Mmmmmm....
But He will never be back......

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

...that John F. Kennedy was shot dead in an ambush by government agents who had foreknowledge of his whereabouts?

...that Ben Affleck died while shoveling snow outside of his house, leaving behind an unexpectedly small estate speculated to be worth as little as US$20,000?

On this day...

April 1:

1970 – The first of over 670,000 gremlins was released into North America.

at last.

Clouds above the cemetery,
Can't even tell the time of day,
They give nothing away,
Reading names of people past,
They're so very close and
far away,
But who am I to say?

Trees obscure the borderlines,
there's big weeping willows,
all around,
Their branches weight them down.

Remeber when we,
came unglued
to float by the window?
The neighbours must have had
a laugh:
We love to put on a show.
For people who would try to deny
We'll show 'em the pictures.
The only thing that bothers me now
is why remeber it here?

Is it true,
As I walk along the beach
beside you,
That nothing in the world can
find you?
Here's to you!
Let the growing of the trees
remind you,
That everything is now behind you.

Ear against a mausoleum,
Eyes on a broken wristwatch hand
My feet still caked with sand.

Remembering when we
came unglued
I feel like my heart is beating fast
I can't seem to relax

And people never used to smile
When posing for potraits
It must have been a different time.
No phony, elastic grin.
I feel like that's the real me.
Straight face and a blank stare.
Looking like I never win,
But I feel fine.

Twice in my life I've been sure that
a wall was the edge of the world

if you like the Beatles or just fond of good music :)

 

 

Vincent Malloy is seven years old
He’s always polite and does what he’s told
For a boy his age, he’s considerate and nice
But he wants to be just like Vincent Price

He doesn’t mind living with his sister, dog and cats
Though he’d rather share a home with spiders and bats
There he could reflect on the horrors he’s invented
And wander dark hallways, alone and tormented

Vincent is nice when his aunt comes to see him
But imagines dipping her in wax for his wax museum

He likes to experiment on his dog Abercrombie
In the hopes of creating a horrible zombie
So he and his horrible zombie dog
Could go searching for victims in the London fog

His thoughts, though, aren’t only of ghoulish crimes
He likes to paint and read to pass some of the times
While other kids read books like Go, Jane, Go!
Vincent’s favourite author is Edgar Allen Poe

One night, while reading a gruesome tale
He read a passage that made him turn pale

Such horrible news he could not survive
For his beautiful wife had been buried alive!
He dug out her grave to make sure she was dead
Unaware that her grave was his mother’s flower bed

His mother sent Vincent off to his room
He knew he’d been banished to the tower of doom
Where he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life
Alone with the portrait of his beautiful wife

While alone and insane encased in his tomb
Vincent’s mother burst suddenly into the room
She said: “If you want to, you can go out and play
It’s sunny outside, and a beautiful day”

Vincent tried to talk, but he just couldn’t speak
The years of isolation had made him quite weak
So he took out some paper and scrawled with a pen:
“I am possessed by this house, and can never leave it again”
His mother said: “You’re not possessed, and you’re not almost dead
These games that you play are all in your head
You’re not Vincent Price, you’re Vincent Malloy
You’re not tormented or insane, you’re just a young boy
You’re seven years old and you are my son
I want you to get outside and have some real fun.

”Her anger now spent, she walked out through the hall
And while Vincent backed slowly against the wall
The room started to swell, to shiver and creak
His horrid insanity had reached its peak

He saw Abercrombie, his zombie slave
And heard his wife call from beyond the grave
She spoke from her coffin and made ghoulish demands
While, through cracking walls, reached skeleton hands

Every horror in his life that had crept through his dreams
Swept his mad laughter to terrified screams!
To escape the madness, he reached for the door
But fell limp and lifeless down on the floor

His voice was soft and very slow
As he quoted The Raven from Edgar Allen Poe:

