Birth Year Top 100

This is just a little exercise that my friend Tin posted on her blog, that her friend posted on hers. I suspect it was influenced by this week's "American Idol", where the finalists sang songs from their birth year (oog, Chikezie got axed. Too bad. I thought he would make it to the final three at least. C'est la vie.). While I realize that this will give away my age, hey, we're only as old as we feel, yes?

Below are the top 100 songs of 1970, the year I was born. I've boldfaced the songs I actually know.

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
2. (They Long To Be) Close To You, Carpenters
3. American Woman/No Sugar Tonight, The Guess Who
4. Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head, B.J. Thomas
5. War, Edwin Starr
6. Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Diana Ross
7. I'll Be There, Jackson 5
8. Get Ready, Rare Earth
9. Let It Be, The Beatles
10. Band Of Gold, Freda Payne
11. Mama Told Me (Not To Come), Three Dog Night
12. Everything Is Beautiful, Ray Stevens
13. Make It With You, Bread
14. Hitchin' A Ride, Vanity Fair
15. ABC, Jackson 5
16. The Love You Save/I Found That Girl, Jackson 5
17. Cracklin' Rose, Neil Diamond
18. Candida, Dawn
19. Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Again)/Everybody Is A Star, Sly and The Family Stone
20. Spill The Wine, Eric Burdon and War
21. O-o-h Child/Dear Prudence, Five Stairsteps and Cubie
22. Spirit In The Sky, Norman Greenbaum
23. Lay Down (Candles In The Rain), Melanie and The Edwin Hawkins Singers
24. Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today), Temptations
25. Love On A Two Way Street, Moments
26. Which Way You Goin' Billy?, Poppy Family
27. All Right Now, Free
28. I Want You Back, Jackson 5
29. Julie, Do Ya Love Me, Bobby Sherman
30. Green-eyed Lady, Sugarloaf
31. Signed Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), Stevie Wonder
32. Ride Captain Ride, Blues Image
33. Venus, Shocking Blue
34. Instant Karma (We All Shine On), John Ono Lennon
35. Patches, Clarence Carter
36. Lookin' Out My Back Door/Long As I Can See The Light, Creedence Clearwater Revival
37. Rainy Night In Georgia, Brook Benton
38. Something's Burning, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
39. Give Me Just A Little More Time, Chairmen Of The Board
40. Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), Edison Lighthouse
41. The Long And Winding Road/For You Blue, The Beatles
42. Snowbird, Anne Murray
43. Reflections Of My Life, Marmalade
44. Hey There Lonely Girl, Eddie Holman
45. The Rapper, Jaggerz
46. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, Hollies
47. Tighter, Tighter, Alive and Kicking
48. Come And Get It, Badfinger
49. Cecilia, Simon and Garfunkel
50. Love Land, Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
51. Turn Back The Hands Of Time, Tyrone Davis
52. Lola, Kinks
53. In The Summertime, Mungo Jerry
54. Indiana Wants Me, R. Dean Taylor
55. (I Know) I'm Losing You, Rare Earth
56. Easy Come, Easy Go, Bobby Sherman
57. Express Yourself, Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
58. Still Water (Love), Four Tops
59. Make Me Smile, Chicago
60. House Of The Rising Sun , Frijid Pink
61. 25 Or 6 To 4, Chicago
62. My Baby Loves Lovin', White Plains
63. Love Or Let Me Be Lonely, Friends Of Distinction
64. United We Stand, Brotherhood Of Man
65. We've Only Just Begun, Carpenters
66. Arizona, Mark Lindsay
67. Fire And Rain, James Taylor
68. Groovy Situation, Gene Chandler
69. Evil Ways, Santana
70. No Time, The Guess Who
71. Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time), Delfonics
72. The Wonder Of You/Mama Liked The Roses, Elvis Presley
73. Up Around The Bend/Run Through The Jungle, Creedence Clearwater Revival
74. (If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can't I Touch You, Ronnie Dyson
75. I Just Can't Help Believing, B.J. Thomas
76. It's A Shame, Spinners
77. For The Love Of Him, Bobbi Martin
78. Mississippi Queen, Mountain
79. I Want To Take You Higher, Ike and Tina Turner
80. The Letter, Joe Cocker
81. Ma Belle Amie, Tee Set
82. The Bells, Originals
83. Yellow River, Christie
84. Somebody's Been Sleeping, 100 Proof and Aged In Soul
85. Vehicle, Ides Of March
86. Gimme Dat Ding, Pipkins
87. Lay A Little Lovin' On Me, Robin Mcnamara
88. Up The Ladder To The Roof, Supremes
89. Travelin' Band/Who'll Stop The Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival
90. Come Saturday Morning, Sandpipers
91. Psychedelic Shack, Temptations
92. Without Love (There Is Nothing), Tom Jones
93. Are You Ready?, Pacific Gas and Electric
94. Woodstock, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
95. I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Dionne Warwick
96. Look What They've Done To My Song Ma, New Seekers
97. Walk A Mile In My Shoes, Joe South
98. The Thrill Is Gone, B.B. King
99. It's Only Make Believe, Glen Campbell
100. Call Me, Aretha Franklin

