Exercise Regimen

I'm trying to be healthy. 

I try to hit the gym at least twice a week and do weights. I admit that I'm not exactly the disciplined eater (I'm not into portions and I eat a lot of rice) so I try to make up by building more muscle to consume the excess food I take.

I also do stretching exercises almost every morning and every night. I have a set of exercises I adhere to (which, coincidentally, I got from those Get Taller websites) and I intend to stick to my routine for the long haul. With stretching exercises, I boost my metabolism and remain flexible without submitting myself to more tiring and time-consuming exercises such as running, swimming, etc.

I try to get sleep. So far, this has been the challenge. Right now, I'm already happy if I get seven hours of shuteye but I know I'm better off if I could get eight. 

Why am I doing this? That's easy and that's because I want to get into good habits. I may be young but I won't be a twenty-something male forever. So I might as well start developing good habits today which will pay themselves off in the end game of my life.

I don't want to be on maintenance drugs. I don't want to suffer from a preventable debilitating disease or ailment. I want to be healthy and strong. And for a guy who goes to the gym alone, that's all the motivation I need.

And You Wonder What's Wrong With Cotabato?

I know, it's wrong to generalize. But my experience with the Registry of Deeds of Cotabato City has really colored my perception of the other government departments in the same city.

If the registry of deeds in that place could be so, let's use a euphemism, unprofessional, what saves the rest from being even more so? I'm not going to put any more details in this abrupt rant because I still have transactions with them now and later, transactions that might be adversely affected if I should squeal.

And that's precisely the point. I don't like the level of service that they're offering but what's even more frustrating is that I cannot do anything about it. I need them and I believe the only thing that's saving them from being held into account is the fact that they're needed.

Cesar Montano

Cesar Montano was featured last March in Motorcycle Diaries.  He talked about Bohol and showbiz, among other things.

That got me thinking about how perplexed I was back then when he ran for the senate.

Sure, he was a good philantrophist and a good actor. But being a good statesman, not to mention being a competent legislator, belongs to another arena all together. As much as I would have liked to refrain from judging another person's ability from a distance, I readily admitted then that Cesar Montano would make a poor senator if he won.

I guess my sentiment has a direct parallel to a scene I saw in Gray's Anatomy. It involved Dr. Owen Hunt and Dr. Cristina Yang arguing heatedly about Dr. Yang's ambition to become the next chief resident of the Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital:

Owen: “Chief Resident is more than just a resume boost. It’s managing schedules, overseeing interns, pushing papers, working within the system. That isn’t you. It’s never been you.
Cristina: “Fine. You know what, I’m protesting this, you are screwing with my career…” 

 Owen: “And it will kill you. You’re a surgeon. Anything that keeps you from being a surgeon will hurt you and it’ll make you crazy. We saw it today. You’re not built for this job. You will hate it and you will resent it. You will fight against it until you fail. So just, just be a surgeon. You know, it’s what you are. Just be excellent at what you are.”

Perhaps, I could say the same thing to Cesar Montano. Just be excellent at what you are and do not aspire to be what you are not. Do not dream of being the next Lito Lapid.

Massage

I love massage.

Ever since that trip to Wensha with Ron, I've gotten over the stigma attached to the term "Massage Parlor" (you know, the one where everyone says they're fronts for prostitution). It also does help that my parents are avid massage clients and I have joined them in one of their sessions.

Now, I'm thinking of actually learning massage myself. I believe it's a nice skill set to have. I can easily remedy my body pains if I knew how to spot my pressure points or painful joints.  I can also give relief to other people (most probably my parents, who are growing old as I am growing up).

Now, the question is: where do I get lessons?

Zombie Apocalypse

Every gamer likes a zombie apocalypse. I'm not a gamer but I'm equally fascinated at this fiction (but not to the point that I would enjoy it becoming a reality).

Why this fascination? Perhaps, it's because a zombie apocalypse warrants one to go on a rampage on the pretext that one is trying to survive being eaten by hordes of brainless, animated corpses.

"You're alive only because it's illegal to kill you", says an Internet quote whose author I'll never know. The same rings true in our everyday life and I believe each one of us, however good, has always harbored that taboo desire to simply go off, kill people we don't like, and not suffer the consequences of our actions. Simply put, we are all potential serial killers if the situation warrants it.

