…excel still more

DAY 13

A few weeks ago, I wrote about being really Filipino. It had a lot to do with what I had for breakfast and what I was dressed in (or usually in).

Anyway if somedays I’m really Pinoy, well today I’m really Canadian. Breakfat of sausage and eggs (with rye toast). Abd as for dress, well I’m in Khakis and a hoodie… And flip flops while it’s less than 10 degrees outside.

Hahaha… Now I’m off to ge some Tim Hortons and roll up the rim… Yeah yah!

I’m not the comic book type, but several years ago, a biddy of mine got me to read a graphic novel that he had called Res Sun.

Itwas a Superman comic but the premise behind it is that it is the story of Superman if he had landed in Russia instead of the United States…

Anyway, I was kind of inteigued, but when I got to the end, that’s when I really went crazy… There was a sweet plot twist that really just made the book forme… I liked it somich that i axtuallybought a copy for myself.

I really recommend it!!!

DAY 12

I watch a lot of GMA7… In fact, other than The Pacific, it’s the only TV that I regularly watch.

It’s hard to find really great shows to watch. Most are knd of noob… Some are just downright weird… Like my mom’s current favourite, First Time… Which is a telenovella romance thing about kids… Seriously I don’t understand howbthe love lives of a bunch of 24 year old kids became entertainment..

Anyway, I like watching the news the most. Because it forces me to pay reall close attetion tithe Tagalog. Some shows to think wa really dumb but I dunno I guess I jus got used to it. Some shows, like the one I’m watching right now – Panday Kids, is eh… But still knd of musky entertaining. So… Haha.

DAY 11

I really didn’t want to do another rant about this Ann Coulter thing.. But I really have to. First of all I was originally gonna rant this morning anyway, because there’s a stupid film crew taking up all of the parking spots close to my building at UofT this morning, and I had to park 10 frigging minutes away and had to walk in freezing temperatures (though amazingly sunny) with flipflops on.

But then I forgot to write that rant and went off to my other school, the Toronto Baptist Seminary, and I had fun chilling with my friends there and forgot about being annoyed about that film crew. Unfortunately, the first thing I did when I got into the office maybe 20 minutes ago, was to open up the news papers and was immediately greeted once more by all of this Ann Coulter business.

Actually, pretty much all of the papers agree with my position… That Francois Houle was an idiot, and the UofO students who protested, forcing the cancellation of Coulter’s event were really just messed up the reputation of UofO even further… But there was just one thing I wanted to point out in the difference of how 2 papers with different political leanings reported the most recent news about Coulter, which was her speech at UofC…

Talk about how her event was moved to the Red & White (?) Club, which was another UofC-owned venue, the Toronto Star and the National Post wrote this…

The event was supposed to be held at the University of Calgary campus, but was moved after her speech at the University of Ottawa was cancelled earlier this week when hundreds of protesters came out after learning about comments she made at another university.

And…

The uproar Ms. Coulter left behind when her Ottawa speech was cancelled on Tuesday amid a raucous protest has spurred even greater interest into the previously low-key Calgary event. Late on Wednesday, Calgary organizers moved Ms. Coulter’s speech to a venue with double the capacity.

If you know the political leanings of these two papers, it would be easy to figure out which one printed what. Obviously the top one was The Star, and the bottom, the Post. Now don’t get me wrong, as I read the Post’s article, their bias clearly comes out as well…

But the difference is, the way the Star does it is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. The way they presented the fact that Coulter’s UofC event was moved – that is, what other facts they juxtaposed it with, they made it seem like they were doing it out of fear of more security problems. Something that is absolutely idiotic, given that Alberta is the most Conservative province in Canada…

Anyway, it’s clear from the Post’s article that the event was moved to *increase* capacity… Bah!

Whatever though, I am done… this is my last rant, I promise.. back to more rosy posy posts from now on…

DAY 10

I was planning to keep this 30-Day-Challenge thing light, and basically not talk about anything controversial or political – that is, anything in response to the news. But this was just too much to ignore.

I’m not gonna rant or anything, cause enough people have said plenty of things about the situation that I agree with, that have been published to a much wider audience, and that I don’t need to repeat…

Anyway, I get a headache just thinking about the damage that the University of Ottawa has done to the whole institution of higher learning in Canada. If not to Canadians themselves, but certainly in the United States. I just hope that when it comes time to apply to apply to Grad schools in the States, that the actions of these clowns down there in our nation’s capital hasn’t affected the reputation of my school.

I will close with this quote from Noam Chomsky… “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”

DAY 9

I’m reading an article right now that I could not agree with more. It is an article in Wired magazine talking about how the upas is not just redefining smartphone or ereaders but the whole future of computing itself!

Ever since the first time I nought a Palm PDA I had always dreamed of what they are now talking about in this article. Basically, instead of laptops or PCs, we would have computers that are just the screen without an attached keyboard an mouse.

That’s what I always wanted, and that’s why I was so excited about the iPad (ad also why I bought an iPhone instead of a Blackberry). It’s not because I wanted a smart phone, but because I wanted something to replace my laptop!

