My 2012 Christmas Wish List

There’s a big difference to my Christmas next week compared to those recent years. It will be the first time we’ll be celebrating it as a family; me, my wife Cel and our son Mik.  It also means the first time that we’ll be doing rounds to my kumares and kumpares for my son’s aguinaldo.  Either we’ll really do that or not, I won’t say so ninongs and ninangs can’t hide.  Just kidding. 

Celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary with Mik at Vieux Chalet last October.

I was tagged by Fiel-Kun, a fellow blogger on his chain post about Christmas wish lists. Before I was tagged, I had drafted already the body of this blog post. So rather than having a duplicate, this will serve as a reply to him. But I won’t be able to follow the format so apologies for that. 

Gifts are great. I would love to have some new stuff that I can use for the next year. And the thought of people remembering you and putting up some effort to buy one for you adds up to that great feeling of receiving gifts.  The most difficult part of giving presents is to think of which gift to buy for each person. So for those who are thinking of giving me a gift this Christmas, I will make it easy for you.   Here’s the list of “gifts” I want to receive from my family, relatives, friends, blog readers and to everyone who have me on their to-give list this Christmas:

1.       Go to confession before Christmas 

If you’re a catholic then you should know the drill. If not then here are some tips. Go to your local church. Go to their office and ask for the schedule of confessions. Sometimes there are billboards where you can just look at.  Then arrive at the confession schedule of your church. Prepare for the list of your deeds you need to ask forgiveness for. It doesn’t need to be a written list as it could be a mental one. And make sure you know your basic prayers. And if you have all this, fall in line at the confession box and wait for your turn.  Then the priest will guide you on the process and after you’re absolved of your sins thru the authority passed on by our Lord to our priests, listen to the penance they will ask of you. Then do it right away.

For the non-catholics, the sacrament of confession is only allowed to you on special cases.  I respect your decision if you can’t grant my wish. I know you have a different belief on this. But you can read thru this link so you’ll get a better understanding on why we do this. It’s also a good read for fellow catholics who do not fully understand the sacrament of penance.

Photo courtesy of 100% Katolikong Pinoy

2.       Go to mass 

It’s always a good time to go to a mass. But it would be the best time if done after a good confession. Your soul is clean and open to all of the overflowing graces we receive from the mass. Thank God for that opportunity you are given to ask for repentance. Pray for blessings and guidance for your family, friends and yourself.

3.       Receive communion by tongue

It’s sad to see majority of Catholics lining up on the communion stations receiving the Eucharist by hand.  What’s worse is there are some ministers who seem to encourage it. One instance is when I attended a mass (not in our Cathedral) and lined up for the communion. It was my turn and I was in front of the minister and waiting to be given the Eucharist. There were two lines. He continuously gave communion to the other line while I was there standing for quite some time already. I saw that on the other line, all of them where holding up their palms signaling that they would receive communion by hand. I continued waiting until I gave up as there were lots of people behind me. I received it by hand.  I felt bad. I wanted to ask about it after the mass but I forgot about it when I approached a friend singing with the choir after the mass. But every time I remember that incident, I really felt bad as I don’t always receive communion unless I have gone to confession or feel that my conscience is clean. Though of course, none of us are fully worthy to receive the Body of Christ.

Photo from catholictradition.org

So what’s wrong in receiving communion in the hand? In the history of the Catholic Church, the celebrating priest’s hands are the only ones allowed to touch the Eucharist and to put it in the mouths of the faithful. But due to circumstances, the Church allowed Eucharistic ministers to do it by giving them special authority during communion. What we receive is not just simple bread but it’s the Body of our Lord we are accepting.  And our hands, being tainted with sins, do not deserve to touch it.  Though there were instances when it’s encouraged by some parishes to receive communion by the hand like when there’s a sickness outbreak on certain places. But it’s not always the case and it’s neither the standard nor the proper way.

And the possibility of dropping the host and other abuses to the Eucharist are more possible when received by hand. I remember thrice that I saw the holy Eucharist dropped during communion.  I called on the attention of the guy who dropped Him and just ignored it. The correct way is he should pick Him up and eat Him. And also called the attention of the lay ministers twice when it happened and they did not notice it. There’s a proper way to handle it if it happens and we must also be aware of it.

The next time you’ll be receiving communion, hope you can grant my simple request which is to receive communion by tongue. If possible, do it kneeling as well. Let’s have more respect and reverence to the holy sacrament.

