jun.anteola

So it isn’t just the lead laced barbies and formaldehyde on clothing, and White Rabbit.

But I wonder how they got to our store shelves in the first place? Are these bootleg? But how come they’re up and out for all to see and take?

Don’t we have the proper authorities to regulate and insure consumer safety? Are they turning a blind eye? Aren’t we?

And China isn’t even alone in the guilt. Let’s look some place closer, like home.

Photo taken from Himantayon.

I saw The Simpsons Movie recently, thanks partly to its hype, and because there wasn’t any better choice at the local cinema. I often catch the series on tv, and usually enjoy Homer’s idiocy. But an hour and a half of it was just overkill, and I was more annoyed than pleased. Because I was expecting it to be a comedy feature, I find it uncanny that my laughs were few and far between. I knew it was supposed to be satire without trying to be, but the funnies and the plot were predictable, the ending cliche.

Through Homer’s brashness, the story unfolds to near catastrophe, threatening to break up the family and endangering the whole town of Springfield. But he soon recovers after an epiphany and saves the town the Bruce Willis way.

I’d rather go back to watching the shorties, or gawk , if not laugh my a** off at Viktor & Rolf’s creations on them:

The scans above were stumbled upon at Painfully Hip, which has pictures of the Simpsons featured in the August 2007 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. The blog even took pains in putting the Simpsons spreads together with the original runway photos. Click on the first picture to see these. (Painfully Hip in turn got them from ohnotheydidnt, which has clearer pictures.)

La lune, trop blême, (the moon, too white)
pose un diadème (puts a tiara)
sur tes cheveux roux. (on your red hair)
La lune, trop rousse, (the moon, too red)
de gloire éclabousse (with glory splashes)
ton jupon plein de trous. (your ragged underskirt)
La lune, trop pâle, (the moon, too pale)
caresse l’opale (caress the opal)
de tes yeux blasés. (of your indifferent eyes)
Princesse de la rue, (princess of the streets)
sois la bienvenue (be welcome)
dans mon coeur brisé. (in my broken heart)…

- lyrics taken from Complainte de la Butte, by Rufus Wainwright

There are instances when we are caught unaware, we never see things coming. We may half expect but hope they never happen, because we have preconceived notions against certain experiences, people and things. In our prejudice, we try to veer away. As much as we can, we try not to associate with these. But then by chance they do come, and they become part of us.

Such instances when the more you try to find reasons to avoid, the harder it gets to dismiss. As we reach within our hearts, we learn to understand, let go of bias, to forgive and reconcile, and see beyond what the eyes can show, and appreciate how differences may complement the seeming perfection we are familiar and comfortable with.

Such as falling in love.

Click on the player to listen to the song quoted above.

“But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. ” - Carl Sagan (astronomer)

I had the chance to attend my alma mater’s Central Student Council induction last Saturday, August 11th. I am faculty adviser to the College of Dentistry’s student council anyway, and my dean asked me to go on his behalf.

Going has become a yearly habit, and nothing much has changed in the program. We were also in the same venue, ate the same food, saw the same people. It has become humdrum, dreary, uninteresting for me. The saving grace was seeing and hearing Misamis Occidental governor Leo Ocampos, who is a product of and has taught in the same school, and was my mentor during my few years as student leader. This charismatic man persuades through his outright sense of humor. He doesn’t give lengthy speeches, he just jokes. And without anyone knowing it, we’re nodding in agreement.

I couldn’t agree more with his points on being proactive, rather than reactive. Continue reading this entry »

It’s been a week since my last entry, and before I lose momentum again, I’d better post something. It’s not the lack of material to write about, for ideas come in unexpected times and places. But I couldn’t be bothered to stop and jot them down, which I often regret when my WordPress page nags me to type something… anything.

Blogging can be a demanding commitment, too. If only because readership stats taking a steady dive isn’t a pleasant thing to see. Even if I had earlier on told myself that it’s mainly for leisure, and that I can’t be pressured. I lost much opportunity for link love when I failed to join the recently concluded Top Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007. I got nominations from Jim and Massa P, and hadn’t procrastination set in, could have had fun at least. I can never be at par with those who won, but being in the list on its first two weeks was exciting, and being recognized by two of my most favored bloggers was gratifying.

The piled up memes, tag games and invitation posts, are another story. Getting them sure gets me worked up. But putting ideas into writing needed more push. I guess I should have paid more attention in Mrs. Andoy’s Journalism class. And Mrs. Gamotin’s S-V, S-V-O, S-V-IO-O chant shouldn’t have been boring! And maybe, I shouldn’t aim so much to impress.

Regretful and repentant, I’m back.

The title is inspired by a phrase found in a submitted article at Nakanampucha!

Read this sentence:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS
OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Now count the F’s in that sentence. Count them ONLY ONCE.
Do not go back to count them again. Then see if you are correct, after the jump… Continue reading this entry »

Care for some cake?

Well, ok, this wasn’t my birthday cake. But the idea came as an afterthought, after all of it was already gone. Right out of the blue, after quite a long hiatus, I felt the urge to write about the surprise party, the cake and the people who were with me. I was specially touched by the gesture, it made me hale and hearty enough to spring back from the slump and blog again.

I had no plan of making a fuss about turning older. In fact, I dreaded the thought of it. I was cool with being 35 last year, but 36!?! How close is that to 75!?! It felt like I have crossed the defining line between young and old. I was hoping nobody would remember, except my family, of course. My father’s birthday comes the day after mine, and as he never enjoys parties, we both are used to celebrating it in silence. I was fine about the thought that it should be over soon without anyone noticing. Continue reading this entry »