                                                                    “and my soul from out that shadow
                                                                        that lies floating on the floor
                                                                                    shall be lifted?
                                                                                       Nevermore…”






you should see this short stop-motion animation made in 1982, made even before Nightmare Before Christmas :)

kore ijyou nani wo ushinaeba kokoro wa yurusareru no
dore hodo no itaminaraba mou ichido kimi ni aeru
One more time kisetsuyo utsurowanaide
One more time fuzakeatta jikan yo

kuichigau toki wa itsumo boku ga saki ni oretane
wagamama na seikaku ga naosara itoshikusaseta
One more chance kioku ni ashi wo torarete
One more chance tsugi no basho wo erabenai

itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no sugata wo
mukai no HOOMU rojiura no mado
konna toko ni iru hazu mo nai noni
negai wa moshimo kanau nara imasugu kimi no moto e
dekinai koto wa mou nani mo nai
subete kakete dakishimete miseru yo

sabishisa magirasu dake nara dare demo ii hazu na noni
hoshi ga ochisouna yoru dakara jibun wo itsuwarenai
One more time kisetsu yo utsurowanaide
One more time fuzakeatta jikan yo

itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no sugata wo
kousaten demo yume no naka demo
konna toko ni iru hazu mo nai noni
kiseki ga moshimo okoru nara ima sugu kimi ni misetai
atarashii asa kore kara no boku
ienakatta "suki" to iu kotoba mo

natsu no omoide ga mawaru
fui ni kieta kodou

itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no sugata wo
akegata no machi sakuragi chou de
konna toko ni kuru hazu mo nai noni
negai ga moshimo kanau nara imasugu kimi no moto e
dekinai koto wa mou nani mo nai
subete kakete dakishimete miseru yo

itsudemo sagashiteiruyo dokka ni kimi no kakera wo
tabisaki no mise shinbun no sumi
konna toko ni aru hazu mo nai noni
kiseki ga moshimo okoru nara ima sugu kimi ni misetai
atarashii asa kore kara no boku
ienakatta "suki" to iu kotoba mo

itsudemo sagashiteshimau dokka ni kimi no egao wo
kyuukou machi no fumikiri atari
konna toko ni iru hazu mo nai noni
inochi ga kurikaesu naraba nandomo kimi no moto e
hoshii mono nado mou nani mo nai
kimi no hoka ni taisetsu na mono nado



recommended watching: Byousoku Go Senchimetoru (5 Centimeters per Second)

Hypotheses For Understanding Ateneans
 

      Shortly before I graduated fifteen years ago, a group of leaders from socially-involved organizations got together to consider the question of why less students are socially involved. In preparing for a meeting of this group, I came to realize that the principal reason why Ateneans enter the Ateneo is not because they want to become persons for others but because entering the Ateneo is a good strategy (if not one of the best strategies) for ensuring financial security. 

      Over time, I nurtured my curiousity about Ateneans while working in various capacities within the University as teacher, administrator and (in formal and informal capacities as a) mobilizer for social involvement1. I remember that sometime in the late 1990s I wrote hypotheses about Ateneans that developed my realizations from 1992, incorporating observations from my experiences after a couple of years of working within the University.  

      Sometime in September 2007, I was asked to join a meeting where lifestyle choices of students were discussed and I remember thinking then that the first step that needed to be taken by administrators was to try to understand where Ateneans are coming from. Right after that meeting, I sat down and wrote these 25 hypotheses about Ateneans and emailed it to three administrators who deal regularly with students. 

      Some notes regarding these hypotheses: First, I write these hypotheses as a participant- observer in a society and not with the eyes of someone making moral or ethical judgments. In fact I write these things with the greatest sympathy for Ateneans who for me are more tragic than terrible. There are things described in the hypotheses which can be considered by some to be morally or ethically wrong but passing judgment on the acts (much less on the person) is the last thing I want to do. Even when I speak of “inordinate attachments” in the first hypothesis, for example, I mean it in the sense of unfreedom rather than sin. As I point out in the last hypothesis, approaching things from a purely judgmental point of view prevents dialogue between school personnel and students. 