4.       Include me and my family in your prayers

We are intercessors for one another. As one big family, we are all brothers and sisters.  I hope that you include me and my family in your daily prayers. Please pray for our safety and guidance. Ask God to provide me strength; physical, spiritual, emotional and mental to fight all kinds of temptations and hardships that will come in my way and to stay faithful to our Lord God.

I always include you in my daily prayers. I may not be able to say all your names but I include all of you in general even those whom I don’t know personally. 

True reason for the season (photo by: iamcelebratinglife.com)

5.       Please leave a comment on this post if you’ve done your “gift” for me

Or even when you’re not done with all of them. Or even none of them. But I hope that you consider my wish as these are the things that I would really love to receive this Christmas. A gift that will benefit every one of us and is dedicated to the One who’s the real reason for the season, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas to all of you. Thank you, thank you, ambabait ninyo, thank you!

Taking it Easy on Making it Easy on my Kid

I always fear for my child’s future. The negative possibilities always come up to mind. What if I lose my job tomorrow? What if something bad happens to me or his mom? Or it could also be something bigger. It could be as big as a national problem like an epidemic or a war or anything bad that you could imagine. 

I’m sure that most parents have thought of the same things. It’s natural for moms and dads to be protective of their children’s welfare. With these things in mind, we all strive to provide all their needs. And we get occupied in providing them a better future, but might be too occupied from shaping them to be better in the future.

Don't bother him. He's busy

Parents will try to provide their children’s needs as much as possible and at times even more than what’s basic. We feed them good food to ensure they are healthy.  We buy them clothes.  We work hard for their education. Many parents will say they won’t let their kids experience the hardships they encountered in life. Sounds noble.  I too wouldn’t want my son to go through most of the bad things that I had. And we try so hard to give them everything that we forget we’re being selfish on giving what’s more important for them. We shield them away from the challenges and difficulties which tested our character . The things that taught us hard lessons which made us what we are now.  We keep them in so much comfort until they get to meet the hardships too late.  We deprive them of learning from life itself. 

Every time I look at my son, I see a full-grown man in him. A future citizen.  He’ll become a head of a family or a group soon. This little fellow would be in authority one day. He’ll have responsibilities.  He will be assigned and will assign tasks.  All of those will happen one day. It’s my role to prepare him for that moment starting from day one.  He’s a child now but won’t be for long. Same as the other kids. They will replace us someday. And more than the material things they need is to be equipped with the right virtues and wisdom so they can perform better than our generation. The foundation of the future depends on how much we strengthen the young.  

Youth is the hope according to our great hero. And it's our hands that build them.

Let them stumble and stand on their own but support them. Give them freedom to decide but guide them. Let them think for themselves but always be there to answer questions.  Let them try and experience success. And more so, to experience failures.  For these things is what will build their character. And collectively as a generation they will build the future of our society. 

My wife and I are doing lots of preparation for our family’s future like getting an insurance, doing investments and others to ensure that our son would be fine financially. We’re still far from being okay but at least we started already.  I also created this blog that once he grows up, he’ll be able to read my thoughts and the lessons that I wanted to teach him. And I won’t have the burden to repeat them in case my memory starts failing. And this specific post will be here to remind me to take it easy on making everything so easy for him so that his uncertain future will be easier for him to handle.

Let the Women Speak

After all that had been said and done, in the end,  it's our mothers, wives, sisters, aunts and daughters who are the most affected. It's all about the women's life, health and body. We all came from one and protected by one. And it's all our responsibility to be greatful and respectful for all of them. And thus it is just rightful to give them the last say.

It's time for our women to speak and be heard. So for all my lady readers here, true empowerment comes not from the outside but within you. Speak out. Be heard. And for the gentlemen, share the letter/link below to the women close to your heart. Give them the voice.  Give them the chance.

Your signature counts. Please read and pass. (If you prefer, you can also leave your signature on this post's comments section. Just leave your name/address/occupation. Thanks.)


          Source: http://filipinosforlife.com/2012/12/01/let-the-women-speak/

WE are women who believe that the Reproductive Health bill, in all its past and present forms, is detrimental to us, our sex, our marriages, and our families.

WE are Catholics and non-Catholics. We are women of faith, and we are also women of reason.

WE believe in true women’s health. We believe in respecting our bodies and the natural processes with which we have been gifted. 

