I just saw the movie, Pisay(I didn't study there in case anybody is wondering). It was good but not great. It succeeded in capturing some of the essence of high school life(I laughed so hard at the Noli-Fili sequence) and it offers a new take on the Martial Law Era and the important events included in it. The plot got slightly weird near the end and some events jumped to the resolution(needless to say, most of the endings were happy ones) without much elaboration. My main beef is the killing off of one character. It was so clumsily handled and happened so abruptly; the end became a bit too cheesy. Sure two scenes hinted at it but those weren't enough. Still, it's nice to watch and I love how Eugene Domingo acted in this movie.

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A character based on Fanny Garcia is in Pisay. Of course it was not her because a romantic relationship was hinted that I believe was totally non-existent since she was still happily married during that time. I think she already had her son during that period and if marriage problems are present, she probably still devotes much of her time on her son and not so much on romantic interests.

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Many rallies today. *sigh* I still don't know which side to join. I know as a citizen of this country I should choose one and stick with it until evidence shows I'm obviously wrong. I have other things to worry about which are much closer to my heart than this mess. I know... I know... I should prioritize this as this'll affect me and my future but it is just so uh... messy. What I need is to sit in or read a good discussion of the issue(I wasn't able to follow much of the proceedings and speeches and whatnot; Jun Lozada's crying was too much for me) and why the heck should we oust pGMA based on this findings.

What is with music and the need for people to constantly hear their favorite ones repeatedly? Why do we not get tired of it so easily as compared to a movie or a book? Wait, wrong framing. Why is it that I do not get tired of songs or pieces as easily as I get tired for say a good but not exceptional book? And I don't even want to talk about movies which rarely get the 2nd viewing from me if I understood it during the first one.

Maybe there is already a paper on this one but I'm too lazy(and incompetent) to search for it. I'll just believe that because music needs very minimal effort to appreciate and lasts for a very short time(of course, that'll also explain why we do not get tired of some commercials and short videos so easily) that is why listening to it repeatedly is common. But that only explains how it is possible and not why we listen to it over and over again.

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I hate the song "Batang bata ka pa". When I was 7, I hated it.(I hate it when grown-ups tell me what to do and how to think and stuff like that.) Now, it still hate it.(I feel I made a grammatical error...*shudder*) F*ck! It starts fine(in lyrics at least, in music not so much) spouting some things we, young people, are tired of hearing of even though those are true. And it ends with a slight disclaimer, a "kid" singing along agreeing completely with the message. However, there exists the singer who thinks he is smarter than everyone who is younger than him. Crapola! This should have never been revived. Ugh... Sugarfree, I for one know that smoking is bad and showing people smoking in your music videos is worse and I'm so much younger than you. And really, we, young people, are usually very cynical about life and do not think it is a small piece of paradise. However, I can have a compromise just remove the following lines:

1. Tanggapin mo na lang ang katotohanan
Na ikaw ay isang musmos lang na wala pang alam
Makinig ka na lang, makinig ka na lang
-Fine, I'll shut up but who will I be listening to? And this reeks of patriarchal society crap: "I have power(/older/a grown man/etc.), therefore; I know every thing and everybody should listen to me. Bwhahahaha! You are just a kid, shut up!"

2. Ganyan talaga ang buhay lagi kang nasasabihan
Pagkat ikaw ay bata at wala pang nalalaman
Makinig ka sa ‘king payo pagkat musmos pa lamang
At malaman nang maaga ang wasto sa kamalian
(emphases mine)
-The emphasized line is stupid. Really... Again, why should I listen to you? The only qualification you have is being older than me. And older doesn't necessarily means wiser. You have to prove yourself to me first and not just assert your age.

Okay, I found this thing you could post on your blog(I forgot what they call it these days.). It is a blog readability test. Basically, you type the url of your blog or website(or someone else's) and they'll rate its readability. So, what did I get?

I got a Junior High School readability. I'm insulted because one of the blogs I've read talks about meaningless stuff got a College(Undergrad) rating. Then again, I have been putting up really short and meaningless posts(with lots of pictures) these past few weeks; the key word being putting up because I have really long ones in my drafts/unpublished area. So to test the validity of the tool, I've decided to try how it rates some of the other blogs I read.

http://otherjoseph.livejournal.com -> Junior High School
Incidentally, it is a photoblog with very few words. I guess the tool measures how long your average post is and pictures do not really count to how high the level of intellect is needed in reading a blog(not that I mean my blog needs a high level of intellect to be understood nor do I am for my blog to be that type of blog).

http://teenatheist.wordpress.com -> Junior High School
From the URL, it is a blog by a teenage girl atheist living in _____(she prefers to keep her country of origin a secret). Long posts, simple language, tendency for rants.

http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/ -> High School
It is a really good blog by an analytical philosopher with a tendency for discussions on ethics and philosophy of science. The really good thing about this blog is the high quality of the posts without the need for resorting to weird lingo or vocabulary only a few people will understand(read: Kant). Besides, what is the need for philosophy(and discussions on it) if the mass do not understand it.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/ -> College(undergrad) level
Another good blog with very interesting albeit slightly longer posts. I swear that you sometimes need to stop for a while and review what you've read in order to be sure that you are getting the point.

One of the blogs I read had a Genius level. I'm bothered because it contains a fair amount of pictures and usually have short posts. Then again, most of her posts are poems or are very cryptic(sometimes I think it is too artsy) language that you really need to think about to understand.

Conclusions: Pictures means lower readability rating. Simple language means low RR also. The longer the posts(and the maybe the frequency too[not tested]) increases the RR. Poetry trumps long analytical essays.