      Secondly, while these hypotheses constitute a model which I have found personally useful for understanding Ateneans,  it is necessary to point out that not all of these hypotheses apply to particular Ateneans (I have tried to nuance with words like “most” or “a few” where I thought it was appropriate) . They may not even apply at all to some sections of the population (I wonder about scholars, for example, with whom I have not had extensive contact). While I am pretty confident I got the broad themes right, I am very much open to nuancing some points even more or even re-considering some points altogether. That is why I consider these hypotheses and I place the occassional “(?)” to indicate higher degrees of uncertainty. 

      I have always wanted these hypotheses to be validated by various sectors of the University: by administrators, staff and faculty to see if the hypotheses help them to understand their experiences with Ateneans, and with students themselves to see if the words and sentiments I express here are their words and their sentiments. I can't emphasize enough that putting these thoughts down on paper was done precisely for intelligent discussion and not to generate sensationalist stories. I hope that if you get a copy of this document you will exercise discretion when quoting from it (thus this long intro) and when passing it on to others. 

      I didn't have enough energy to articulate what can be done which is not to say that nothing can be done. Of course I think a lot of the “doing” has to come from the end of school personnel which may begin with a sincere desire to understand Ateneans and listen to their concerns, no matter how contrary these may be to our own values and our sense of what we are currently doing. 

      I had the option of releasing these hypotheses anonymously but I do want to know if these hypotheses are valid precisely because they have implications in terms of the way we live out cura personalis with our students. The disadvantage of acknowledging who wrote these hypotheses is that it might prevent people from giving feedback, for one reason or another, knowing that the thoughts came from me. I hope that if after reading these hypotheses you have reactions, comments, suggestions, or any other feedback, you would be kind enough to write to me at ldelacruz@ateneo. edu. I would also be happy to discuss these things personally with you, a meeting we can arrange after making initial contact through email. 

Leland Dela Cruz

3 October 2007
 
 