UPDATE: Checking it out on YouTube, I realize that I'm also familiar with "American Woman" by the Guess Who, although I don't know why. It probably came out in some movie soundtrack or something. Edwin Starr's "War" is what Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker used to bridge their cultural gap in "Rush Hour."

I'm currently going through the list in YouTube. My birth year had some really interesting music, I'll have to say.

Apparently, Ray Stevens' "Everything is Beautiful" and The Moments "Love on a Two Way Street" are also known to me.

Holy Week Break

It's been difficult finding time and proper motivation to write the past few days. Maybe I just got burned out from focusing a little too much on politics, although it has provided me with some great insights about the way our country operates. However, our political arena has become too divisive, too polarized, such that trying to maintain an objective viewpoint, trying to sift through the rhetoric dross to analyze the issues, becomes daunting. There is little middle ground, with both sides claiming their goodness to the world. As a result, I find myself coming up with the same topics, the same ideas over and over again. And it's getting tiresome.

So, unless any new issue crops up, here's my stand on the state of the anti-government protests.

The past few events, the anti-government rallies, have ignored the simple truth that no hard evidence has been unearthed against the President, and, while I agree with the public perception that the President and her minions are probably corrupt, I would like to see the filing of the cases, and the hard evidence laid out against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before I will consider joining the fray. I'd like to see this because we've taken too many shortcuts to get rid of presidents we detested. We ousted Erap without the benefit of ending the impeachment trial, and installed GMA in his place; who or what will take the place of the President in the event she is removed from office? There is no clear answer, and I, for one, would rather have stability than chaos.

It's Holy Week, with the actual ceremonies beginning tomorrow, commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'll be taking a break starting after this post, and I'll use part of the time to discern and consider where I want to take my blogging.

Until then, may all of you readers have a restful and spiritual long weekend.

Splash of Water

It's been difficult trying to write during the past few days, having been distracted by bouts of nostalgic gaming (more on that in a future post). But, regarding the political crisis facing our country, here's a splash of cold water from the dean of the San Beda Law School, which I found, courtesy of Thoughts on the Unicorn Conspiracy. Except for his comments on the Ombudsman and DOJ Secretary, both of whom have proven their bias for the administration in the past, much of what he writes makes sense.

So here it is:

WHY I WILL NOT SUPPORT CALLS FOR RESIGNATION
By Fr. Ranhilio Callangan Aquino, Dean, Graduate School of Law, San Beda College (Mendiola)

I AM not an apologist for President Arroyo. I have received no favors from her. I believe that she is a competent president and I also believe in the Rule of Law, no matter that the law may, in several respects, be infirm. And by the precepts of the Rule of Law to which I adhere, pressuring the President into resigning by swaying public opinion away from her and alienating the allegiance of the military is anathema. My own reflections on the moral dimensions of the problems confirm me in the legal position I have so far taken.

1. I have followed with keen attention the proceedings in the Senate. Joey de Venecia's testimony clearly implicates the First Gentleman. Under the current legal doctrine of individual responsibility, there is no justification to impute to the President whatever wrong-doings the First Gentleman may be guilty of. I am not yet conceding that he is guilty.

2. The testimony of Lozada, while rich in many details, contains not a single incriminatory statement against the President. There are innuendos that the deal was known to , if not brokered, by some Malacanang personalities, but innuendo is never evidence, and when we take so a serious move as urging the people to press for the resignation of the President, such a call must, by all moral precepts, rest on moral certitude!

3. Much of the testimony of Lozada in the Senate would fail the test of judicial admissibility. The Senate does not adhere to the Rules of Evidence. It is not required to because its task is not judicial.

4. The Senators are not the impartial investigators and judges that judicial proceedings call for. Most of the Senators are political adversaries of PGMA. The witness answers as he is led by the questions. In court, most o these questions are characterized as "leading", and are disallowed in direct examinations because they lead the witness to the kind of answer the proponent of the question, in this case, the senators' wish to elicit from the witness.

