End of the Curse

How does one celebrate the end of 86 years of frustration and futility?

If you're a Boston Red Sox fan, you relish and revel in the joy that the team has finally won the World Series, their first championship since 1918.

And they did it in style, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals, their nemesis in 1946 and 1967, in four games. One can read the story here. Sportswriter Dan Wetzel shares his thoughts here.

What makes it more amazing is that they were one game away from not making it to the Series at all. With the Yankees getting a 3-0 lead in the League Championship Series, everybody, myself included, had conceded that it was going to be an additional year of frustration, considering that, prior to the Red Sox, no team had ever come back from such a deficit.

But, with statistics, there's always a possibility that the improbable will happen.

Happily, the improbable happened to the Red Sox.

The Curse has been put to rest.

Found a Copy

My quest for "The Little Tramp" ended happily. My best friend had a copy all along. Coolio.

One More to Go

The Red Sox's luck seems to be holding out this season. Once more, they've won, breaking the 6-0 home record the Cardinals had in this year's playoffs. And Boston's starting pitcher, Pedro Martinez, pitched like the pitcher he was of old, holding the Cardinal batters at bay while the Boston hitters drove in 4 runs. The win puts the Red Sox one game closer to the final nail in the Curse's coffin. If they manage to beat the Cardinals, they'll put an end to 86 years of frustration.

But they can't be complacent just yet, even if they're 3-0 in the Series. The Yankees, their previous opponents, were at 3-0 before they lost four straight games to the Red Sox. The Sox have to keep focused on the goal; if they relax even a little bit, they may open the gates wide for another improbable comeback.

But while they're still ahead, LETS GO, RED SOX!!!!

Still More on Greenhills

My apologies if some of you are tired of the Greenhills situation, but I just can't let go of it. So, I'll try to sum up in this, which will be the last time I will mention it, unless there is some new information/news.

I did a search on Google for the Greenhills prayer room situation. It seems clear that The Philippine Star does not have any archives, as links to the previous days' pages bring me to empty space. It's a pity; I should've copied down Max Soliven's articles and posted them. They make for some vitriolic bigotry.

Much of the online literature on the subject, so far, has condemned the protest against the prayer room, although the Inquirer posts a news report on the boycott called for by hte Greenhills homeowners.

Here are other articles on the controversy:

Say it loud! by Manuel Buencamino, ABS-CBN article
Chance to pray by Manuel Quezon III, The Philippine Daily Inquirer
This land is *not* your land - blog entry, micketymoc
A View from Singapore - interview of Dr. Amado Mendoza by Howie Lim
A matter of fairness - Romeo Pefianco, Manila Bulletin

Addendum to Greenhills

I just can't let go of the issue while it's still ongoing, so I continue to keep an eye out for articles on the Greenhills situation.

Michael Tan of the Inquirer has put in his two cents in his article, which compares the Greenhills situation to the French ban on 'overt' religious symbols.

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Three days to the break. It feels like it's a long way to go.

Red Sox Rolling

The Red Sox have taken a 2-0 lead in the World Series, and are halfway to their goal of winning it all. The statistics are good for them: 28 out of the 33 teams that have gone 2-0 went on to win the Series. Yet, with the cynicism of a jaded writer, the sports news belatedly points out that the last Red Sox team to be in the Series, the 1986 version, went 2-0 only to lose in 7 games. However, it's not 1986, and, hopefully, this version of the Sox has what it takes to finally put to rest the long fruitless years of frustration, and put an end to the so-called Curse of the Bambino.

Here's another fan's take on the Curse.

Hectic Weekend

I refereed this weekend at the 47th National Judo Tournament by Team. By far, it was probably the lightest run I've had as a referee. Normally, judo tournaments begin around 11 a.m., and, due to the number of competitors, end at around 7 or 8 p.m. But, because there were only a few teams that entered (8 for men's division, and 5 for women's division, so I heard), the matches went fairly quickly. What also helped was that there was a good number of referees in attendance, so the rotation was not too taxing, as I was only in the playing area twice, for a total of 6 matches refereed. Normally, I would be on the playing area about 6 times, for a total of 12 matches refereed.

