2011, in Photos: Awe. Some. Sauce.

I think I shall never see,
a poem as lovely as a mangrove tree.

Mockingjay Pins Giveaway at Hunger Games Philippines!

We at Hunger Games Philippines are giving away 3 (or 5) mockingjay pins this holiday season! These are legit pins, you guys! Not plastic, this is real!

1. Facebook promo: "Share" and complete the caption: "Dear Hunger Games Philippines, this Mockingjay Pin should be mine because..." Most creative response wins!

2. Twitter promo: Just tweet "Dear HungerGamesPhil, #IWantThatPin!" and we'll randomly select one person to win a pin!

3. Christmas in Panem contest. Contestants are to submit an entry built around the theme Christmas in Panem. What is Christmas for the citizens of Panem? or How do you think citizens of Panem celebrate Christmas? Any form of media will be accepted. (Freehand drawing, prose or poetry, short story, video, audio, poster etc.) Individual submission: 1 pin. Group entry: 3 pins at most!

How to help the victims of Typhoon Sendong

Talked a while ago to my friend Anna who's living in Cagayan de Oro. Glad to hear she and her family's safe, but she emphasized that it's really bad down there as a lot of families were affected by the fury of Typhoon Sendong. She also asked us to pray for everyone in CDO.

For those who's willing to go an extra mile and help the people of CDO this Christmas season, here's a list I got from Facebook on the ways you can help them.

(Taken from Fil Alcaraz's Facebook note)

1. 

DSWD accepting dry clothes for women, children, elderly at DSWD-NCR or Cagayan de Oro. Volunteers needed at DSWD CDO (Masterson Rd) to repack/deliver relief goods. Call 09066150095 or  858-8892 @DSWDserve #Sendong | via @GelSantosRelos

For volunteers and donations in CDO: contact Manny Borres (09066150095) DSWD CDO.

In MetroManila: Contact Jam (7348639) DSWD NCR (via @govph)

Top 5 of Everything 2011

Inspired (and/or envious) with the numerous best of 2011 lists posted in various websites and blogs, I've decided to make my own top 5 of everything 2011-related as well. These are all based on what I've seen, heard, tasted, did, and I'm no supreme god to have experienced everything. My opinions will definitely, at some point, not agree with yours.

Money Makes the (Showbiz) World Go 'Round

If there's one word we can use to describe Philippine show business, it would be colorful. A plethora of different personas, an infinite number of characters showcasing their talents (or the lack thereof). I have to admit I have never laid my eyes on any local broadcast show for years now, probably with the exception of the shows which I chance upon while riding the bus, but I am always updated with the latest chismis with the help of Twitter's trending topics. 2011 has proven to be a shocker year for the industry, courtesy of the people I'm about to mention. If there's one thing common among how these personalities ended up doing such actions that made them (in)famous, then it definitely is money. What do their actions tell us? What lessons can we learn?

What Came to Mind When I Heard of "Put the Little Girl to Sleep"

Dr. Seuss has written
a bedtime thriller?

Spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn revealed earlier today plans for the assassination (or murder, no one is sure) of her boss Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Although the phrase Oplan: Put the Little Girl to Sleep is longer and taller than the target, I have to give credit to whoever came up with this creative name. It surely got the attention of the country as the online world went abuzz as soon as the plan was bared. As creative as it may sound, and as serious as it should seem, Put The Little Girl to Sleep is just too fancy a name for a murder plot. So here's a list of what came to my mind upon hearing it on the news:

Hunger Games Philippines 1st Anniversary

I earlier attended the anniversary meet-up of Hunger Games Philippines, a community/fan organization for Filipino Hunger Games fans and of which I'm a part of. For those who aren't aware of what The Hunger Games is, here's a brief synopsis:

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

The Marquez Restoration of 2012

It was an ungodly sight.

Years worth of collected books, decimated by severe termite infestation. I couldn’t recognize the Dan Brown books, and couldn’t distinguish Animal Farm from Catcher in the Rye. It was painful to think that the books that were supposed to be part of my mini-library were gone. Spared from the destructive wrath of the termites were several reference books from high school and college, including World History by Perry and Organic Chemistry by McMurry.

Midas Marquez Appreciation Post

The last few days, we have seen Midas Marquez popularity shoot high up as he went from charming Supreme Court spokesperson to internet sensation, as his infamous "laglag" scene gained some much unwarranted media attention. Although this author believes that his reaction was fairly normal, in a country where testosterone levels run high, his reaction has g-a-y written all over it for most of our countrymen. No wonder he got so much flak for his effeminate action.

