-against-the-world poem that talks about the Pin@y's brown arms and brown skin. Again, early to mid-90's, this stuff was just fresh off the box. The meter was all OFF to me because I had been raised on Frost and the standard Western hegemonic poetics. And, more importantly, I did not have MTV. I was a twentysomething graduate student nerd thinking about Pin@y identity and Barbara Pulmano Reyes smacks me in the face. It was an epiphany.

The epiphany was not a eureka moment in which the whole world becomes clear for an instant. No, the epiphany was seeing a Filipina who was absolutely outstanding who has a brain to say something in poetics. My epiphany was not shared by my friends in Pangit. In fact, we watched the videos again that same night. Most of them were not aware that a supernova just exploded in front of their faces. Most of them laughed at the non-conformity and the appearance of Barbara. I only wanted to see her part on the video so that I could make sure that I saw a supernova explode. And you know what? I did, I did see a supernova explode.

One of the striking inconsistencies that is so apparent and so jarring with Barbara is that she writes love poems while she has massive tatooes on her arms. What is more contradictory in the Pin@y mind than that? It certainly made me wonder. You see, I did not see too many intelligent and visionary performers in the mid-1990's. So when someone reads like a woman in love, but that very same woman also has tatooes which is the symbol of prison life in the Philippines, well, my entire world has been turned upside down. You know, the inevitable questions arise. What makes her tick? Why does she do the things that she does?

After a few years, I managed to actually get to know Barbara and I was one of the first people to read her poem "Anthropological" which is in her latest book Gravities of Center . When I read Anthropological, it was like seeing that supernova explode in my mind once more. FINALLY! Barbara has written a poem that went beyond the raw emotions of angst, love and emotions and went into the tearful diasporic history of the Pin@y people. The poem was revealing and disturbing for the truths that are uncovered. It was the first time I saw the death of a thousand Filipinos in the letters of a poem. Pin@ys were skewered, Pin@ys were lanced, Pin@ys were shot in the middle of the page. Anthropological is a seminal work in poetry.

To end this paean to Barbara Pulmano Reyes, I'll tell you that she is working on a second book of poetry.

The Big Game

Well, Cal defeated Stanfurd 28-16 in the 106th Big Game. It was quite exciting watching the second half, although the first half of the game was plain misery because of the 0-10 score.

On Monday, the Rally Committee will parade the ax around the campus going to Sproul Hall, Dwinelle Hall, then 1 PSL which I believe they now call Pimentel Hall. If around, I will probably photograph that adventure.

To all those Old Blues which I am now a part of, can you believe that we beat USC? How about Washington? Wow, it has been a long wait.

The Eight Level

Hehehehe. I am sure that Sunny will not outscore me on this one.

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Eigth Level of Hell - the Malebolge!


The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Eigth Level of Hell - the Malebolge!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Low
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Very High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test

How much of a geek are you?

I am 27.81065% Total Geek. I lost some points because I don't do my own computer programming.

Somehow, Sunny will beat me in this one. I know it for sure.

Farewell, Leroy

Gene Anthony Ray who played the dancer Leroy in the television show Fame passed away recently. In my analysis of lives, I always thought that Mr. Ray should have hit it big. But just like with anyone, sometimes I can be wrong. I always thought that all he had to do was play the character Leroy and he could pretty much do whatever it was that he wanted.

But I am limiting myself on the measures of success. Perhaps Mr. Ray was successful in his own right. After all, he was a star in the movie as well as the television show. Heck, he was larger than Janet Jackson during those years. Janet had not been knifed by the finest plastic surgeons yet. She was normal just like her brother. Well, normal in appearance, at the very least.

Leroy, I will remember your name.

Former Filipinos

Rodel Rodis writes an opinion column for the Philippine News. His latest essay is amusing.

America can learn a great deal from how Filipinos have dealt with the integration of various ethnic and cultural groups into the Filipino political mainstream.

Hmm, yes indeed. America really needs to know how Filipinos have dealt with the Itas and the indigenous people. How about the political power which have been given to the Muslims in Mindanao? Absolutely! We need more of that education to come to America. Of course, he does cite members of minority groups in the Philippines who eventually became presidents or politicos. I can only assume that this somehow balances out the current policy of the Philippines with respect to indigenous people and Moslems and non-Tagalog speakers.

However, Rodis does cite what makes one an American or not an American. Apparently, it's all about knowing how many homeruns Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron hit. In which case, I do not qualify as an American.

But give Rodis a fair shake. It's difficult to define culture in America and he's trying to encompass such a wide nebulous concept into a 1000 word opinion on "former Filipinos."

In case you are wondering, I'm Filipino, American, Filipino-American and Pin@y. Pin@y is my version of pinoy/pinay.

Tung-Yen Lin & Big Game

Have you ever wondered how freeways and massive high rise buildings are supported? The work of Tung-Yen Lin was a key factor in the development of construction technologies. He passed away this past Saturday.

I mention this as the Big Game is upon us. I passed on documenting the bonfire rally tonight to be contemplative. To think of other things besides a football game that dominates the minds of Berkeley and Stanford students.

But as you can see, it's still in the back of my mind.

The King of Pop

Once more, Michael Jackson has grabbed the headlines again. And once again, the allegations are for child molestation. The first time I saw Michael Jackson with Emmanuel Lewis and Brooke Shields attending the Grammy's or some other award show, I immediately had my suspicions about Jackson being a pedophile. But, suspicions are just opinions.

Ten years ago, there was the first allegation of pedophilia against Mr. Jackson. That was settled when the two kids entered into an agreement to not disclose what happened. Michael was never prosecuted for that incident most likely because of a lack of witnesses and proof. Geminiwalker has written a very good discussion on the Mystery of Michael Jackson if you are interested in knowing more.

Sidenote: I heard rumors that the butler and maid were Pin@ys. When the police was getting ready to interview everyone, the butler and maid supposedly went back to the Philippines. If anyone out there knows if this is true, create your own blog and link back to mine.

But let us discuss money. Here we have once more a trial of sorts for the power of money. We had a trial with the power of money with the OJ Simpson case. Verdict: Money makes OJ not guilty; Power of Money 1, Law Enforcement 0.

This is great for those who are capitalists because it supports the theory that in America, race will not matter if you have enough money. I would like to think that this is true because it is the last place where I think minorities can go for equal protection.

Michael had his first pedophilia case and it was resolved with multi-million dollars. What I remember from the case was something like $10 million to $17 million. At any rate, if you had invested that since, you would have made a lot of money so long as you were not so greedy. Verdict: Power of Money 2, Law Enforcement 0.

So now, with a $3 million dollar bail, Michael Jackson is out and about in Las Vegas. That is a lot of money for bail. But, it is just another methodology in which money is used in society. It will be interesting to see if the District Attorney Tom Sneddon is able to get Michael Jackson. If he can not, he's just another incompetent in civil service.

Run, Michael, run! They are after your black hide. Wait, you no longer have a hide. You have a synthetic WHITE fabric stretched out over you. Hmm, yet another instance of money being used to change appearances.