Far from empowering us as women, the RH bill promotes our objectification. It does not address the causes of exploitation and violence against women at their roots. It does not solve the problem of men seeing us as mere sources of pleasure. It does not promote our inherent dignity as human beings worthy of respect. State-funded, state-guaranteed access to contraception only empowers those who wish to take advantage of us without having to worry about consequences.

WE do not believe in artificial birth control. Birth control does not come free. As taxpayers we will be paying for it, and as women we will be suffering its effects on our bodies. We will not tolerate the deliberate dismissal of scholarly research that shows contraception’s deleterious effects. We will not tolerate the trampling of our Constitution that says life must be protected at all stages from conception to natural death. 

We will not tolerate the imposition of governmental contraceptive programs meant to control the population and to brainwash our youth. We do not want the long-term effects of the sexual revolution brought about by a contraceptive mentality.

Granting that the secular government is not beholden to the Catholic or Christian faith, attempting to speak for us women via a socialist agenda destroys the very fiber of democratic breath we have as a people. Doing this undermines our freedom to adhere to something Good, Moral and Ethical. Recognizing our “reproductive” rights as women should not include FORCING us to discard our right to freely believe in morality and goodness and if we choose to, our religious tenets and doctrines.

No one speaks for all of us on these issues. We stand with the Catholic bishops and all leaders, religious and otherwise, who recognize the truth of life-affirming teachings with regard to sex, marriage and family. We call on President Aquino and our Representatives in Congress to heed the voice of all Filipino women, not just the loudest ones. We call on all our leaders to continue to allow us to freely witness to our faiths and beliefs in all their fullness.

Please send your name, address and occupation to the person who sent you this message, or to thefilipinos4life@gmail.com or to thefilipinosforlife@gmail.com. Thank you!

Tag Me, Tag Me Not

I call myself "stupid" or "dumb" automatically whenever I do something... stupid. I sometimes think I deserve it but no one really does. We are all born with a margin of error.  We're allowed the same tolerance to forgive others and ourselves.  I know I'm stupid to call my self stupid. Oops, I did it again (oops, britney).



Years ago, calling a lady "bitch" would cause you a slap on your face. But today, women started calling themselves "bitches" and are proud of it. And then calling somebody a "helper" or "katulong" is now offensive and derogatory. What's wrong with helping? Meanwhile, voicing disagreement to others' belief makes you intolerant. Then that makes someone saying another person is intolerant is also not tolerant. Then who's tolerant now?

Really?

Before, greeting others using their traditional holiday terms is very okay. But now, saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is preferable to avoid divisiveness. Interestingly, others refer people of different faiths as "kapatid" or "brethren/brother/sister", but they get the pleasure in calling those who share their same belief system bad names. And open-mindedness to not so few means you are accepting the things they are saying. Otherwise you are blinded.

Yes I am. Surprised?

This is the time where the idea of political correctness is thrown around rampantly. But it's also the same time when the meaning of political correctness ceases to be politically correct.

We need to start accepting that we have our own misconceptions and that there are limitations to what we know of this world. Because if we can't tolerate ourselves, then trying to tolerate others is a big joke. 

This will never be a laughing matter while we continue trying to give different meaning to innocent things while mixing up the good with the bad or branding ourselves unintelligently for the sake of uniqueness. This is until we end up as the punchline to our own life's joke.

The Irony of Learning

The concept of learning is an irony in itself. The more knowledgeable a person is, the more he becomes aware of how less he knows. A wise person accepts that one can only acquire as much as a single drop of knowledge from its vast oceans around the world in his lifetime. 

The denial of this fact may lead to arrogance, foolishness and stubbornness. For there are two instances when a man's brain halts from gathering knowledge. First is when a person deliberately or innocently chooses to live in arrogance and ignorance. Second is upon death. But then we cannot be certain about the latter.

Predictable Movies, Predictable Campaigns, Different Ending

I'm the worst guy you can ask about movies. People close to me know that I'm not very fond of going to the cinema. Not that I don't like movies at all. It's just that I watch them when I want to watch them. Not when the movie promoters tell me. Not when the actors say it's a great one. Or maybe I'm just lazy. More than a couple of times I slept through a good movie. Then I woke up watching the final few minutes. I wasted money, I know. That's why I rarely go to movies. I rather wait for it to come out on cable channels or for someone to lend me their DVD copies.

