Face-Off: Promil Vs Nido

Have you ever wished you were gifted?

Just recently, news spread about this boy who already managed to graduate college at the tender age of 11. Amazing kid, but then I started wondering how his college life went. At 11, I was still playing patintero on the streets and anticipating every Batibot episode on TV, but this kid was already studying about astrophysics and others that I might not even know how to pronounce. Surely his college mates wouldn’t want to play hide-and-seek with him? I just felt that his childhood was taken away by his intelligence.

In addition, we are all aware how these so-called ‘gifted children’ can be exposed to a lot of stress and pressure. They are like magnets that attract the public eye. They are expected to perform well in everything that they do, for their intellect is deemed as ‘faultless’; trivial blunders are enough reasons for derision. Just the mere fact that you are ‘smart’ seems to separate you already from the rest, so what more for them? Ang hirap maging matalino.

Remember the times when there was so much hype on the emergence of these gifted children in the Philippines? Back then I also wanted to be a gifted child myself (at some point I felt that I am, he-he). Modesty aside, I know I am blessed with a good brain and a couple of talents to go with it (simpleng yabang), but I wanted it at a higher level. Yung pang-Promil commercial! But seeing this kid just made me think otherwise.

I remember my 5-year-old self asking my Mom what brand of milk was used to feed me. Without dithering, she replied, “Sorry anak, Nido lang kasi pinainom namin sa’yo.” When she saw the disappointment on my then-innocent face, she quickly retracted and admitted that I was breastfed all the way. But either way, it doesn’t really matter to me now. I am unique and gifted in my own way. Mas maganda yata yung napupuri ka dahil sa natural na talento mo at hindi dahil sa epekto ng gatas na pinainom sa’yo.

Besides, does Promil really work?

Mga Gawain Sa Dilim

Brown out.

Isa sa mga pinaka-ayaw ko sa lahat ay kapag brown-out. Pinaka-matinding dahilan ay dahil walang kuryente (obvious?), ibig sabihin, hindi ako makakapanood ng TV, hindi makakagamit ng electric fan, hindi makakapag-computer, hindi makakapag-radyo (buti na lang meron sa cellphone) at hindi makakapag-charge ng cellphone.

Kaya naman kapag mga bata, kanya-kanyang gawa ng paraan para maibsan ang pagka-bagot. Hindi syempre pwedeng mawala ang taguan. Da best yan lalo na ‘pag gabi at madilim! Syempre mas mahirp ang hanapan, kaso, kaso mas mahirap din ang maghanap ng tataguan.

At dahil nga madilim, kasama dyan ang kwentuhan ng nakakatakot. Mas nakaka-kilabot kasi ang ambience. At pagkatapos ng kwentuhan, tuloy naman sa ‘aswang-aswangan’ (wholesome an laro po ito!).

Nasubukan na rin namin ang maglibot sa buong village na para bang nagpi-People Power. Nag-karera na rin kami sa dilim. At kapag pagod na ang lahat, gagawa naman kami ng show mula sa mga anino ng kamay naming kinorteng mga hayop. At kapag wala pa ring kuryente, yung luha naman ng kandila yung pag-iinteresan. Hindi namin gusto ang brown out pero masaya kami.

Pero ngayon iba na. Mas boring na ang brown out. Ako, walang ginagawa kundi matulog. Yung mga dati kong kalaro naman, ayun nagtataguan pa rin kasabay ang pag-aaswangan’. Na-realize ko na kapag bata ka, mas naa-appreciate mo yung mga simpleng bagay sa mundo. *buntong hininga*

Pero hindi naman ako laging tulog kapag brown out (nakakapagod din kasi minsan matulog). Tulad ngayon, walang kuryente ¬¬¬(pesteng ulan yan), nakagawa tuloy ako ng post ng biglaan.

UPDATED: 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2009

UPDATE: Alas, here's my complete and unadulterated list of the Top Ten Influential Blogs of 2009. This list was actually completed weeks ago but only I updated now, being the gifted crammer that I am. I was in fact, having second thoughts on posting this, 'coz whether I do it or not, these guys were already assured of the spot. And I guess I don't have to say 'Good luck' but 'Congratulations!'.

***

One of my newest blogger friends, Snow of Dear Bloggery, courteously asked yours truly to nominate her blog as well as others in Ms. Janette Toral’s list of the Most Influential Blogs of 2009. I’ve been reading Bloggery for quite some time now and I deem it worthy of my vote, thus, this post was made. Sadly, as much as I want to nominate Bahay Ni Badong (hehe) and some friend bloggers’ blogs, circumstances don’t permit me, as one criterion for nomination is that a blog must be conceived between May of 2008 up to the present. Sorry! For more information, just follow this link.

1. Writing To Exhale
2. Dear Bloggery
3. The Struggling Blogger
4. Barrio Siete
5. Zorlone
6. Jologs na Yuppie
7. Palipasan
8. Isla de Nebz
9. I Am Xprosaic
10 Kelvinonian

Special thanks to the following sponsors: Absolute Traders , My Brute Cheats, Business Summaries, Fitness Advantage Club, Events and Corporate Video, Events At Work, Dominguez Marketing Communications, Red Mobile, Budget hotel in Makati and Blog4Reviews.com.

Face-Off ver. 2 -- Bong VS Hayden

[Note: Nerdy portions ahead.]

Time for another head-to-head match-up! This time, between the honorable Bong Revilla Jr. and the 'perverted' Dr. Hayden Kho.

