Al Dub...as usual, blah, blah...

I was watering our plants when a neighbor's head popped up at the gate and said something about the news that day. I opened the gate and let him in. We talked. My neighbor knew a lot of Marxist-Engels-socialist-communist etc.philosophy, not surprising since he was a former labor union president and was well indoctrinated with leftist philosophy and dogmas. 

A conversation like this usually lasts hours and meanders into almost every conceivable topic under the sun from socialism, which from our many conversations he is in favor of, to conspiracy theories. We were talking about the INC incident, the coming presidential election and the presidential candidates, Marcos, Education and of course Marxist philosophy when the mention of "opiates of the people" popped up, I suddenly blurted out, "Al Dub".

"Look at what's on TV today," I have often lamented the fact that TV was not what it used to be. "I cannot make sense of AL Dub. Why are people hooked into it? Why they are mesmerized by a story that is made up along the way as if it was a well written story like in TV drama or soap or something."

I came to the conclusion that Al Dub is for idiots.

Until well written essays about Al Dub started coming out of Facebook. Some learned people are talking and thinking about it, at least the phenomenon. Why even the  Roman Catholic Church Bishops endorsed it as good for the moral health of the televiewers. the CBCP expressed their support to AlDub for its “noble cause of spreading virtue, values, and morality that our nation deserves” Who can argue with theologians? 

But it cannot be denied that it has numbed the mind of the people to an extent.

Attorney Capunan lamented the fact that the Filipinos are all tuned in to Al Dub on the news while the mention of the Chinese president going to the United States wooing the economically bankrupt superpower with promises of international cooperation maybe even loans etc. in return for the South China Sea. Do we even care about this issue? No reaction on this issue.

I did not an impromptu survey in my class. I asked my pupils to choose between Al Dub and Kathniel love team. Ninety percent voted for Al Dub despite the fact that they are in school most of the weekend and have no time to watch the kalye serye.  

I attended the DepEd Rizal's teacher's day celebration yesterday and while an actor was performing, I could hear my colleagues shouting "Aldub na yan!." It's a little embarrassing because the guy was not part of the Al Dub love team.

  

I have not seen Al Dub because of I am at work during weekdays and in the weekend I usually do gardening and bass guitar practice but my wife and my daughter love it so whether I like it or not, I catch portions of the show. 

 I find it funny but...

As to my neighbor, he left just before noon and I think he watched AlDub after our talk.

The Legal Wife: Soap Opera or Sardine Opera...

Thank heavens for sardines.

I was not rally paying any attention when I heard a TV station doing a promotional ad on its top rating show "The Legal Wife."  

Upon third or fourth hearing, I turned around from the computer and paid attention to the TV and there it was again: Join the promo and win a daily supply of sardines.

Three things violently entered my mind there and then:

1. Is this for real?

2. Is this sane?

3. Isn't this insulting?

Obviously, this is for real.

This promo is different from the others not because of its mechanics, I mean, I have seen them all, but what made this promo different is because of its prize: the lucky winner will get a daily supply of two pieces of canned sardines. The promo did not mention if the supply is for eternity, for a lifetime,  or for as long as the show is being shown on TV. There is no mention of the duration of the supply. 

Soap operas are sponsored by soap brands.

This is product placing. The soap opera has some of its protagonists working in a canned sardine manufacturer. I don't know if the management thought of this to attract sardine manufacturers to sponsor the program or if there was a prior product placing agreement, but it easy enough to think who the sponsors would be. "Soap operas" are called soap operas because their main sponsors are soap manufacturers, so its only logical--and ground breaking at that--to call the Legal Wife a "Sardine Opera". 

Is this sane?

Anyway...

Canned sardine together with rice are the backbone of
relief goods.

I have nothing against canned sardines. It is food and I'm not even going to demean or degrade the food as cheap or whatever. Keep in mind that canned sardines saved a lot of lives and is still saving lives in times of disasters and other emergencies.

But there's something about it, there's a psychological stigma attached to canned sardines.

The Philippines is one of the most typhoon hit countries in the world and from the recent super typhoons and abnormal monsoon rains that have created large scale floods, water and wind surges that caused huge losses in lives and properties in the country, canned sardines have become the staple of relief food operations along with instant noodles and other "instant" products. Add to natural disasters are the insurgency problem in the south that have displaced a lot of communities.

How may ways to cook canned sardines?
From the TV specals i have seen on TV,
I believe it is safe to assume the the Filipinos
are the only people in the world who have
created hundreds of ways to prepare and
cook food with canned sardines as the main
ingredient.

After typhoon Yolanda wrecked havoc in the Visayas, canned sardines become the primary ingredients of everything the typhoon victims cook. 

The Filipinos creativity was tested to its limit when faced with the situaton of eating the same food over and over again. They have invented many ways of cooking and preparing food to beat the monotony and at the same time aiming at getting the balanced daily nutrition they need. 

But still,  I could only imagine the pervading fishy and metallic aroma of the canned sardines that permeated the air almost everywhere and for weeks in the affected areas especially evacuation sites that volunteers, journalists and even the victims themselves said it's already sickening.  

