Fiel’s Ondoy Moment

I know it’s a bit late right now. But I feel that there some things better said late, than not said at all. Ondoy was devastating. I feel it really brought us Manilenos out of our shells by making us feel what less developed sectors of our country experience pretty much on a yearly basis.

My village in Filinvest Homes East Marcos Highway wasn’t one to be spared by the floods. People who lived in single floor houses had to count on the hospitality of our neighbors. In our own home, the flood almost reached the second floor. All of our cars were submerged and I was stuck on the second floor with my family, the household help, a couple of kind strangers who came our way and my cousins.

One of my closest cousins, Reginald Meria who was 5 years my junior was worried sick for his older brother, Ren-Ren Meria who unfortunately, went to school at University of Sto. Tomas (UST) was was last heard stuck without food in the Dominican residence. By the time we had lost contact with Ren-Ren, (in the cutting off of electricity, power, signal and phone lines) none of us had informed Ren-Ren that our village was pretty much inaccesible. This was friday night at the height of the storm.

Morning came and the rains have stopped, I looked outside and it was unbelievable. The village looked like a river – some cars had drifted away, some people were already using boats and people were walking shoulder-high on the main road. I thought the water would have evaporated by then – but that was my elitist-ignorant head talking. (It didn’t evaporate for a looong time). I guess for the most of us in the Metro Manila area, this is God’s lesson on Humility 101.

Speaking of lessons, I’m here to write about my Ondoy Moment. For a good number of my friends unaffected by the flood, their moments were the service they rendered to the victims such as helping out in relief operations and the like. For these people you know who you are, you are awesome. For a good number of my family members, it was when they had to rebuild – have the cars fixed, clean out the houses, etc. Yep, I shared a lot of these moments with them.

But my favorite moment, MY moment was when me and Reg were outside walking in the flood that Saturday noon, and we caught sight our his Kuya Ren-Ren hugging his backpack who had trudged all the way from UST, walked across the flooded Marcos Highway famished and hadn’t eaten for over a day.

I was just lucky enough to have my camera with me to capture it:

Yes, our cars were all rended useless for a while and I had to commute against overwhelming MRT odds in those two weeks that followed Ondoy. Yes, we lost a lot of stuff. Capturing this moment though, kind of takes that pain away from us. (Self-explanatory) ;D

This was the week…

 

As of this writing, I have just finished a 23 hour writing spree with Jez Lucas, my newest workmate and good old friend. As of today,  I consider myself well-initiated on my newfound role as an outsourced SEO content writer.

No sleep since last night. We started around 10pm and I have just ended now, 9:15pm. 10 articles on a topic we knew absolutely nothing about.

Now beneath my battered brain cells, red eyes and caffeine-saturated body there lies a smile – a smile that depicts a kind of happiness that I haven’t felt in the longest time.

Whoops! Before I go on, let me zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture: last week.

SUMMARY: In the blackest plains of hell’s domain, through the fire and flames I carried on.

True, that is a broken excerpt from a song by Dragonforce, but I feel that right now those are the best words to describe what I had just gone through.

It all started friday last last week, when a deadline was given to me by my office where I work full-time. It was a hard deadline – pretty difficult as I really wasn’t used to this kind of work. But I needed to. I wanted to. I felt it. (but just a bit) It occured to me that I needed to do this job so I could move on to MY main project in our company. But I won’t go there. (it’s a surprise)

I didn’t meet the deadline.

I’m fortunate enough i guess, that the person who put me in charge of the project was kind enough to give me some slack. So it was that Wednesday that ANOTHER thing happened.

It is this two-headed creature named diarrhea that loomed over me. Moreover, his gremlin cohorts must have sabotaged the men’s cr in my office that SAME DAY as well.

Needless to say I retreated.

To be greeted by yet another deadline – the one I just finished TODAY.

The deadline was last Thursday – so I failed two deadlines this week.

And yet somehow, someway in all Hallow’s Eve. I got em done. I pulled through.

This was the week that I failed my first deadline in the office.