25 Hypotheses
 

   1. For Ateneans (and their parents), the central source of anxiety is whether or not they will be able to achieve a lifestyle comparable to or better than the lifestyle of their parents after they graduate. For many, this is their principal inordinate attachment.
   2. Families have a very high expectation of what an Ateneo education can do for their children in achieving a lifestyle which will be comparable to or better than the lifestyle of the parents. This is why parents pressure the students to study hard.
   3. As our tuition increases, the population of students get richer, thus the lifestyle goals are higher and the pressure is greater.
   4. The choice of Ateneo as the place to study is part of the strategy to achieve the goal of attaining a  lifestyle comparable to or better than the lifestyle of their parents. Nobody enters the Ateneo because they want to be men and women for others (and increasingly also not because it provides Catholic education).
   5. The choice of course is a central part of that strategy because the course determines the steepness of the future trajectory of the students/ the ease with which the students will achieve the goal of achieving a lifestyle comparable to or better than the lifestyle of their parents. (For the students and their families, there is such a thing as a good strategy or a bad strategy when it comes to choice of course). Thus there is a hierarchy of courses2.
   6. The goal of education for most Ateneans is to obtain an Ateneo diploma and not primarily to learn.
   7. By the time they reach college, and after the first few weeks of freshman year, most students become jaded about the possibility of learning anything in a classroom setting.
   8. What students look for in class is practical mastery (to help them achieve the goal of attaining a lifestyle comparable to their parents?) and they do not appreciate the value of conceptual mastery. Most teachers on the other hand emphasize conceptual mastery. (Like the rest of society, students do not have high regard for faculty because they did not get far in achieving goal #1).
   9. For most Ateneans, Ateneo education is not difficult. Teachers are tagged as kayang bolahin at hindi kayang bolahin (and there are very few of those), A-able o hindi. Most work to obtain a C-average, except those who feel and are capable of getting into the Dean’s List. “Academic excellence” is a term used by those who designed TACSS. Change that to “Academics” and it would still be tops. Academic excellence is not a value for most students. Many students just want to be Dean's list once in their entire college career.
  10. Honesty in terms of academics is not valued by many because academic work itself is not valued. Besides, many students commit acts of academic dishonesty and are not caught by teachers. It disheartens the honest ones when the dishonest ones pass or even get honors. There is an underground value for those who are switik3.
  11. In general, female students work harder than male students, probably because they believe that in the world out there, they have a natural disadvantage over men so they have to gain any advantage they can. A few women with socially-valued physical assets (or economic assets), however, do not work as hard because they think that those physical (or economic) assets can work for them when they are in the real world.
  12. Students are preparing themselves for the big leagues, the world out there and that is why most do not care to excel in their studies. Again, the value of Ateneo education for most is the diploma (#6) and it does not take that much to obtain an Ateneo diploma (#8).
  13. The only power the students recognize in school authorities is the power to pass/fail and the power to grant a diploma. Relative to the big leagues they will face after they graduate, the school is seen to be in a subordinate position. Its power is limited to a brief period in one's life. Therefore, aside from the power to pass/ fail and the power to grant a diploma, students do not have much respect for school authority, which is reflected in the way they dress. This is also reflected in the behavior of parents during graduation.
  14. On the one hand students feel the pressure to get the diploma but on the other hand, they are not motivated to jump through the hoops teachers throw at them. Hindi nila niyayakap (at matagal na nilang hindi niyakap) ang kanilang pag-aaral.
  15. Students sometimes cope with this duality (#14) by resorting to behavior regarded by some as dysfunctional like drugs, parties and sex. The barkada acts as a herd/ support/ outlet but it is not reflexive. It merely reinforces both the pressure and the feeling of uselessness of education. What is missing from the barkada is a questioning of values they live by, especially the value stated in #1. #1 is a very powerful impulse that must not be underestimated and which is reinforced by University structures and teachers (despite the rhetoric to the contrary).
  16. Parties (and drinking and (for some) drugs at parties) are part of the college experience.
  17. Students recognize the authority of school administrators to impose rules but consider these as impositions of cultural arbitraries by traditional authorities. The school experience, no matter how liberal (ex. no uniform), always has traces of a cloister that one has to go through to achieve the goal stated in #1. Rules such as a dress code, smockets, and id wearing are cloister concerns that they just have to live with.
  18. Students are not as inherently committed to traditional moral values. They experience very little guilt when it comes to matters such as (casual) sex and drugs.
  19. The increase in sexual activity among students can be attributed to many things:

          o The increase in the student population. Student cohorts have been having sex for years but with the increase in student population, more are being caught. Most students who became teachers were prudes when they were students.
          o MTV, Cable TV (even local TV), glossy magazines (and even newspapers!) which fuel sexual appetites and the influence of media and the internet. Sexual tension is more intense than it has been before.
          o More physical room for sex because there are more dormers living around Katipunan, more parking lots, more spaces around campus, more affluent population who have financial resources (to go to Boracay) or physical assets like cars. (Note: more dorms also means more “house” wear in school; the school is literally an extension of the house).
          o More liberal parents (?) who had their share of sexual exploits when they were young. Less parental supervision.
          o To a lesser extent, globalization and exposure to the international youth scene.

  20. As stated in #12, students are preparing for the big leagues and a large part of their preparation is a lifestyle preparation.