There were some spectacular throws executed over the weekend. The University of Baguio men's team defeated the Manila men's team for the championship, and most of the wins were by full point throws, which, I think, is the quickest and less tiring way to win.

What I found tiring was the waiting. Last Saturday, we were instructed to be at Ninoy Aquino Stadium at 10:30, for a referee refresher course. The tournament started at 2:30. Yesterday, we were told to be there at 12 p.m.; the tournament started at 2:00. If I'd known that it would start like that, I probably might've gotten to the site a little later than I did.

In addition, the opening ceremony was held yesterday, and it took about an hour. It was fairly entertaining, though. The guest speaker spoke at length about his experiences as a judo player, and provided some tidbits of wisdom for the competing players. After his talk, the national team put on a demonstration of judo techniques, known as kata, as well as a look at a judo player's training regimen.

Still, it was a long and rather tiring weekend, more because of the waiting and traveling rather than the tournament itself. And, of course, I have work today, so I'll probably be a little out it.

Red Sox Win!

The Boston Red Sox have come back from a 3-0 deficit with four straight wins to bury their hated rivals, the New York Yankees, in the best of seven League Championship Series. The Sox'll be making their appearance in the World Series for the first time since 1986, and they once more have a chance to win it all for the first time in 86 years.

It was a complete effort of will. The Sox won their first two games in extra innings. Curt Schilling pitched on an injured ankle to win the third. And Johnny Damon hit a grand slam in the fourth game to put the Sox inexorably in the lead to win it all.

Here's another look at the win, from another blogger.

Anything is possible if one puts his heart and soul into it.

Just to Clarify

Oh, if there are people confused or are not aware about what is happening in the Greenhills Shopping Complex, here's the skinny:

The owners of the complex have decided to set up a prayer room for Muslims in the shopping complex; if one can recall, a strip . In reaction, a group of homeowners have filed a protest against the building, citing what they believe are the inherent dangers of Muslims being able to meet in one place.Max Soliven, publisher of the Philippine Star, has written several columns condemning the prayer room; his wife is one of the main protesters.

It's a pity that the Philippine Star site doesn't seem to have any archives; otherwise, I would readily add the links to Soliven's columns, so one can get a first hand look at what the guy is trying to say.

Another columnist, Rina Jimenez-David, has written a reaction to the controversy here, here and here. One more for good measure is another column by Victor Agustin.

On the Subject of Bigots and Mosques

My brother keeps a hardbound 'notebook' of bound blank pages, so that he can record anything that he finds interesting. One of the entries in the notebook details a comment made by an org-mate of his:

Org-mate 1: I've never seen a Muslim before.
Org-mate 2: Don't worry. They look just like us.

Just my two cents on the Greenhills 'mosque' situation:

One of the things I find ludicrous about the controversy in Greenhills is that writers like Max Soliven of The Philippine Star claim that there is a 'black propaganda' campaign against himself and his wife, perpetrated by the owners of the Greenhills shopping complex. I disagree. The very nature of the protest against the proposed 'prayer room' is enough to elicit negative reactions from more level-headed people, whom Soliven sneeringly labels as 'bleeding hearts' and 'liberals'. The protest is just plain wrong.

I remember an episode in 7th Heaven where a similar issue was tackled. A Muslim friend of the youngest Camden, Ruthie, was not allowed to enroll at a prestigious private school, on the basis that the girl's family was Muslim. To show her support for her friend, Ruthie opted to pull out of the school; two of the administrators also quit in sympathy.

It's wrong to label or insinuate that all Muslims are bloodthirsty terrorists, as the esteemed publisher of the Star seems to believe. That is the very root of prejudice: making erroneous and hurtful conclusions about a person because of his or her race, creed or religious belief. Being bigoted means that one holds onto that belief through thick and thin, closing one's mind off to the possibility that he or she may be wrong.