This was the week that sickness hit me in the worst possible time and place.

This was the week that I failed a second deadline.

This was the week that I barely slept – and didn’t sleep at all.

This was the week that messed up my personal life in ways I decline to mention here.

But this was the week I pulled through anyway.

and #%^%^%$^ IT if it THIS wasn’t THE BEST WEEK SINCE I STARTED WORKING LAST JUNE!

Because this was the week.. that I discovered what it was like to fulfill myself again through good ol’ hard work.

MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO WERE WITH ME!

- To my office

- To Jez

- To my cousins

- To my friends

 

 

 

Bland.

“The unexamined life is not worth living” – a famous quote that represents a principle few people ever live by. Until recently, I believe I have been living my whole young lifetime by this rule.

If I were to rephrase the above quote, it would state “follow your calling” or “take the road less travelled”. Back in my childhood, I always thought it would be in the academics – to stand above the rest and succeed. A little later, it would be in social dynamics – how to deal with people, get what you want and help everyone succeed and be happy. In early high school it was in debating, and later on in geeky stuff like card games, sleight of hand magic and videogames. In college it would be in the performing arts, military service & business.

Each time I shifted my focus, (which was DEAD SHOT LASER-LIGHT FOCUS every. single. time.) I would leave people disappointed, certain commitments unfinished and some would even say I am a fickle man for this. And to a certain extent, I believed the accusations.

But until recently, I realized that amid the constant change of mind I had, one thing was constant.

I followed where my heart led me. To the letter – with complete faith and belief in myself and other people involved.

I never shot blindly because I had expectations. Expectations are goals and I always had a plan to get to them. When they didn’t work, I learned and I picked myself up every single time and tried my best yet again.

Looking back at all the failures, I regret not a single moment because they have taught me invaluable things about the world.

But recently, I feel I made a small mistake. Faced with a choice as to “where to move on next” after graduation, I went for a job. Now this was shooting a bit blindly – because the only goal I had here was to get “work experience” as people suggested to me. I didn’t really care what kind of job it was or how much it paid, (all I cared about is where it was – I declined a much better offer but it was from Makati, I liked Ortigas more for its nearness.) but I just wanted to again obtain experience.

No following my heart. Now THIS is shooting blindly. No faith. No belief. Just a commitment on paper.

The result?

BLAND.

For the first time ever, life tastes pretty bland to me. It is like waking up every morning to a rerun of yesterday. It is like running so damn hard & fast but without idea where I’m heading to next. I have to consult my planner to keep in mind the tasks I have to do for that day – and sometimes just to know what day it is.

In a sadistic sense, it is an awesome experience.

I finally know the consequence of putting my heart aside. To commit for the sake of commitment. To act purely out of duty, without heartfelt motivation. More importantly, how to sustain it without ruining my life. (e.g. excessives drinking, vices, etc.)

I see this as a positive thing. Why? Because:

1.  I will be motivated not to let this happen again.

2. I have become more open, more constant & stable.

3. I have learned to value what my heart shouts to me – more and more.

A Commitment to Greatness

I will use my emotions as my ignition, passion as my vehicle, habit as my fuel & principles as my compass.

To establish greatness, I must establish effectiveness first.

Destiny, Here I Come.

- My summarized mission statement

Blue Eagles’ Unexpected Defeat

Yesterday was a sad day for all of us Ateneans – as we have have beat the other 3 “contender” teams on court, the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, who has never won this season beat the Blue Eagles by a 10 point margin.

As I watched the game it was obvious that UP was really controlling the pace of the game. They were stuck on the Ateneo offense and while they had a lower shot percentage than Ateneo, they had the chance to take more shots.

The usually composed Blue Eagle team was definitely tried and tested – and no one was more pressured than our key man Rabeh Al-Hussaini who was successfully contained in this ball game.

Perhaps a tinge of overconfidence for the Eagles? In that sense it is a good lesson learned for them then. I believe they are still the champs this season – but they need to learn something more because no one wins championships on paper – as demonstraed by UST a few years ago.