Whether we like it or don't, through experience and media exposure our minds are conditioned into connecting canned sardines with disasters and relief operations.

Consciously or unconsciously we don't like to be reminded of our helplessness of being victims. 

Isn't this insulting?

I don't know what's in the mind of the people who thought of this gimmick but giving away sardines as a prize?

I have only two hypothesis:

1. Somebody up there an employee, an executive, someone connected to the station is writing a masteral thesis or a doctoral dissertation on "the application of simian intelligence in advertising" from some veterinary college.

2. Somebody up there must have an abnormal predilection for eating sardines.

 Anyway...gonna have my lunch..."tortang sardinas na maanghang". See, I love the stuff but I don't like it being given to me as a prize...a motorcycle or an internet TV is more like it.

Revilla enrolled at IAME/ Why o why?

I saw the impeachment trial yesterday and there was an embarrassing moment for Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. when witness Emmanuel T. Santos, the owner and founder of International Academy of Management and Economics, revealed or bragged that a son of Sen. Revilla studied in his school.

The senators were smiling because the school was closed by the Commission on Higher Education for “gross and serious violations and continuous defiance, and non-compliance by the institution of CHED Policies, Standards and Guidelines (PSG). (What a Revilla in that school! Why not in Ateneo, UP, De La Salle, UST....why not. Maybe the guy didn't meet the academic standard of these universities.)  Santos also bragged that his school had alumni of eight generals, two billionaires, and other politicians. 

Maybe the CHED noticed that his school was just a diploma mill for graduate students especially for people in government that need to acquire graduate education for promotion that's why it was closed down. Anyway, Santos was weird.

Santos being cross examined by Roi. Unbelievable. I mean the whole thing was unbelievable.

The Chief Justice will sit in the witness stand next Tuesday. This will be the orgasmic part of the trial and many are interested on what the Chief Justice will reveal about his dollar accounts. I hope there will be sort of a literary-mystery twist that would somehow reward the avid follower of the impeachment trial. Maybe like the CJ revealing that his dollar account was used as an intelligence fund depository by the CIA for their Philippine operation, or the account was used by the CPP NPA, or by the NICA.

Anyway, Tuesday is the day.

_______________________________________

It is always the poor that suffered.

I mean with all the drama by Claudine Barreto-Raymart-Tulfo, the victims of their lack of self control, education and propriety are the security guards who were suspended from their job because they were found to be negligent of their job. The ground stewardess who was cursed, lambasted, embarrassed by Claudine (show how hypocritical actors really are) had to resign from her job because, maybe the pressure and the embarrassment made her resign or something (just a theory because Claudine is fine wrestler...errr...I mean actor).

Just because they lose their baggage, people are now suffering. Why is it that people's attitude problem, lack of education and propriety, violent tendencies, why should the poor laborer suffer for this! 

Do not watch these actors' movies.

Big fight at NAIA/Airframe

I couldn't help but give my ten centavos worth on what happened to NAIA, the Raymart-Claudine-Tulfo thing. What happened happened and there's nothing that could be done about it and all the charges and counter charges would not go anywhere.

Cebu Pacific was blamed.  NAIA was blamed.  Now the security guards and the airport police were also being blamed and their jobs were threatened. I just hope that these minimum wager earners would not lose their jobs because of this incident because faced with the situation of two famous personalities fighting, screaming, and rioting, these poor security personnel were overwhelmed and it was understandable how difficult it must be for them to decide who to hold, what to touch, what to say...I mean.


Secretary Roxas was correct in saying that the whole thing was an attitude problem and the reactions and the finger pointing was unwarranted.  After the emotions ebb and the issue grew old, everything would be forgotten and everything would be back to normal.

That's how it is, things move on. I just hope that after all is settled,  no job would be lost. 

Anyway, to serious matter: here are some lucky numbers for the Santiago-Tulfo brouhaha. 

  Swertres lotto 4-4-1, 0-4-8,0-1-4,7-0-9

 4 Digit lotto 6-7-1-5, 1-6-5-4,0-1-1-0,1-6-6-0 

 Based on Birthday Raymart Santiago - July 20, 1973 

Swertres- 5-5-5, 4-1-5 4 digit- 5-4-2-8, 9-3-4-3

 Claudine Barreto 

Swertres -8-6-0, 2-7-6 4 Digit -6-5-4-8, 9-1-9-7

No, I do not gamble...just having fun with the issue.

__________________________

I have finished reading an old Crichton novel that has been lying in the house for almost ten years. It was my brother's book. I have read thirteen novels by Crichton that I thought I had enough of his novels, but I was bored so I picked it up. I read, and I was not able to stop until I finished the book.

Of course this was a work of fiction (Crichton's novels are well researched) but the book did present some  issues about the deregulated airline industry specifically about the safety of the old planes being bought, reconditioned and flown by small starting (budget)  airline companies and also about the danger of bootleg (pirated) airplane parts.. 

Anyway...makes one wonder how safe these budget airlines are.