I think that people like the Solivens are blowing the whole issue out of proportion. Muslims have the right to practice their faith, just as Christians and Catholics do.

Hopefully, the situation will work itself out. Unfortunately, it'll only happen after closed-minded bigots are willing to open their minds.

The Twilight Knights

When I joined the Polyhedron gaming group in high school, one of the RPGs we played was Marvel Super Heroes. The concept was simple, as were the rules. Create a hero, and fight evil and uphold justice. Since there were quite a number of us, a lot of characters were created.

And thus, the Twilight Knights were born. I really don't know why that was the name of the group; I had joined in after the group was formed. Led by the mysterious Ellen Derelicht, the Knights fought such foes as the Technomancer, the Mob and the Bestiary. And Black Belt Jones, whom I'll probably write about in a separate article; he deserves it.

There wasn't any logic to the way the group was formed; it was simply the way things were, and let's leave it at that. If the Knights were an actual comic book, we'd probably get snickers because of the lineup; it was really diverse, not to mention, in hindsight, truly illogical.

The Knights were composed of the following (at least, those I can remember at the moment):

Amok - He was my character. Amok was a blend of the Hulk and Wolverine; when stressed, he'd become stronger and more animalistic in his attacks, depending on the die roll, of course.

Ralph Redgreen - the field leader of the Knights, Redgreen's power, as far as I can think of, was being immortal. Brash and blustering, I remember a time when Amok knocked out Redgreen in a fit of anger. Since I rolled a 90+ on my first hit, knocking him out was probably akin to Batman's knocking out of Guy Gardner in the de Matteis/Giffen version of the JLA. Redgreen was eventually killed, but I don't remember how. How does one kill an immortal?

Familiar - the mage of the group, Familiar was a truly powerful character, with the ability to cast whatever spell came to mind.

Psy-Range - an archer with telekinesis, Psy-Range could mentally control, and, as a result, dramatically improve the accuracy of his arrows.

Kitsch - Created by the only female player in the group, Kitsch had awesome telekinetic powers.

April Take-Out - Flight and plasma bursts defined this character. She was one of the heavy hitters of the group.

Cain Keene - An ordinary human with extraordinary will and determination, Keene was so horribly scarred and pockmarked from his numerous battles that he would probably have given people terrible nightmares if he was real.

Onslaught - An android, Onslaught was pure power. With his "main squeeze," Prima, Onslaught was unstoppable. There was one time, though, that he was subject to rust, a gift from one of the members of the Mob, the Knights' regular adversary.

Slasher - He was one of those who found it hard to fit in. Slasher was adept at knives and swords, but he was an ordinary human, so it limited his usefulness to the team.

I'm pretty certain there were others, but I can't recall them at the moment. The ones mentioned above, however, were pretty much the regular team, and would often fight together.

The Knights have long disbanded, as our playing group no longer meets. But, for me, the Twilight Knights represent one of the few times I truly enjoyed role-playing.

"Ladder 49"

The movie "Ladder 49" gives us an intimate view of the life of a firefighter, who, at the start of the movie, is injured and fighting for his life. He looks back on his life, from the moment he entered the fire station, to the time that he was married and had kids. Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta play the rookie who rises to each occasion and the captain who guides his protege through his career and his family life.

"Ladder 49" pulls at the heartstrings, and I think it succeeds beautifully. Each moment in Jack Morrison's life gives us a view of the difficulties and the dangers firemen face, and the strain it places on their families. Each moment makes us feel for the characters, and binds them closer to our hearts.

For many Americans, it's a nostalgic look back at 9/11 and the firemen who lost their lives when the towers fell. For me, I remember an article by Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, who takes a personal look at the firefighters who died by blending it in with the football league they compete in.

While there are weaknesses in the film, I'd rather not focus on those, and focus on the celebration of life that the movie is meant to be.