1+3 Reasons Why EDSA Shouldn't Be Renamed

Eat Bulaga's new theme song:
Mula Ninoy hanggang Cory.

Of course, public outrage ensued once people learned the plan of a certain solon from Bohol to change the name of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (colloquially EDSA) to Cory Aquino Avenue, in honor of Corazon Aquino, Philippine "mother of democracy" and mommy of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Although we understand the intentions of the solon to pay tribute to Cory, but renaming an avenue regarded as a hell-hole (traffic, potholes, whatnots) after Tita Cory? She just might rise from her grave and haunt this man and do whatever scare tactics she has up her sleeve to stop this bill from passing. This reminds me of another renaming stint involving the a man from Manila. Things got ugly (read: vehement opposition) the last time a certain Aquino fanatic tried to officially rename the internationally-regarded Manila Science High School to Cory Aquino Science High School two years ago. But after he realized that everyone from the MaSci community opposed his plan, he eventually backed-off and just had a statue of the former president built and erected somewhere in Manila.

Doctor Who?

The semester of all semesters. I said to myself that it would just be another rollercoaster ride through hell, only I’d need to pass through it five times more than the usual cycle. True enough, it was a rollercoaster ride through hell yet again. But years and semesters spent on this toxic environment has already made me unfazed for whatever intimidating and surprising circumstances I have yet to meet.

Four years ago, I was filling up the UPCAT form, still unsure of what I would like to be. I’ve always said that I want to be a doctor whenever some inquisitive grown-up asks me the age-old question of what I would want to be when I grow up, but it’s something I’m really not that strongly passionate about. Well it is, it used to be. High time was second year high school, when I started watching House on pirated DVDs I bought at Quiapo. Hearing all those rare clinical conditions and hospital jargons (blue cart, stat! 400 IV!) makes me giddy, even imagining myself doing those calls. Everything went downhill since then. Years passed and I found myself less and less engaged with the idea, yet the medical profession is one of the few things that I could see myself doing for the remaining years of my life. I’ve actually thought of a few other thing which includes being a high school teacher, a CEO of a multi-billion dollar empire, the mayor of Manila, and the weirdest of them all, everything what I said rolled into one: a self-made billionaire MD CEO of his own multi-billion dollar medical company, at the same time being the most-awarded mayor of Manila who teaches high school biology during his free time. If you think you have always had the weirdest dream like being a porn star, or becoming some famous internet figure, I bet you can’t beat me. So before I knew it, I’ve already put Biology as my choice.

Five Deals for the Arroyos: Deal or No Deal?

2011 Award for the Person Who Ate the Largest
TV Airtime: DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima

Last week, we have seen the Aquino government shift into high gear and engage in real-life teledrama as they raced to the airport to put a hold on former president and Pamapanga Representative Gloria Arroyo's departure for a scheduled check-up in Singapore, and eventually have her arrested before she managed to hop on that plane and "escape". Of course, President Aquino and Secretary Lacierda praised and aspiring 2013 senatorial candidate Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for defying the Supreme Court's decision of allowing RGMA to seek medical assistance abroad her commendable act of having the infamous representative arrested. Although what she did has put the executive and judiciary branches of the government in the middle of a compromising situation: a constitutional crisis as some experts call it, at least Gloria's in the country and would be forced to answer the allegations.

Gloria Arroyo doesn't need a head gear,
she needs a secondary opinion.

Natalie Angier, The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

“Evolution. Evolution. EVOLUTION! It doesn’t matter whether you’re an atheist, a churchgoer, a craven Faust in a foxhole. You may be Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Druid, a born-again Baptist, a born-again-and-again Buddhist. It doesn’t matter what you believe to be our purpose here on Earth or hope to find in the hereafter, or whether you have faith in a Supreme Being or prefer the Ronettes. It doesn’t matter what disk you insert in the mental module marked “God.” None of it will suffer if you see the principle underlying and interlocking all earthly life. The life of that we see around us, the life that we call our own, evolved from previous life forms, and they in turn descended from ancestral species before them. Newer species evolved from a prior species through the majestic might of natural selection, a force so nearly omnipotent in its scope and skill that it needs no qualification, supplementation, ballast, or apologist. […] For many biologists, evolution is part of the definition of life. “What is life?” one researcher puts it. “That which eats, that which breeds, that which is squishy, and that which evolves.” There’s one fundamental law that comes from the life sciences, and it’s just as deep and all-pervasive and universal as anything in the pantheon of physics. Evolution by natural selection is an absolute principle of nature, it operates everywhere, and it is astonishing. But evolution is underappreciated, and, what hurts me far more, is under assault.”