I do want to commend the Maroons, especially Woody Co who played an excellent ballgame. This also tells us all that they aren’t to be taken lightly – no one should. Respect should be given at all times to the opponent.

Game statistics & Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net

UP 68—Lopez 15, Co 15, Gomez 9, Padilla 8, Sison 7, Braganza 7, De Asis 3, Maniego 2, Juruena 2, Mi. Reyes 0, Ma. Reyes 0, Gingerich 0, Gamboa 0.

ATENEO 58—Al-Hussaini 17, Salva 11, Salamat 9, Reyes 8, Long 5, Monfort 3, Chua 2, Baclao 2, Gonzaga 1, Tiongson 0, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0, De Chavez 0, Buenafe 0, Austria 0.

Quarters: 18-22, 29-35, 46-41, 68-58

Green Lantern: First Flight DC Animated Movie REVIEW

This confirms my geekiness on the emerald superhero – 2 reviews consecutively about Green Lantern! Unlike the last one though, this one ain’t getting a very positive review on my part.

Good point first: in terms of action there is no question on the excellence of this animated film. Unlike other animated depictions of GL, Green Lantern: First Flight really shows the creativity that can be done out of that ring – from using springs to stop a crashing plane, using a giant fan to keep a body afloat and of course, the CLASSIC big green fists!

If you like action and a lot of violence which really just pushes the PG-13 rating of the recent DC Animated (and non-animated for that matter!) movies, you will love this movie!

For Green Lantern comic followers and fanatics though, this may be a big disappointment. And I don’t just mean the usual of  “oh that little detail isn’t actually right” as only true emerald geeks would know, I’m talking A TOTAL REVAMP of the story and how things work! Here are some examples:

1. The Guardians have emotions! They are NICE. They aren’t supposed to be – they aren’t even supposed to have names! The fact that the Green Lantern Corps follows a very tough group of bosses makes the comic storyline work.

2. YEAH SINESTRO WAS THERE! But though his characterization was really good, there was never a mention of FEAR as the emotion that counteracts the green wilpower of the corps. This is in my opinion, the major violation of the movie: A Green Lantern story is always about overcoming our greatest fears.

3. In connection to number two, they never made mention as to why Hal Jordan was special: he was a man who could overcome great fear. Hal Jordan’s characterization was tasteless & bland like his old depictions. The movie production team should have referred to the depictions of the writer of the current Green Lantern comic  franchise – Geoff Johns.

4. So many other minor things… But had they fulfilled numbers 1-3, these would have been irrelevant.

All in all, I give it a 60%. Good watch – just don’t make sure you are a hardcore GL fan like me!

Blackest Night #1 Comic Review (Spoiler Alert!)

Spoiler: Sodam Yat is a Black Lantern

DC Fans are going to have to expect the unexpected with the newest major arc – Blackest Night! As Comicgasm writer RJ Palabasan puts it, Geoff Johns the current writer of the Green Lantern series is doing a good job of “illuminating” what is otherwise, a very hard concept to pull off. All the Green Lantern & Green Lantern Corps “Prelude to Blackest Night” issues point to what is the “War of Light“. In this war, a group of colorful ring-wielders from each of the rainbow colors (ROYGBIV) will arise and be at war with each other – and at the same time, the Black Lantern Corps will raise the dead bring death to the universe.

With the current DC readership looking for more depth & maturity in the series, philosophizing in the idea of rainbow colors and how to make it work is a challenge. Geoff Johns, being the excellent writer that he is in my opinion, makes a powerful statement in this regard by shocking the world with the awesome Blackest Night #1.

The emphasis of this issue is on death & the different emotions – and their importance in defining the key events in the DC Universe. Hal Jordan of course, plays his key role here as the spearhead of the Earth Green Lanterns as he recaps the different instances in which death has changed the lives of all four members – him, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner & John Stewart.

Villains, ordinary people & other superheroes especially the newly-resurrected Flash, Barry Allen give their own reflections on death. Hal and Barry in my opinion, are suitable partners in this sense because they know how it is to have “died” beforehand. A good move Johns made here is the inclusion & emphasis of the old Ralph & Sue Dibny’s deaths and their connections to the ever-reborn Hawkman & Hawkgirl.