Effects on me: Not much. After some thought, I've decided that I prefer a low RR since it means more people will be able to understand my posts. And why should I care if the blogs I(and hundreds of others) think are really smart have relatively lower ratings. Obviously, RR is not a very good measure of a blog's substance. However, I think this should be a wake-up call. I should make more meaty posts since I have been slacking but I probably still won't post any thing too personal since this is a public blog(even if very few read it) and not a personal diary with a double lock. Maybe I should edit and finally post those drafts I've written during times of ignited emotions.

And, I need to proofread my posts before and immediately after publishing them. I think I'm committing too many grammatical and typographical errors.

I have one of those few Sundays where I am not required to study for any upcoming exams. One reason is I don't know exactly when my next exam is going to be but I just know that they're at least one week away. Yay! Free Sunday! But I'm still going to spend a good part of the morning catching up on Microbiology readings.

What's with the catching up? I've realized that as one progresses with his/her major the greater the feeling of urgency to study. Then again, maybe it's just me. It is not about getting high grades for med school anymore; it is more about learning about stuff that I'd be needing to do in my future line of work(and I'd kick ass once we discuss these things in med school). I've been feeling like my high school friend lately, "Puro BA(business ad) na lang... BA, BA,BA." In my case, change the BA to PH(public health). Maybe, most people taking up their majors are feeling these things. I guess I should feel sorry for my nursing friends because they have majors in their first year of college.

I think I'm becoming incoherent so I'll stop rambling.

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I saw Juno and Little Miss Sunshine yesterday. Juno was funny and warm while LMS was funny, warm and sad; both were empowering. The best scenes for me in Juno was the end where they sang to each other and the scene with Jennifer Garner. For LMS, it was the talent show. If you want more articulate reviews go to rottentomatoes.com.

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What I've been up to last week...

Barangay Field Work:

Going home...

Huh? There's me!

Interview(Interviewer: My groupmate Liane)

I've been trying to save money to buy a new pair of glasses(I still haven't told my parents I lost the new ones they bought me.). I asked about prices in various shops, Sarabia Opticals seem to offer the cheapest pairs. The cheapest is at Php800. Right now, I have Php1150 (Two weeks of saving and that's all I've got. I'm pathetic, I shouldn't have wasted money this past week but my stomach comes first.) I have enough money but I still want to have Php2000 before I buy just so that I would have more choices in terms of frames and lenses. The anti-glare ones seem to be a bit more expensive.

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It's still Single Awareness Month. Yes, 19 years and I still don't have someone for Valentine's day(then again, 11 of those years don't really count, do they?).

What I've been up to these past weeks, aside from studying for exams and trying to think of new dance steps.

Virus culture using Egg Embryo:

Virus model:

Playing with my nephew(who is not so cute in this picture):

Phalakasan(no pics of actual playing...aw...):

Damn! I keep getting these "average" grades in my exams. Of course, I blame myself. Why couldn't I push myself harder? Why do I fall prey to "rookie" traps in tests? Being "average" is not bad but to achieve certain goals I have to be exceptional. Still, the sem is not over. I still have half of it waiting for me and giving me a chance to remedy this state of mediocrity I'm in.

I've been getting in trouble with "the rules" lately. Mostly resulting in confrontations with security guards. I know it's their job to ensure everyone's safety but they also have to use their brains and be practical or at the very least consistent.

The first involved a confrontation with the LRT guard. He was being stupid so I got angry at him. He was finished inspecting the bag of the passenger in front of the line and she was just packing her things up. A rare and empty train arrives so I decided to approach him with my OPEN bag to allow him to "inspect" it. Instead, he tells me to step back. Hello? Lumapit na nga ako eh! Eng-eng ka ba? And to add further insult, he said that there would be more trains. Yes, it is a train station but do you know how uncommon empty trains are during rush hour? Angrily, I've emptied my whole bag on the table and showed him the lack of dangerous objects inside my bag. Not contented, he told me to empty the smaller pocket of my bag. After the whole ordeal, I entered the boarding area.

After this incident, I've decided to one day wreck some havoc on them. Hopefully, this week but I've tons of exams and haven't made sure that my schemes would not result in a lifetime ban from using the LRT. Some of my plans:
1. After the inspection, I'll stand behind them and comment on their "great skills."
ex. "Wow! Ang galing naman ng stick na yan! Nakakakita!"
"Kuya, saan niyo nabili ang stick na yan? Ang galing mag-inspection eh!"
(Brings out my own stick) "Kuya, pwede pasubok?"

2. After an inspection, I'll stand behind the guards and bring out a survey form/check list and try to ask the passengers if they were satisfied with the "inspection." Or, write marks on the paper after every inspection.

3. In the case of really fast inspections(ie those that involve the stick entering the bag without the guard even looking inside), I'll say, "Ayusin mo nga ang trabaho mo!" or "Ang dami-daming bulsa ng bag ko, isa lang tinignan mo." Then, I'll stand behind him and act as a supervisor(with the occasional "tsk" and "ay, ang daming bulsang hindi nabuksan" and "ano kaya ang nasa loob noong plastic sa loob niyong bag?". I'll probably do this on a Friday.

4. Inside my bag, I'll place a smaller bag, which in turn contains an opaque plastic, which the contains tons of clothes and a small black box which would then contain nothing.

The other situation was initially my fault but the guard aggravated the situation by being a proud bastard. I too am a proud bastard and would not grovel and beg to be forgiven of my mistakes. I'd take the punishment and apologize but I'd not fall down on my knees and beg for forgiveness. The only thing I fear now is that there is a small chance that I'd not be able to graduate; then again, my offense is not a major offense and they didn't even confiscated my ID.

MAYBE, I should try being more patient, forgiving and less proud. Hah! I respect authority but if they start being irrational, I start rebelling against them.