Field Trip, First Draft

Today, I accompanied my moderating class on a field trip to Biak na Bato in Bulacan. Having experienced being rained on in Makiling two years ago, I prepared for a hike and for wet weather. Fortunately, we only had the hike, and the weather stayed moderately hot for the whole time we were there.

What was a bit jarring was the need to wake up a lot earlier, because I was informed that we would be leaving at 5:45 a.m. H and I had watched the last full show of "Ladder 49," (more on that in a future entry) and I fell asleep at about 1:15 a.m. I woke up at 3:45 a.m, although I stayed in bed until about 4:15, which was when I got up to get ready. I left the house at 4:30 a.m., passed by Jollibee Philcoa (24 hours, a Godsend) for some breakfast and baon, and made my way to the high school.

I really have to remember that field trips rarely start on time. Sure enough, we left at 6:15, although traffic was quite light on our way to Biak na Bato. We arrived at the site at 8:30 a.m., which was ahead of schedule.

Our guide took us to four caves, which were used by the Katipunan as hideouts in their war against the Spaniards, and by World War II guerillas fighting the Japanese.

The first cave had a low ceiling, and we had to duck quite a bit to avoid getting hit in the head. It was a creepy experience, because it was pitch black, with only our flashlights to guide us. It was also quite muddy, and the consistency of the mud reminded me of UP's Sunken Garden after rainfall: gooey, and sticky. I think I had about half an inch of mud from that cave.

The second cave was relatively more open than the first, and was used as a hideout during the wars. Nothing too interesting about it, though.

The third cave had mud similar to the first cave, only a lot more of it. As it was used as a storage site by Katipuneros, I wondered how they dealt with the slipping and sliding of the mud. I cannot imagine what the place would have been like after a strong rain, which, fortunately, we did not experience. More mud stuck on to my sandals then, although I was extremely thankful I had decided to swtich to my Mojos from my rubber shoes; I don't think they would have made it out intact.

The fourth and last cave had a breathtaking living rock structure: the base was studded with hundreds of bits of quartz and it glittered as we shone our flashlights on it. The stalagtite above it was actively dripping water onto the base, and perhaps in a few thousand years, it would form a beautiful pillar. It reminded me of my trip to Luray Caverns in Virginia, which had many such structures.

We broke for lunch after the caves, and we enjoyed a long break because we apparently had finished early.

After lunch, around 12:30, we headed for the river crossing. I was the last one to cross, and was the recipient of much splashing. I came out drenched from head to toe.

From the river, we headed to a point in the forest, where our guide lectured about the details of the forest, and the need to preserve our natural resources.

After that, we headed for a shallow part of the river, where, above it, was a hanging bridge from where students who had permission, as well as adventurous teachers, could rappel from a height of about 25-30 feet.
As anybody who knows me knows, I have a thing about heights, but I decided to rappel anyway. After putting on the harness, gloves and helmet, and being given instructions from the rappeling master, I crossed over to the other side of the railing, ready to drop. As I leaned back, I fell a bit, with my legs pointing straight up. A bit of panic got to me, as I was imagining the drop I'd fall. The master calmed me down, and assured me that I was secure, and instructed me to remove my legs from the edge of the bridge, and begin my descent. I know I was going a little too fast, but I wanted to get down as quickly as possible. I made it, and when my feet touched good old Terra Firma, I felt shaky but slightly triumphant. I had done it.

There was a little more splashing in the water, and one of my students, who was also my judo player, challenged me to a friendly wrestling bout, to get me into the water. I wasn't able to compensate for the loose ground, and I got tumbled into the water. My right shin also suffered several grazes, leaving me with an interesting pattern of scratches.

It was homeward bound after the splashing and the rappeling, although our adventures weren't quite over. On the Expressway, and close to the exit, one of our tires blew out, and we had to crawl our way until we reached the Caltex waystation. It was decided that several of my students would transfer to another bus to lighten the load, and we would continue on with just one good tire on the rear left side. Thankfully, the other tire kept us going until we reached the high school, where our adventure came to an end.