Present and Past Muses

Pedro Almodóvar (with Maria Delgado translating): In effect, there are many returns in this movie [Volver]. The ones you mentioned - I returned to working with Carmen and Penélope, and I returned to my roots and shot there. In fact that was the main thing for me; that was really very moving, more so than I thought. And also the sense of coming back from beyond, in the character that Carmen Maura plays in the film. But also Volver, if you are familiar with Argentinian music, is a very famous tango from the 30s sung by Carlos Gardel. The song is very important to the movie because it is the song taught by the mother, Carmen’s character, to her very beautiful child, Penélope’s character, to present during an audition to become a movie star. And when Raimunda sings Volver, it is also very moving because then the mother, Irene, knows that Raimunda remembers her, because she is singing the song that she taught her when she was very young. That was the moment when the mother tried to make her, and one assumes that she was a beautiful child, into a movie star. You know the scene towards the end when the mother says to the daughter, “Have you always had such big bosoms?” and the daughter says, “Yes, since I was a child.” So she had been a very attractive child, and the mother had tried to make her even more beautiful for the talent audition. And the mother, without realising it, was creating an irresistible temptation for the father, and he fell into temptation. So Volver is full of meaning. [x]

Photo Personality Meme

PHOTO PERSONALITY MEME | answer the questions below by using the flickr search engine, choose a photo from the first 3 pages, post your results

1. your name (jubert)
2. your favorite food (ribs and baby potatoes)
3. your favorite color (blue)
4. celebrity crush (karine vanasse)
5. what i want to be when i grow up (research scientist)
6. dream vacation (norway)
7. favorite drink (currently: yakult tea)
8. what i love most in the world (the internet, you know other than my family, friends, and stuff)
9. your username (jubeebs-though I used jubs since the jubeebs search turned up nothing)

The upsides of being easily embarrassed.

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that people who are easily embarrassed are also more trustworthy, and more generous.

“Embarrassment is one emotional signature of a person to whom you can entrust valuable resources. It’s part of the social glue that fosters trust and cooperation in everyday life,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a coauthor of the study published in this month’s online issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Best American Beginnings of Ten Stories about Ponies

Yesterday, while I patiently waited for my friends to meet me up at the mall, I managed to read 70 pages of the book The Best American Non-required Reading 2007 which I bought earlier that day, together with Jonathan Franzen’sThe Corrections, for a hundred pesos each at a local used books shop. TheBest American Nonrequired Reading is a yearly anthology of fiction and nonfiction selected annually by a committee of high school students from California and Michigan. The book also includes a selection of poetry, comics, and blogs, published during 2006.

The 2007 edition featured an interesting little segment titled “Best American Beginnings of Ten Stories about Ponies” by Wendy Molyneux, which originally appeared in Monkey Bicycle. I had a good laugh reading the article, so I thought why not share it with you? As Sadie Saxton always says, You’re welcome.

Science Will Never Silence God

by Jesse Bering, from edge.org

With each meticulous turn of the screw in science, with each tightening up of our understanding of the natural world, we pull more taut the straps over God’s muzzle. From botany to bioengineering, from physics to psychology, what is science really but true Revelation — and what is Revelation but the negation of God? It is a humble pursuit we scientists engage in: racing to reality. Many of us suffer the harsh glare of the American theocracy, whose heart still beats loud and strong in this new year of the 21st century. We bravely favor truth, in all its wondrous, amoral, and ‘meaningless’ complexity over the singularly destructive Truth born of the trembling minds of our ancestors. But my dangerous idea, I fear, is that no matter how far our thoughts shall vault into the eternal sky of scientific progress, no matter how dazzling the effects of this progress, God will always bite through his muzzle and banish us from the starry night of humanistic ideals.

Science is an endless series of binding and rebinding his breath; there will never be a day when God does not speak for the majority. There will never be a day even when he does not whisper in the most godless of scientists’ ears. This is because God is not an idea, nor a cultural invention, not an ‘opiate of the masses’ or any such thing; God is a way of thinking that was rendered permanent by natural selection.

As scientists, we must toil and labor and toil again to silence God, but ultimately this is like cutting off our ears to hear more clearly. God too is a biological appendage; until we acknowledge this fact for what it is, until we rear our children with this knowledge, he will continue to howl his discontent for all of time.