But I'll regret it if I'm not able to see this on big screen.

But at times I recommend movies too. Those from which I learned a lot. Not that they were technically good movies. Fact is when I see the reviews on those which I recommended, a lot of them were criticized badly. Bad acting, bad script, bad everything. But who cares. I enjoyed them. I watch movies primarily to be entertained and to learn and not to criticize. But there are some people who are good at it. When it comes to movie reviews, these guys know what they're talking about. And I don’t. I once was in theater acting and I also experienced creating and editing short clips. But I will lie to you if I say that I know how to properly review and criticize a film.

But there are really those that even if you are not an expert critic, you can say outright that they are bad movies.

                                                                                                       

We have a lot of Filipino movie critics. Not only professionally but there are those we meet in person day to day. We can't question the credibility of some for having to watch dozens of movies per month at a minimum. That includes at the cinemas and at their homes. They really are capable of comparing and reviewing movies for that. And after every showing of blockbuster flicks, almost everybody has a say on the screenplay, the cinematic, the acting, the plot, the ending, the fight scene, the effects, the music score, what's lacking and what's excessive, etc. ALMOST everybody see the technicalities. Not necessarily agreeing but a lot of times everybody has some things to say which sounds intellectually thought of. And most probably they are.

Critic Borat says 2 thumbs up

Just like producing a movie for a film festival comes the campaign time for the next elections. The politicians hire their directors and scriptwriters. These guys create the plot of their campaign strategies. They usually come up with an “award-winning line” that will be used as a slogan. This is very important as the campaign revolves around it. Like in the movies, it can be treated as the “title”. The catchier it is the better. Then they will insert theatrics with lots of drama that would appeal to the emotion of the people. It could be about the candidate's humble beginnings. Or maybe a recent sad personal experience where they will say they can relate to the public's clamor for change. 

Then to put up some action, there will be witnesses of the deeds that were done by the candidate. They might be saying the truth because there were pictures capturing the act. And to heighten it up, the candidate will play the beaten up hero of the antagonist’s dirty tactics and attack to his person. He will again appeal to the people’s emotion for being the victim of this bad scenario created by the enemy.  And by the way, the hero and the villain of the story depend on which side you are looking.

And of course, the love story angle would not be left out. There will be political tandems that sound like a relationship made for forever. And there will be former allies who will be like in an old lovers’ quarrel. And there will be traitors in the “love team”. There will also be love triangles. Someone will be torn between two lovers.  And there will also be adulterers. If love story is your cup of tea, you’ll never run short of it with our politics.

And these candidates know how to end their movie the Pinoy way. They will top it off with a celebratory dance or song number. It can be done during miting de avance or on their tv guestings. A lot of people love this. It’s like showing their human side. That they are just like us. Even the president of the most powerful state in the world was not exempted on this.

For a nation of movie critics, this type of campaign style is cliché. A story that is recycled, actors which aren’t good, scripts which are badly written and an ending that is very predictable, these are signs of a very bad movie. And it is one of those you can tell outright that it’s bad. Yet a lot of us still choose them. It could be the fear to try the new and the unknown. Though in the movies, we already started to embrace independent films. We tried the new and the unknown and we got entertained by this new discovery. And we felt the substance of the indie movies.

And the award goes to...

But we have yet to see that happen in the world of politics. And we can trace the reason for this by simply going back to our logic for choice of movies. In selecting the film to watch, a lot of times we pick them based on the main casts. It’s a lie if we say that it’s always the plot that matters. If that is true, then we won’t have these so-called “marketable actors” locally or internationally. No matter how much we deny it, it is the names of the actors which we give more weight most of the time and we care less on which roles they would play.  Like I said, it’s only most of the time. Because sometimes it is not true. Sometimes, we are actually looking at the plot. Sometimes, we are looking for the substance. And we do that sometimes in choosing the movies.

Sabado Nights! (Oops, Friday pa lang, excited) - 3DO Cover

Relax muna for the weekend:

Months ago, I posted a demo song vid of the band we formed last 2009 in my previous company. Well here's a video of one song we played from our live performance. (Our only performance, for the record. hehehehe)

Originally sang by 90s Pinoy band Rizal Underground, this song became more popular when it was used in a popular beer advertisement that catapulted Ina Raymundo's showbiz career.

Eto na. Enjoy! :D