The level of depth Johns presents here is unprecedented. He really makes a statement and fills the readers’ minds with excitement and assures that “no one is indestructible” especially in this major arc. I know this has been done before – but the impression he gives me here in this issue is that Johns does it better.

The use of symbolism is also done tastefully – such as the ripping of a guardian’s heart out signifying how they have “let go of emotions eons ago”, the skull of Bruce Wayne marking his death as a plunge into darkness & how the rings pierced the Green Lanterns’ walls implying the inevitability of death.

Finally: the ending – Ralph & Sue Dibny killing Hawkman & Hawkgirl, which is the talk of the town as far as DC fans go. It seems to be implied that Hawkman & Hawkgirl aren’t completely dead yet – so will they join the Black Lantern Corps? Will they be reincarnated once again? Will they be a Red Lantern & a Star Sapphire respectively as rage & love were the emotions they displayed strongly before their deaths? This only adds to the excitement and the assurance that I will be buying the next issue this August!

All in all, expectations outdone, our money is guaranteed its worth if we get copies. 5/5 stars!

PS – Get the Black Lantern Corps Ring! It is free in most places in the world when you buy BN#1. Got it for Php40.00 at Comic Odyssey

Emman Monfort: Blue Eagles’ Firepower

Emman Monfort

A lot of speculations have entered into the fray as to who will be the top contenders in the 72th season of the UAAP. Being an Atenean meant that I AM biased to the Ateneo Blue Eagles – with players like the reigning MVP Rabeh -Al Hussaini, UAAP 71 Rookie of the Year Ryan Buenafe and UAAP 71 Defensive Player of the Year Nonoy Baclao. Added to this, we have veterans like Eric Salamat, Jai Reyes, Kirk Long and people who are stepping up this year such as Nico Salva, Bacon Austria & of course, returning from Team B and perhaps the biggest surprise to the other teams this year: Emman Monfort.

Yesterday, July 19 2009 two unbeaten teams at 2-0 faced off: The Ateneo Blue Eagles versus the University of Sto. Tomas Growling Tigers. The Ateneo, having beaten the top two contenders in FEU and UE were of course favored to win. Speculations were right. But it wasn’t the usual Rabeh-lation Domination case in which the 6″7 center would have made at least 15 points and 12 boards. It was firepower from the shortest member on the court: 5″6 Emman Monfort from Bacolod City.

He already made impressions that he was a shooter – making 3 point shots in the first two games. But when Rabeh was in early foul trouble the WHOLE team stepped up – and no one did it better than Monfort who landed six 3 point field goals plus two free throws garnering 20 points and obtaining the Player of the Game status – not bad for a returnee from the bench.

This shows perhaps the long-term approach coach Norman Black employed on his Ateneo Team – always encouraging composure, pressure on defense and playing as a team. The best way for me to describe what Black’s coaching results is that “The Blue Eagles have no bench.” Sure enough, you have people like Monfort coming out with full confidence in his abilities as a player and is able to contribute his maximum output.

Despite the loss of Chris Tiu, I believe that this year we have a better team. Better players yes, but more importantly the connections between the players are better. And in terms of outside shooting, we made 11 out of 25 yesterday – and thus teams are now forced to respect not just the dangerous inside game of Rabeh & Baclao but also the outside shots especially that of Monfort. We may have lost Tiu, but Monfort perhaps gave all us Blue Eagle enthusiasts much more to expect in terms of firepower.

Salamat sa inyong lahat Blue Eagles! One Big Fight!

JULY 19 ATENEO VS. UST GAME STATISTICS (Courtesy of Inquirer.net)

ATENEO 93–Monfort 20, Salamat 14, Buenafe 14, Al-Hussaini 13, Salva 8,
Tiongson 7, Long 7, Bacalo 4, Golla 2, De Chavez 2, Chua 2, Sumalinog 0,
Reyes 0, Gonzaga 0, Burke 0, Austria 0.