I enjoy these field trips, because they're very energetic and active, unlike dreary walks through museums. I am also able to test myself as well, to see what I am capable of, and attempt to stretch my limits.

Entertainers I Miss, Part Deux

Dopedopedope!

I knew that my previous post was incomplete. How could I have forgotten Theodore Geisel, also known as Theo Le Seig, and, more popularly, as Dr. Seuss!

A good number of us grew up with the "Cat in the Hat" (I refuse to watch the recent movie.), and "Green Eggs and Ham." Seuss' sense of rhyme and rhythm, helped me appreciate the concepts more. The fact that they were wacky also entertained me.

Books like "The Lorax," and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," I think, made us more aware about values: in the case of "The Lorax," about the environment, and with "The Grinch," the basic value of being nice to people.

One of my college professors, a poetess in her own right, kept Dr. Seuss close to her heart; she even wrote Seuss, and received a hand-signed poster of the Cat in the Hat, with the inscription, "To my favorite Filipino poetess" (or something like that). Upon my class' graduation from college, she gifted us each with a copy of "Oh, the Places You Will Go!" which was one of Seuss' last books.

I was the one who broke the news of his passing to her in 1991, and her reaction was that of deep sorrow. I'm sure many others mourned his passing.

It is people like Dr. Seuss whose presence we miss because of the laughter and joy and also, wisdom that they would impart to us.

Entertainers I Miss

Hearing about Christopher Reeve's death made me recall the other celebrities whose deaths I personally mourned, for the loss of the laughter and joy that they brought:

1. Jim Henson - the heart and soul of the Muppets, Jim Henson is probably partially responsible for my command of the English language, Sesame Street being an integral part of my childhood, and I'm probably not the only one who feels this way. His various shows and movies brought me to a world I could believe in. It would be difficult to find just one memorable Henson moment, as there are so many of them.

2. Charles Schulz - the creator of Peanuts, Schulz made me sympathize with the hard-luck, hard-put Charlie Brown. His snippets of wisdom were a joy to follow on a daily basis.

3. Hank Ketcham - the creator of Dennis the Menace, Ketcham, with every strip, would take us back to our childhood, and help us relive what it was like being a kid. A rather rambunctious kid, but a kid nonetheless.

4. Gene Kelly - the penultimate dancer. My daughter loves the Singing in the Rain sequence in the movie of the same name, and so do I.

Requiem, Superman

Yesterday, Christopher Reeve passed away.

I remember when "Superman" opened in theaters way back in the 70s. I remember liking the second movie more than I liked the first, especially that part where General Zod, the villain, commanded a powerless (so he thought) Superman to kneel and take his hand, and getting it crushed as Superman revealed that he was not so powerless, after all.

I also remember reading about Reeve's spinal injury back in '95, making him a quadriplegic. I remember the courage and determination that Reeve showed in vowing that he would walk again. To me, that was the mark of a true Superman.

Now, he's at peace.

The True Series

It's a baseball fan's dream come true.

Once more, the Boston Red Sox have a chance to bury past history by defeating their longtime bitter rivals, the New York Yankees. At last, the Curse will be laid to rest.

To the uninitiated, what exactly is the Curse? The term is short for the Curse of the Bambino.Back in 1920, the owner of the five-time champion Red Sox sold a promising young pitcher named George Herman Ruth to the New York Yankees. Ruth, also known as "Babe," went on to lead the Yankees, who had never won a championship, to four World Series championships. Since Babe Ruth joined the team, the Yankees have won an astounding 26 World Series, while the Sox have been to 4 Series, and have lost each one.

What makes the curse so colorful is that the Red Sox have tended to lose in spectacular fashion. Take, for example, game 6 of the '86 World Series. Read Sports Illustrated account of it here; it tells the story better than I can. At any rate, Buckner became the goat in the Red Sox' continuing battle for respect.

While this upcoming League Championship Series isn't the World Series, and winning the LCS won't ensure that the Sox will win the World Series, perhaps by beating the Yankees, the Sox can put to rest the Curse that has hounded them for the past 84 years.