This is probably one of the reasons why scenarios such as zombie apocalypses hold so much appeal. It gives vent to one part of our psyche which is undoubtedly repressed ( and for good reason). It allows us to act as murderers without the moral burden and the social cost.

Congratulations

A toast to my brother, Alexis Ryan E. Bataller. He just graduated from college and has joined the ranks of the out-of-school youth who, from hereon, will be looking for jobs.

As for me, I wasn't worried about whether or not he was going to graduate (unlike my parents). I always believed my brother would. My worry was to when he will graduate because it's quite different to graduate at 28 than, say, graduate college at 24.

Again, congratulations, bro. Welcome to the real world.

Di Ka-Martsa

What the heck.

On some days, a story gets on your nerve. Mama just shared that kind of story.

She was actually fresh from deliberations, discussing with the other faculty members on what to do with the many senior high school students who cannot and will not march on graduation day because of poor grades.

She related one story where the student failed one or more subjects and, hence, couldn't march. Apparently, her parents, who were both OFWs, were going home to celebrate the graduation of their child. But, upon hearing this bad news, both cancelled their plane tickets and their trip back to the Philippines. Well, so much for parental love.

 What irks me is that, in this delicate moment of defeat, the child needs a parent all the more. He (I'm presuming the child's a boy) needs to be consoled, to be patted at the back, to be reassured by a mother or a father with the words, "You did not graduate, you dimwit. But it's okay. Your graduation wasn't the only reason why we're coming back. We miss you."

I wish the parents of that child have realized this by now.

Stupid parents.

Recycling Plastics

I came across Mike Biddle's TED presentation on how to recycle plastics.

And it was fascinating.

Dr. Michael Biddle gave a sales pitch at TED to promote MBA Polymers, a company into the business of recycling plastics. Although he did not give any specifics as to the technology employed, the ramifications are still tantalizing. Imagine if the same technology could be made available to third world countries. Imagine how much waste can be reduced. 

Anyways, here's the video to his speech:

Pinoy Superheroes

It's time to humanize our Pinoy superheroes. 

I hope our filmmakers already have a clue on how to do that with the hugely successful Batman franchise of Christopher Nolan (and now, Hollywood is doing the same thing with the Man of Steel).

I, for one, have already come up with some ideas for a series involving Pinoy pop culture's iconic superheroes. 

The series takes place a few decades into the future. A disastrous meteor shower has shattered civilization, setting the entire world several centuries back. But among the ruins, there rise a few individuals now possessing superpowers, courtesy of the alien artifacts that came crashing to earth along with the meteorites. These individuals in turn become the villains and the heroes of our story and the series chronicles the struggle between good and evil as one side protects society against those who wish to dominate it.

Captain Barbell: A man who gains the power of flight and super strength simply by wielding a barbell-shaped physics manipulator. He is a man who struggles to maintain his benevolence despite the corrupting tendency of his new-found abilities. 

Darna: A paraplegic who gains the same powers as of Captain Barbell's by ingesting a pill-shaped mutagen. Her main dilemma is coming to terms with her own vulnerability and frailty while avoiding abusing her drug-induced powers.

Panday: A Moro blacksmith who gets transported in time into the future. He wields a form-shifting kampilan and strives to move on from mourning for what he had lost.

Lastikman: As the name suggests, he is blessed with a super-elastic body. His cheerful demeanor belies a traumatic past.

Inggo: A teenage boy who throws fireballs and rides a flying banca. He is the orphan who is looking for his identity.

Dyesebel: A woman from a fisher-folk community who can change her body's physical state at will, breathe underwater, and whisper to animals, particularly creatures of the sea. She is a flighty soul, ever wrestling between her responsibilities as a minted superhero and her wish to escape and live life.

Balyan: The matriarch who is the emotional glue of the group. A weaver and priestess, she communes with the alien spirits which pervade the post-apocalyptic country and guides the team on how to fully utilize their

powers.

Bringing The Artist Back

I sympathize with a lot of people of my generation or, more specifically, my batch.

In grade school and high school, we considered ourselves highly in tune with our artistic side. I, for one, was well into sketches while the others were involved in music, singing, dancing, and the other performance arts.

But then we grow up. And we take on jobs which have no use for these talents. A dichotomy gradually forms itself, splitting our being into two: the professional self and the playful, exuberant, yet utterly "useless" artistic self. Over time, if one is not careful, he loses the other self and relegates it to a nostalgic vision of the person he once was.