5. Section 15 (1) of Republic Act 6770 vests in the Ombudsman the power to investigate "any public officer of employee, office or agency" when an act or omission, complained of appears to be illegal or even merely improper. I do not read, nor is there reason to read, the exclusion of the President from the power of the Ombudsman to investigate. Section 22 is in fact express about its power to investigate impeachable officials. I would like to hear the Ombudsman tell us whether or not there is probable cause in the first place because this, the Senate of its own cannot determine, nor does it possess the power to do so!

6. What shocks me is the irresponsibility with which a lawyer and a Senator of the Republic should prejudice the Ombudsman and dissuade the public from lending credence to the Ombudsman. Why should he? The reason is not too difficult to fathom: Since this particular senator has always wanted the President ousted, he wants public attention focused on the Senate, majority of whose members are having a heyday with the investigations at which they get the chance to bash the President. Proceedings before the Ombudsman should be more sedate, more orderly, more rational.

7. The contention that the Ombudsman and the DOJ Secretary cannot conduct credible investigations because they are presidential appointees is specious! Were that so, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the associate justices of the High Court, the justices of all superior courts, judges of courts, members of the Constitutional Commissions all would lack credibility because all are presidential appointees. Is it then our sad fate in this blighted Republic that only the Senators are to be trusted? All the clowning that has taken place in the Senate thus far convinces me otherwise: That it is one of the least credible institutions in this country.

8. Is it really the truth we seek? I have the sickening feeling that the President's foes have already decided what the "truth" is: that she is guilty. If the Ombudsman were to find no probable cause against the President nor reason to indict the President in the Lower House (that is tasked with filing the articles of impeachment) after a thorough investigation, would the members of the opposition and the media be willing to accept this as "true"? I have my serious doubts. But that is exactly the trouble: If they have decided before hand what "true" is, then all investigations are unavailing.

9. When one protests his earnestness in search of the truth and at the same time presses for the resignation of the President, one is guilty of a "performative contradiction." If you search for the truth, you do not yet know whether or not she is guilty. But if you do not know this yet, what reason is there to ask her to resign?

10. Asking for the President's resignation gives now the military the signal to shift allegiances: From following the chain of command to breaking it. I find pathetic and ludicrous Jose Ma. Sison's call to the military to shift allegiances.

11. When did all these coup attempts disruptive of civil government start? They all started with the politicization of the military. While we lauded their role in the first EDSA People Power revolution, we also opened a Pandora's Box: the ugly prospect of the military dictating upon civilian government and making the latter hostage to it. How shall we ever have a government that truly subjects military authority to civilian rule if we court military support for the ouster of civilian government?

11. The two EDSA People Power exercises we have gone through got us the results we wanted THEN the ouster of Marcos, the ouster of Erap. But have these resulted in the strengthening of democratic institutions? They definitely have not. And when the institutions of democracy and justice are weakened by extra-systemic measures like people power, snap elections, pre-mature departures from office of duly constituted authorities, we deter the maturing of our democracy.
12. It has been repeatedly argued that the President's resignation is not unconstitutional. But forcing her to by inviting the military for example to disavow obedience to their Commander-in-Chief and the civilian population not to submit to authority is certainly unconstitutional.

Requiem, Dungeon Master

Without Gary Gygax and his groundbreaking role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons (D & D, created with Dave Arneson), it's possible that the gaming landscape would be very different. Without D & D, fantasy games like Warcraft and Magic: The Gathering would not have been possible. Without D & D, role-playing games (RPGs) such as Vampire: The Masquerade and Champions would probably have not been possible. D & D opened up the gaming world into new realms that we only dreamed of. It was Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson who helped set the tone and opened our eyes to what can be.

On a personal note, D & D had a great impact on my life. I remember beginning play in Grade 6, and none of us knew what we were actually doing, but we had great fun doing it. Star Frontiers and Marvel Superheroes followed in high school, and my life was never the same again.

Last March 4, 2008, Gary Gygax passed away at 69.

Rest in peace, Gary, and thank you for the memories.

One blogger's tribute to Gary.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

After all the negative stuff, it's refreshing to come across something like this:



This is an abbreviated version of his complete lecture, which, as he mentioned, he delivered in September 2007. It's too long a video to post here, but you can view it here.

As of last Saturday, Randy Pausch continues to live life to the fullest, according to his own account.

Flawed Opposition

In the aftermath of last Friday’s rally, it’s apparent that the anti-Arroyo forces have yet to achieve the critical mass they need in order to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This despite the numerous scandals Arroyo’s administration has experienced, the most recent being the ZTE-NBN broadband deal, which is touted as a glaring example of the administration’s corruption. This despite the tactics the administration has seen fit to employ to obfuscate the issues and hide the truth, ranging from intimidation of anti-Arroyo forces to harassment of key witnesses to hiding behind the mantle of executive privilege.