Food-filled Weekend

The weekend was pretty busy, courtesy of the various events that occurred over it.

Saturday morning found me in the High School, where I was scheduled to proctor the entrance exam. Normally, I find ways and means to be a corrector, because being a corrector means that once I'm finished, I can go, unlike proctors, who have to stay until the end of the exam, which takes about 3 hours. This year, however, I opted not to trade for a corrector slot, as I feel a little burned out being one.

Proctoring was no big wup, but it was pretty boring. The highlight for me was when I discovered that one boy had misunderstood the head proctor's instructions, and had gone to another section of the exam. Unfortunately for him, I discovered this with about 5 minutes to go in the current part of the exam, so the examinee was royally screwed. Not only was he only able to answer a fraction of the test, but he also had to erase all of his answers on the part he had answered. Later on, when I followed up the instruction to fold the test booklet, I had to repeat it three times before he complied. Nerves, or just plain idiocy? I figure that I probably won't be seeing him next year.

In the evening, my family went out to Taste of L.A. to celebrate my parents' 35th wedding anniversary. That was a little tiring, because between bites, I had to help take care of my daughter, who was pretty much running around the place. Still, the fondue and onion soup were good, and we left feeling stuffed.

Sunday lunch found us heading for Alabang for my niece's 13th birthday. The menu was surf and turf: crabs, prawns, barbeque and steak, with salad on the side. I ate my fill, and more.

Sunday evening was spent at Alba's Tomas Morato branch, to celebrate my aunt's birthdays. While I love Alba's paella, among other things, I think I've been eating too often at Alba's. The food held less savor, although I ate my fill. More than my fill, apparently, because, after my second buffet plate, my stomach felt really queasy.

Busy, busy weekend, but I hope that next week will be less hectic. I could use the rest.

Quake!

Almost an hour ago, the ground began to shake. I was working right here at the computer when I felt that I was moving from side to side. It was then that I realized that an earthquake was underway. It lasted for more than a minute. When it ended, my stomach was unsettled, and my legs shaky.

This is the third strong quake I remember. The worst one was back in '90, when I was an applicant in the UP Student Catholic Action (UPSCA). I was in the tambayan, watching some of the members play pusoy dos. Then, it seemed as if the ground I was kneeling on had turned into Jell-O, bouncing up and down. When the light fixture above us started swaying, we realized it was a quake, and filed out of the tambayan, into the open space outside.

The damage from that quake was horrendous: a school had collapsed down south in Cabanatuan (I think), and the Hyatt Terraces in Baguio collapsed like a house of cards. I remember helping out at UPSCA, filling water jugs and organizing applicants to bring relief goods. Due to the quake damage, Baguio was devastated; it was a while before the Summer Capital recovered.

The second strong quake happened about two years ago. H and I were talking to our neighbor, when the tremors started. The scary part was that the transformer on the post burst into sparks, sending us scurrying home. No other damage that I know of was reported.

And now this one, although this one seems weaker than the previous two. It provided a moment of shiver, and hopefully, that's the end of it.

For now.

Quake

As I was working here at the computer, my chair (and the ground beneath it) began to shake. Man, o man.

It's subsided, buy my insides are still a bit watery.

Hooked on Blogging

I can see from the Dashboard counter that I've written more than a hundred posts since I started writing in this blog. Amazing.

What I like about this habit is that it gets me writing on a regular basis, allowing me to practice my craft.

While my class was doing a seatwork I had assigned, I quickly scribbled down in my notebook a list of topics that I would eventually like to write about. Before I knew it, I had about 20+ topics listed down, with an idea about what I would write about each one.

Since I left my notebook in school, I'll just edit this post tomorrow to list down the topics, not only to let you readers know what I plan to write about, but to give me an online list to remind me.

Dang, I'm hooked. This is fun.

Arrgh

Argharghargharghargh!