It's sad. Yet it only goes to show that as we pick up new skills, old talents have to be discarded. 

So to remedy the loss, we rebel and hang on to the artist within us. We cling tenaciously to it as if it were life itself. Some go into choirs and sing. Others set up a weekend band and practice playing songs or, even better, composing songs. Some perpetuate a hobby of doing sketches or paintings for several days a week. Others go into acting workshops or join dancing lessons with friends.

And there is one who maintains a blog, harnessing his writing skills, smiling glumly at the fact that, for reasons only known to him, bringing the artist back is a struggle worth its due.

Lokomoko

Lokomoko is funny. Seriously.

Favorite joke:

Katipunero 1: "Ito'y dahil sa ika-tataas ng rating natin!"
(slaps Katipunero 2 across the face).

Slapstick but an ingenious parody at the same time.

Super Power

Everyone has wished, one time or another, for a superpower. I am no exception.

Ever since I was a kid, I've fantasized about those what-if situations. What if I had super strength? What if I could fly? What if I could read other people's minds? I can do a lot of cool stuff if I could bend some laws of physics.

Now, as an adult, with a slightly different and more subdued perspective of the world, I still wish for a superpower: time travel. That refers to the ability to turn back time or otherwise go to the future (but it's more fun going back to the past).

Think about it. You have regrets? Then go back and fix these regrets. You messed up? Go back and fix your mess before it even happens. You want to see the world fifty years from now? Go ahead and shake hands with your great-grandchildren.

Still, all this is just fantasy. God, in His infinite wisdom, has deemed it fit that we live only once. No rewinds. No fast forward. Perhaps it's His way of saying that we should make every moment count.

The Library Of The Future

This is going to be the library of the future. It's still going to be the typical building you see nowadays. But it's going to be a bit different.

The library will still feature the necessary furniture for reading: chairs, tables, sofas, etc. But you won't see any shelves or books for that matter. All you will see are people hunched over tablets the size of a legal-size paper.

All will be reading e-books, plucking material from the cloud.

What will replace the shelves though are rows of servers and digital storage devices, all meticulously kept in a climate-controlled environment.

Gone are the days when books had to be maintained, restored, repaired. Gone are the days when one had to consider freight costs, storage capacity, and other inventory-related expenses. Gone are the days when one had to sift through shelves trying to locate a book only to find out that all the copies had already been borrowed.

This is going to be the library of tomorrow: people reading everything in digital format.

Fascinating, isn't it?

Another Fun Run

After a long time, I finally joined another fun run, courtesy of my mother who paid all of our registration fees. If it's free, why not diba?

Again, it was a rainy morning. By the time we arrived in ADDU Jacinto Campus, people were bunched up in front of the Roxas gate like sardines (the same people promptly ran despite the light drizzle thirty minutes after). As for the run, it was organized by the college community for the benefit of the Sendong calamity victims.

Just my comments about the event:

- There was no warm-up drill, which was quite ironic because the run was organized in part by the PE department.

- Beneficiaries were, as mentioned, the Sendong victims. Well, better late than never, right?

- According to Mama, who ran the 3K circuit, the turnaround point was way nearer than usual. Papa estimated they simply jogged a kilometer worth of pavement. Comparing the 3K run to the Red Cross fun run we also joined last year, the Red Cross fun run had the turnaround point near Victoria Plaza while the Ateneo fun run had the point in Gaisano Mall instead. That's a big difference right there.

- The organizers were definitely first-timers. The people at the baggage counter were seriously panicking because of the influx of people. Girls were shouting out orders, screaming where the hell the tape was, matching the noise of the rain with the volume of their voices.

- Ateneans were everywhere, obviously. Perhaps, most of them had academic incentives to run. Sorry, can't stop being cynical.

- It's time I run the 10K already. 5K is getting lame.

- Aha! Finished the race at 29 minutes 52 seconds, according to the race timer. Not fast but definitely not bad, either.

- Amazing. They had Sunkist oranges for snacks. That's a first for me.

Happy Birthday Jonna

Just something I did for Jonna, a colleague of mine. It was her birthday after all. Or maybe, I'm just a sucker for girls with killer smiles. Again, happy birthday Jonn. Keep smiling.

Had to work with a low-res picture of her (I got it on Facebook, as usual) so apologies for the picture's quality. This one's in halftone to somehow "hide" the pixelated look.