There are several reasons for this, the prime one, I think, being the credibility of the leaders of the anti-GMA forces. Prominent among these is former President and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada, who has managed to distort his political history to come out looking cleaner than the current President. It pained me to see former President Cory Aquino going hand in hand with the person she helped oust. Estrada remains unrepentant for the sins of his administration, and claims that there was little or no corruption during his time as President; as his trumpet bearer Ninez Cacho-Olivares argues, his conviction was a rigged one. Still, it’s clear, to me, at least, that Estrada was corrupt, and ousting him was something that needed to be done. To see him at the forefront of the anti-Gloria forces, calling for an end to the corruption, is tantamount to the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.

As for some of the other leaders, it’s clear that all they’re interested in is taking power. This group includes some of the 2010 presidential wannabes, such as Senators Manny Villar and Panfilo Lacson. Lacson, of course, has been nipping at the administration’s heels ever since he was elected Senator, even attempting to trot out witnesses with questionable backgrounds, such as Ador Mawanay. Villar, in his case, has already suggested that the President be impeached, which, of course, the administration-controlled House took offense at, as it usurped the House’s prerogative to raise the impeachment to the Senate. It also called into question Villar’s impartiality, should the Senate have to form itself into an impeachment court, and he acting as one of the judges.

The main problem is that there is no current opposition leader who is untainted enough for people to look up to and respect, no clear alternative. Even Senator Loren Legarda admitted that in a recent statement, although her reasons may be more because she doesn’t want to see the constitutional successor, Vice-President Noli de Castro, her bitter rival in the 2004 presidential elections, take power. At any rate, scanning through the ranks of the opposition, there is no one suitable enough to replace the President at this point in time.

Another reason for the hesitation is the sheer diversity of the anti-Arroyo forces. While it does emphasize the broad dissent against the government, such a coalition will be unwieldy to control should it ever rise to power. More likely is the situation where utter chaos ensues, as the various factions fall upon each other to grab their slice of the political pie. Already there is division, as the civil society groups who helped oust Erap in 2001 balked at sharing the interfaith rally with him, choosing instead to walk out.

The opposition isn’t even clear on what mode of transition they wish to follow in the event of a GMA ouster. Some argue that the constitutional successor, the Vice-President should replace her, while others want de Castro to also step down, being similarly tainted with corruption. Yet others, leftist representative Satur Ocampo spout the nonsense of a “transitional council”, which of course is unconstitutional. The disagreements going on are only a precursor to what will happen should the broad coalition take over.

Flawed leadership and disunity are rife within the anti-GMA groups, and, because of this, I think more people are willing to let GMA finish out her term and let her step down in 2010. Of course, this will still hinge on just how willing the administration is in letting the truth be known. The most concrete step is to revoke EO 464, the order designed to stymie congressional efforts to ferret out the truth. If the government does this, and takes other steps to become more transparent, it's likely that we'll see GMA step down in 2010. If not, well, then she'd better make sure that she's ready for the backlash.

Pamumulitika

The Ateneo de Manila University was recently a target of harassment by pro-Gloria forces, as a number of yellow and red posters and streamers were posted on the pink MMDA fences along Katipunan Ave., where the Ateneo campus is. The message on the posters, apparently posted by the group Kasangga sa Kaunlaran, screams, “Sa taas ng matrikula, turo ninyo pamumulitika!” which translates roughly into, “With the high tuition you charge, you teach politicking!” With the posters, the pro-Gloria forces condemn the Ateneo for being one of the schools leading the protests against corruption in the government.

Of course, it’s an empty condemnation, because the school has yet to come out with an official stand on the issue, even if faculty and students are voicing their own dissent.

It’s also an empty condemnation because it begs the questions, “so, should we as Filipino citizens close our eyes and ears to the massive corruption going on? Should we let corrupt government officials get away with wholesale theft?" These pro-government forces should think carefully about what they say, because what they spout is basically crap.

Is it politicking to call for the truth? Is it politicking to rail against a government that has resorted to every dirty tactic to obfuscate and hide the truth from the Filipino people? I think not.

As a school, I like to think that the Ateneo teaches its students to be instruments of positive change, and one of the skills the school tries to cultivate in its students is the ability to think critically, to be able to evaluate and analyze situations in order to take action. And, based on the community’s actions, it’s clear where the sentiments of the Ateneo population lie.