Sorry, but it's really frustrating. You see, one of the musicals I've gotten to know and love is "The Little Tramp," written by David Pomeranz; the album features such voices as the late Richard Harris, Treat Williams, Lea Salonga, Mel Brooks, and Tim Curry. I used to have a copy of it, but it got lost, so my friend A let me copy her album. A few years ago, that also got lost.

I tried searching for it ove r the Net, but to no avail. Apparently, the Internet has its limits, and, in my futile search, I had discovered them. There was information about the musical, but no sale sites, and no one has had the determination to post the complete set of lyrics online. Maybe I should write David Pomeranz for a copy.

When my sister went to the States, I asked her to find a copy of "The Little Tramp." Just to be sure, I tried searching for it again.

And I found it. At footlight.com.

For 74 freaking dollars and 50 cents!

Apparently, the soundtrack is out of print (Why, oh why?), and it is listed as a rare album. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to shell out THAT much for a CD, no matter how dearly I want it. Maybe if I won the lottery in the future, I'll consider it, but for now, I guess I'll have to try asking around if anyone has a copy of it somehow.

I once transcribed some of the lyrics. I hope I can still find the paper on which I wrote them, and post them in the future.

Dang.

End of the Fantasy

It's playoff time in major league baseball, and, as I write this, the Houston Astros have just beaten the Atlanta Braves in game one of their playoff series, the New York Yankees are trying to draw even with the Minnesota Twins, and the second game of the Boston-Anaheim has yet to start. But much of the playoff hoopla is unimportant to me. What matters is that my fantasy team, the Blue Eagles, was able to overhaul a big lead and emerge as champions of the division.

The turnaround began with the stretch run, when I had retooled the pitching staff to be more balanced, and more able to gain saves and strikeouts. With people like Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, Shingo Takatsu, and Francisco Cordero, I was able to catch up with the saves leader, and with it, capture the top spot in the division. What a heady feeling that was.

It means, next season, if I decide to play again, I'll be qualified for the winners' division, where I'll be playing against the winners of the other fantasy divisions. I'm hoping the lessons learned from this season will help me deal with the challenge of the next.

Blitzball and Rollerball

I've just come in from the football field, where my class has just played 3 rousing rounds of blitzball, the game John Knowles writes about in his novel, "A Separate Peace." There are no teams, only enemies. One can knock down a player with the ball, but cannot use his hands. A player may pass the ball off to another, but if the other player refuses, the passing player must take the ball back. There are no winners, no losers.

The game reminded me of a game I played when I was still in UP's CMT program. The cadet officers had devised a game they called, "Rollerball." The field used was the quadrangle of the DMST complex, where the officers stayed. On opposite ends of the field were two tires. The ball was the oval pigskin used in American football. The objective, of course, was to get the ball into the opposing team's tire.

Rollerball games would be played, pitting battalion against battalion. I was a member of the Field Artillery Battalion (though, truth be told, we never handled field artillery), and we played against the Infantry Battalion. On my side, were two of my teammates from the UP Judo Club, so any Infantry man who got to hold the ball was in trouble, because my teammate and I would hit him hard. I forgot who won the game, but I remember to colorful bits and pieces.

How I would be screaming wildly as I made my charge towards the opposing player.

How one of my teammates holding the ball went down in a mass of Field Artillery and Infantry players, cursing a blue streak as he went down.

How we challenged the officers, and how they were able to create a corridor for the corps commander to run straight to the goal.

I'm not sure if they still play rollerball in UP, and I would be saddened if I learned they had stopped.

98% per cent sure?

When I was in the US in ’99, I enjoyed watching TV for the colorful and entertaining ads. One of these ads featured two of my favorite baseball players, George Brett and Robin Yount, who would both be entering the Hall of Fame that year.

Here’s a rough transcript of the ad:

George: Hi, I’m George Brett.

Robin: And I’m Robin Yount.

George: This summer, both of us are going to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. And, Robin, no one’s going to care that I got 98% of the vote, and you only got 77%.