  21. Material possessions (especially cellular phones and cars) and the social processing of the body (ex. clothes, make-up, accessories) are an indication of the location of individual students in social hierarchies and there are hierarchies. A few (?) students upgrade cell phones once in a while, for example, as a(n unconscious) symbol (and reassurance to themselves) of their general upward direction in life.
  22. By and large (but at a slightly declining rate), Ateneans are good people. While they are concerned about goal #1, they have a sincere desire to help which after theology 141 becomes guilt. But very few will translate that into a lifelong commitment because it gets in the way of goal #1. That is why Ateneans end up being very good donors.
  23. For most students, faith is not central to their lives. For most Filipinos, faith (even when it is central to their lives) is equivalent to a prayer for safe journey sa patuloy na pag-asenso.
  24. Students have very little self-worth and confidence because they tend to define self-worth and confidence in terms of their achievement of goal #1 sometime in the distant future. The family does not help in this regard because it tends to merely reinforce #1. Teachers do not help because they are not sympathetic to the problem stated in #14. The fact that faith for them is not personal also does not help.
  25. There is very little room in the University for Ateneans to discuss what's really on their minds. They censor themselves a lot because they might say something wrong that will get in the way of obtaining their diploma or they feel the school will judge them. They feel that they cannot freely talk about #1, #7, #8, #10, #16-19, and #21. The clampdown on the vagina monologues and the occassional clampdown on naughty Matanglawin issues are for them indications that the school does not want to hear certain things coming from them and would rather not have certain things openly discussed.

 

got it from a friend :)

from http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071106/od_afp/britainlawsoffbeat;_ylt=Ap1cPwApS.A7eQxCTuNClacuQE4F

LONDON (AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II's speech in the British parliament Tuesday may have been routine but at least nobody got bored to death. That would have been against the law.

Dying in parliament is an offence and is also by far the most absurd law in Britain, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 people by a television channel showing a legal drama series.

And though the lords were clad in their red and white ermine cloaks and ambassadors from around the world wore colourful national costumes, at least nobody turned up in a suit of armour. Illegal.

Other rules deemed utterly stupid included one that permits a pregnant woman to urinate in a policeman's hat and murdering bow-and-arrow-carrying Scotsmen within the city walls of York, northern England.

A law stating that in Liverpool, only a clerk in a tropical fish store is allowed to be publicly topless, was also ridiculous, said a poll of 3,931 people for UKTV Gold television out Tuesday.

Nearly half of those surveyed admitted to breaking the ban on eating mince pies on Christmas Day, which dates back to the 17th century and was originally designed to outlaw gluttony during the rule of the Puritan Oliver Crowmell.

The laws and other regulations were culled from published research into ancient legislation that has never been repealed although subsequent statutes have rendered them obsolete.

Respondents were given a shortlist and asked to vote.

Most ridiculous British law:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (seven percent)

3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)

4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (five percent)

5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (four percent)

6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (four percent)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 percent)

8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (three percent)

10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)

WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as History/Anthropology/LiberalArts You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in History, Anthropology, or related majors (e.g., African and African-American Studies, Chinese, Classics, Cultural Studies, Economics, English, French, Geography, German, Greek, Hebrew, International Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, Women's Studies, or other Liberal Arts majors). It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it. Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests. Please post your results in your myspace/blog/journal. History/Anthropology/LiberalArts 88% Religion/Theology 81% Psychology/Sociology 75% English/Journalism/Comm 75% French/Spanish/OtherLanguage 75% Physics/Engineering/Computer 69% PoliticalScience/Philosophy 63% Biology/Chemistry/Geology 63% Mathematics/Statistics 56% Accounting/Finance/Marketing 56% Education/Counseling 50% HR/BusinessManagement 50% Visual&PerformingArts 44% Nursing/AthleticTraining/Health 19%

 


hmm...hehe..maybe..:p

take that Bush! pahiya ka no? wahahahaha

(what if Gore won :p)
 

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 70% Spider-Man 55% Robin 47% Supergirl 45% Superman 45% Hulk 35% Batman 35% The Flash 25% Iron Man 25% Wonder Woman 20% Catwoman 15%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Your results:
You are Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom 41% The Joker 40% Magneto 37% Dark Phoenix 37% Apocalypse 36% Juggernaut 34% Riddler 33% Venom 32% Lex Luthor 31% Green Goblin 30% Mr. Freeze 29% Kingpin 29% Catwoman 28% Mystique 26% Two-Face 18% Poison Ivy 14%

Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

taken from Business Mirror (http://businessmirror.com.ph/09172007/sports02.html)




;p

astig ng soundtrack! hahahah! hail black sabbath! watch out for that classic guitar lick at 01:01 ahahhaah