And man has my iPhone ever done that… Right now, my laptop is sitting in my bag in my car while I am here in a burger king eating lunch and blogging.

I could never save done that a year ago with just my laptop (or my iTiuch, which is what convinced me to get an iPhone in th first place). Now I am looking forwardto the future when all I will have is a tablet screen PC thing that’s connected to the Internet (for atorage) and maybe a bluetooth headset to make calls..

Ahh, this is why I resisted buying a netbook (and man was I tempted)… Now I’m also resisting buying an iPad too, heeding my brother’s advice to wait until the next generation or two.

DAY 8

Tuesday monings are normally the days when I feel the most Filipino. We have staff meetings at work so I’m usually dressed up in business casual -which for me means a short-sleeve baring and black pants.

Then I also get to go to Jesse Junior after dropping my dad off at the subway station to have my favourite meal, Tosilog.

That is … Tocino, or sweet breakfast pork. With Sinangag, or garlic fried rice, with one or two Itlog – eggs.

Mmmmn. I use to goti this called Pancitan which was way better cause they included a piece of Tuyo – salty fish, that I really really like. Nut they moved an I still don’t know where that new location is so for now Jesse Junior, which is a Filipino chain restauraunt (yech!), will have to do.

Anyway gotta eat…

DAY 7

One week, horay! I can’t believe I made it to a week… now 3 more weeks and a couple of days to go.

Last night I was watching HBO’s new epic miniseries, “The Pacific”. It was made similar to Band of Brothers, which is pretty much the best show/series that has ever come on TV – and it dealt with World War II in Europe. Now, the Pacific, as the name suggest, deals with World War II in the Pacific – basically, the war against Japan. And man, was I ever excited for it!

I’ll probably get a Blue-Ray player (or a PS3) when it comes out on Blue Ray just to make sure I get the best quality possible. Except I’d have to get Blue Ray for the rest of my DVDs (mostly Band of Brothers, of course, House, Scrubs, The Unit, and some random movies). Oh and I’d have to get a better TV too, since mine doesn’t actually play Blue Ray quality (780i, bah!).

LOL. Anyway, anyone who has known me since High School will know that I am a bit of a history-buff when it comes to World War II. Not that I know everything about it, but I have taken some courses in it (eg., one of the best courses offered at UofT, Modern Espionage). But really, it all began with a novel.

I still remember it, my family was flying back to the Philippines for vacation while I was in Grade 10. I was getting allowance then, and so I felt good about having money. So on one of our Airport stops (probably in Anchorage), I bought a book by a guy named WEB Griffin. It was called The Last Heroes, and it was about the OSS (the agency precursor to the CIA). Well I really enjoyed the book, so when I was in the Philippines, I picked up another one by him from National Bookstore called Behind The Lines. This one came from the series that I like the best, called The Corps (about the Marine Corps, and the Pacific War). And it had to do, no less, with guerilla fighting in the Philippines! I was hooked.

Since then, I’ve read the entire Corps series (10 books) maybe 5 times. Crazy huh?

So that’s the reason why I was really excited for this new miniseries. Because these things that they are showing are things that I have basically only read about and imagined (though I did look at pictures and stuff in other books, and saw how they rendered the graphics in video games). But yeah, the books have really come to life now because of this series. And I’m looking forward to seeing these battles (like the one portrayed in the last episode, The Battle for Henderson Field) recreated instead of just reading about it!

DAY 6

I actually took a different picture for this post. But when I actually had a look at it, it really wasn’t good. It was supposed to be a picture of the congregation of my church looking out from the stage.

I was just thinking that there is about 1200 people who regularly attend my church, and so few of them ever get to see what I see every week. The view of that many people worshipping God is quite the sight… And it’s pretty inspiring too.

Anyway that’s one of the reason why I really love my job… Except that inspiration does have some physical reprecutions. The pain in my arms can attest to that… Pain from nearly 2 hours worth of playing the piano.

I know it’s hard to believe but it does take some work and endurance. And by that standard (or that is, by my usual standard) I’m actually pretty out of shape. As I said before, the pain in my arms can attest to that. And after only 2 hours! I used to go 2 hours easilly when I was in shape for my Grade 8 exam… And that included at least 1 hour of technical work and classical pieces much more dificult than the songs I was playing.

Anyway, that’s what I need to build up again over the next 8 weeks or so in preparation for my Grade 9 Exam… Argh. My arms hurt.

DAY 5

On days like today, when I’m trying to forget that I have about 80 pages worth of writing still to do before school ends the day before Good Friday, I can’t help but think about my summer plans.

And that is, returning to British Columbia to work at my old school, Capernwray Harbour.

True I really should stick around here, continue working at church, make sone cash, and maybe even get a few more courses under my belt. But by the time I leave for BC in June, I would have been in school for 22 months straight. Ahh! With another 24 to go until I finishmy Masters.

Yup that’s why I’m headed to BC…