This is so ridiculous, seeing Revilla almost red-faced with anger, complaining about Kho's alleged disrespect for women. Bong Revilla -- the sublime womanizer. Funny. Allow me to use psychology on this one but I think Bong's in a compromise situation called 'reaction formation' -- disguising one's motivation and conflict by believing that the motive is exactly the opposite of his real motive (Gaerlan). In this case, it's Bong battling with Hayden's misconduct towards women because he, himself is trying to battle his own unconscious desires. Forgive me for the geeky-ness.

Here's my point, if Bong wants to cancel Haydens' license, then why is he not pleading for the lifetime banning of Ethel Booba. Criselda Volks, Mahal and all them others who have been in this sticky situation before? Why, because he's a doctor and he's supposed to be an educated and respected person? Ang mga artista ba hindi?

I also heard that Katrina Halili's got the support of the activist group Gabriella. OK, I get the point. Katrina is the wretched one. But isn't what she did morally unacceptable? She (flirted) with the doctor while he's still in a relationship, for crying out loud. And she must not dare say, "Tao lang po ako." She had her --here foes the nerdy part again-- superego at the back of her mind but she let her id impulses overwhelm her. Hope you got that.

Say hello Absurdity.

Kris VS Adam: The Face-Off

The votes have been cast and the competition had come down to the final two – Kris Allen, the underdog, and Adam Lambert, the drag queen. LOL. Seriously, I don’t think there’s any competition tougher than this (maybe even tougher than the Davids’ duel). So who do I think has the upper hand? Here’s my head-to-head match-up of the two:

ADAM LAMBERT
STRENGTHS: undoubtedly the best vocalist and the most confident performer on stage. Years of experience in the theater made him a seasoned talent on stage that he can eat Kris alive once he steps on the platform. He can interpret songs with authority and are uniquely Adam. He has had some of the best moments in the season, which includes Simon giving him an unexpected standing O. And he has this charisma that endears him to the viewers, making it easy for him to dig up throngs of fans.
WEAKNESSES: Weeks of watching him do the stuff he does make him predictable and almost boring. Sometimes unpredictability is so predictable, especially for him. Personally, I’m not a fan of his genre. I don’t think it’s marketable enough to make him last in the business. Besides, I’m not sure if I can last listening to his ear-splitting future album. And read: THEATRICAL. Which is quite unusual, seeing a ‘rock god’ (and I quote Kara) performing that way on stage.

KRIS ALLEN
STRENGTHS: Let’s go with the evident – good-looking. It’s obviously the first thing that people noticed and liked about him. He’s very cool to watch on stage; he quickly developed his confidence on the course of the competition. Like Adam, he’s had some of the best moments in the season, thanks to his genuine ad brilliant song interpretations (Heartless remians the best, so far). His big advantage is that his sound is much more relevant and marketable, which I think is more appealing to the younger viewers.
WEAKNESSES: comparing to Adam’s strengths, he’s a mere second placer.

At first, it’s painless to say that Adam is the top dog coming into the finale. But the show’s too fickle to be predictable. Anything could happen. A big part of the results will depend on the comments of Simon (admit it, he’s always right). Either he’ll pimp Adam up or use reverse psychology like he did to Cook. There’s also a big possibility that Gokey’s equally large fan base would start supporting Kris. And common, only one million votes separate the two. How exciting could that be?

***
And yes, my Nostradamic powers proved me right once again as two of my predictions came true: First, that the winner will be a guy (biologically speaking, he-he), and his name will start with the letter ‘A’ (Adam or Allen). Humirit pa talaga ako.

Ah, My Goddesses! -- Hottest Tennis Players

Iv'e always had a notion that tennis players are the closest thing to heaven on earth. They're pretty, they hit hard, and they are red flamin' hot. So here's my own list of the hottest tennis players. Enjoy!

7. Elena Dementieva

6. Nicole Vaidisova

5. Maria Kirilenko

4. Dominika Cibulkova

3. Maria Sharapova

2. Daniel Hantuchova

1. ANA IVANOVIC

The hottest player EVER to walk on court. Sigh. I wanna fly to Paris now to watch her defend her French Open title. This is addiction.

A Letter from Someone I Call 'Special'

"Badong",

How are you?

Funny that we always see each other everyday but I never get to ask you this simple question.

So, how are you?

I know you’re too busy with your summer job right now, leaving us with less time to talk and keep in touch with each other. Not that we have plenty of time before.

So when was the last time that we actually sit and bonded? I remember you were still in grades school then. You were very enthused about sharing your day in school. But how come everything changed when you reached high school? You became so aloof to the family. You were always locked up in you room. You rarely talked about your day in school unless we ask you. We don’ even know who your friends are. And you were the most hot-tempered person I know. There was a time when your father was teasing and tickling you and you reacted violently to that, smashing your cell phone on the floor. Naglalambing lang young tao.

But you’re not the only one at fault, though. I personally have a lot of shortcomings as well. I’m sorry if I always check on you. You can’t take that away from me. I’m your parent, and sorry if I’m a big time worrier. I’m sorry if I sometime fail to wake you up in the morning and if I sometimes ask you to take care of me. You know how bad my hypertension is. I hope I’m being a burden to you. I hope you’ understand tough that I’ve been a parent only once. I may be old, but I don’t know everything.

I miss you son. I miss your wacky stories. I miss your innocent smile. I miss your boisterous laugh. I miss you. Badly.

Well, this getting so melodramatic now. Anyway, you promised to buy me a cake for Mother’s Day. I’ll be waiting for that.

Mama

[Ayan, Ma, I put myself in your shoes. Now I understand better. Happy Mother's Day Mama! At para na rin sa lahat ng dakilang mga ina s buong mundo.]

PBA09o90p1no