UST 77–Maliksi 20, Ababou 17, Mirza 13, Teng 6, Bautista 6, Afuang 5,
Mariano 4, Green 2, Fortuna 2, Camus 2, Ungria 0, Felix 0, Cam 0.
Quarters: 30-21, 52-35, 68-49, 93-77

P.S. – This is the link to the official article on UAAP 72 so far by the Ateneo Administration. It says a lot about Monfort: http://ateneo.edu/index.php?p=120&type=2&sec=27&aid=7020

The Blue Eagles this year: GOOD LORD.

I was talking to Nick Nakpil, a basketball fanatic friend of mine last Saturday night about the upcoming Ateneo Blue Eagles Team Lineup.

I told him my prediction for the starting five:

Fiel: Nick, look at our most likely starting five – Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao, Eric Salamat, Jai Reyes and my favorite player Ryan Buenafe.

Nick: GOOD LORD.

There seemed to be a lot of speculations as to how UAAP season 72 is going to go. And just like most predictions, some things were affirmed and some things were surprising.

This was shown at the opening weekend game of ADMU / FEU last Sunday.

1st Surprise: Ateneo won a challenging game at 63-59 – despite indeed a number of predictions that FEU would burn other teams this year. FEU just got the lead once, tied it twice, but the Blue Eagles just refused to look back dominating the Tamaraws in the first half of the game.

2nd Suprise: An all bench team of the Ateneo, at one point controlled the game in the 2nd quarter: Ryan Buenafe, Nico Salva, Emman Monfort, Justin Chua & Bacon Austria to be precise.

OVERALL AFFIRMATION: Ateneo this year is indeed GOOD LORD.

Brightest Day for Green Lantern Fans

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Superheroes in general are really enjoying the limelight these days, particularly in cinema. Some of my favorites include Spider Man 2, Iron Man and Daredevil. (True comic book geeks would kill me for that last one.)

DC comics together with WB Studios while not winning in quantity against Marvel movies, sure is packing a punch with quality. The Dark Knight is arguably the greatest Batman movie of all time!

My favorite superhero and the true “Man without Fear” in the graphic novel genre is the Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). Intuition among the facts lead me to think that NOW is the Brightest Day for Green Lantern fans!

Why?

Let’s break it down!

1. Justice League: The New Frontier – This animated movie features a new angle on the classic Justice League franchise. After watching it, you see that it is designed for a more mature audience unlike the television adaptations. The Green Lantern Hal Jordan is one of the central characters in the film and is given much emphasis together with The Martian Manhunter, unlike other Justice League adaptations which usually focuses on Superman and Batman.

Audience education perhaps? This is just the surface as we’ll see!

2. The Blackest Night – Yes! Issue number zero was given out on free comic book day. As we see, the DC universe faces yet another major problem – and this time the Green Lantern franchise is given the spotlight! While a lot of comic book fans aren’t so big on the whole multi-colored lanterns idea, it is good for deep thinkers like me and is now the only comic series that I’ll be following. The DC readership won’t have a choice but immerse themselves in the Green Lantern frenzy!

3. Green Lantern: First Flight – From the creators of Justice League: New Frontier comes Hal Jordan’s test pilot story in finally, his own animated movie! The trailer video on YouTube looks awesome and I can’t wait for it to come out this July! Just as Batman: Gotham Knight came out before Dark Knight, this probably signals the big kahuna of our Brightest Day which is…

Ryan Gosling as Green Lantern?

4. The Green Lantern Movie! – which is probably shooting as I write this, according to this article on FirstShowing.net. You guys can hunt your own info on this and if you are desparate, I have MUCH MORE info personally but I don’t think I should disclose here. Point is, it is coming guys! I jump on my seat when it comes to this!

Note: My best friend David Nakpil, a HUGE GL fan and the one who introduced me to who is now my favorite superhero, will be playing the role of the Green Lantern (Guy Gardner) if ever I decide to push through with my idea below. (previous entry)