Robin: Yeah, George, and no one’s going to care that I had more MVPs that you had.

George: But, we both can agree on the great taste of Miller Lite, because of the expert brewing process.

Robin: I thought it was because of the choice hops they use.

George: Are you 98% sure of that, Robin? Or just 77% sure?

(voice over of announcer talking about Miller Lite. Back to the two. Both are smiling.)

Robin: Those MVP Awards are killing you, aren’t they?

George: Oh, yeah.

October Medals

This morning, we opened the Marian month with a paraliturgy for the blessing of the October Medals, the wearing of which is a tradition in the Ateneo.

The paraliturgy started with a procession of Mary's statue down the length of the Covered Courts, led by the junior basketball team (more on that later), and the special ministers for communion (if I were present last Friday, I probably would've been part of this). All the while, the choir was singing "Salve Regina," which I only realized then was the "Hail, Holy Queen" in Latin. I'd been singing it for three years with my subdivision choir, and it's only now that it occurred to me. Dang.

The Medals were then blessed and distributed to the students. I was in a bit of a quandary; some of my students weren't Catholic, so the wearing of the Medal would not be meaningful for them. I decided to simply give all of my students a Medal, so that no one would feel left out. If they chose to wear it, fine. If they didn't, also fine.

The paraliturgy ended with the singing of the Ateneo Alma Mater. The singing was slightly marred by fourth year students shouting, "Go Ateneo!" forgetting that it was a prayer and not a cheer rally.

Still, all in all, it was a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate the start once more of our patron's month.

"The Bourne Supremacy"

H and I went to see "The Bourne Supremacy" yesterday. This is the second movie featuring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a CIA-programmed assassin created by novelist Robert Ludlum.

I think I liked the first movie better; it was better filmed and edited, and I think the story was more cohesive. Still, the "Supremacy" continues to give us a look at a very complex individual. Who is Jason Bourne? Little by little, from "Identity" to "Supremacy," we get a closer look at Jason Bourne's character. I wonder what "The Bourne Ultimatum" will be like? and when will it be released?

Glimpses:

- We stayed for the next show to catch the start, which we missed. Some of the movies whose trailers were shown, and I want to watch are, "Shark Tale," and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." And with the hectic September behind me, I may just get to watch a good number of movies that will be coming out.

- Is there a rule which exempts SM Cinema employees from observing the National Anthem? While we were standing at attention, an usher was running up the stairs, and several of the janitorial staff were busy picking up trash.

- The only down side to the movie was that apparently the roll they got was damaged, because a scratch kept on flickering throughout the movie. Eventually, I was able to filter it out, until H pointed it out to me somewhere in the middle of the movie.

Blogsurfing, continued

I really like clicking on the next blog link on Blogger. It's so random, and the variety of sites I see is awesome.

One thing bugging me, though: what is it with people who place those popup windows with the message, "Click Yes to access?" Or is it an unwanted feature? Either way, it's just so annoying.

Some of the interesting blogs that I've been brought to, and continue to visit, from time to time:

A Butterless Man
Spit's Journal
Might As Well

The above are basically similar to what I do, which is to write about the world that we live in, and record our thoughts and reflections about it.

Reading of Honors

Yesterday was the Reading of Honors at the high school, and I was amazed at who the admi had invited to be guest speaker. My old classmate, and class brain, Luis Sarmenta! Oh, that's Dr. Luis Sarmenta to you folk. He's come a long way from the time he was the youngest in our class. His talk reminded me of stuff I'd packed away in the back of my mind:

- Like how he, at 18, wrote one of the first anti-virus programs here in the Philippines, Vir-X. And he did it as in his spare time, as a hobby.

- Like how our old principal, and class moderator, the late Fr. Joe Cruz, SJ, would remind us students during every reading of honors to "fire our afterburners."

It was a pity that the ceremony had gone over long, so I'm certain a good number of the students missed some of the key points in Luis' talk.

Seems only yesterday that we were classmates, but I guess that's how we tend to feel about the past.