We Need To Change, 25 Years Ago.

I’ve always believed in the Philippines. That’s one of the reasons I came back, I want to be part of the change. I was to contribute. Unfortunately, this is not an easy task. One of the few things I realized since coming back is that change in the Government isn’t enough, the very root of Filipino society must be shaken apart. We absolutely don’t have any love for our country, there’s no REAL pride in our people, and NO, Manny Pacquiao doesn’t count. I guess it’s the result of our colonial years under the Spanish, Japanese and American rule, where we look down on ourselves and have this great notion that all things western-made is great and everything that we can do pales in comparison.

Another thing is that we are selfish, human beings are naturally selfish but Filipinos are on some next level “me me me me me” shit. I rationalized it to the thinking that because it seems so hopeless, that looking to the future isn’t an optional anymore, which leads to this type of mentality. If you’re looking for sacrifice for the greater good, well, don’t bother to look here friends. Granted that any significant change possibly won’t be seen by the current generation, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to improve our situation, and improving our situation can’t be done by changing Presidents, it can’t be done by changing policies or lowering the prices of electricity and food. All those help but our attitude and our philosophy must change, society itself must change, because we are to be blamed. Yes, me, you, all of us are to be blamed for our situation, in our own little way, we have slowly damaged and corrupted our society. By listening to crap ass songs and crap ass shows that hold little intellectual value, by saying don’t take those stupid shows away because it’s the only avenue of happiness that we can afford. That’s bullshit, because by saying that, we again are looking down upon ourselves.

And with that introduction, there are some topics I’d like to tackle for today:

1. Increasing oil prices -

With the past few weeks, one of the major issues in the world is the big increase in oil prices on almost a daily basis. And I believe, currently it’s hitting slightly above the USD 120 mark. And naturally 3rd world countries like ours, the Philippines for my international readers, will be heavily hit. Not only will the increase in oil prices affect our petrol consumption, it also affects prices of goods and services. People will grovel most at the fuel prices increasing on an almost bi-weekly basis. And the reason why it’s terribly bad on our side of the world, is that we lack the proper mass transportation that is available in most metropolitan cities around the world. Cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and the like, because of good mass transportation facilities, there are less cars, because simply, the need isn’t there and add to the fact that car prices are mad expensive. The math is simple, due to less cars, the consumers won’t be affected that much by the increase in fuel, unlike in our situation, our people depend highly on non-efficient consumers of fuel such as the jeepney and the tricycle. Funny how proud we are of our jeepneys, when these things are badly engineered, cause tremendous traffic with their unruly driving and probably are cause for many car accidents on the road. The message is there, WE NEED BETTER MASS TRANSPORTATION. Enough with the “para po, manong”.

2. Kontra Magazine -

Okay, still trying to get this ball rollin’. I kinda have my sections in mind and some concepts written down. Interviews and articles still need to be started on. What I really need now is somebody who can do basic layouts and who’s willing to do it pro-bono. If you’re looking for an opportunity to work on something different and fresh, this is going to something you’ll enjoy, I promise. So layout gurus and artsy folks, hit me up now now now now!!!

3. NBI Clearance -

Related to the bureaucracy and redtape that our government and our professionals are oh-so famous for. Today I went to the Carriedo office to secure my NBI clearance which is something like a police clearance in other countries. I was relatively surprised that despite the shabby structure of their offices, badly placed signs and slightly messy queue structure, I was able to finish within just slightly over an hour’s time. This is the same clearance, that used to take at least a day to finish. I applaud the effort but definitely there are many things that could’ve been done to cut down the time even more. From what I could see, there was definitely an inefficient use of space, the process flow is still kind of messy, even though it helps that there were big ass cardboard signs saying “STEP 1″. Lots of things that can still be improved upon, but props must be given for the effort in improving the system. Oh, automated payment machines were available too, that impressed me a bit.

The Kontra Philosophy

So I’ve been stuck here for over an hour, I don’t know what to write. I’m confused and my mind is in a mess. This is a perfect time.

You would think that being confused is the worst feeling ever and yet how can it be so perfect? I look at it in another way, it gives me time to reassess myself in life. I feel that working in the professional world has made me just another drone, another worker bee. It seems that our life is so mundane nowadays. After graduation, most would dream to land that their perfect job, while a few follow their passion, most of us do what general society expects of us. To try to land a good job with our oh-so fancy diplomas and education and try to earn as much as we can. We all dream to become rich, to acquire assets like houses and cars. We become like everybody else. LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.

Gone are the days when people would have REAL pride in their work, now it seems like everything is just part of the job. It seemed better back in the day before corporations existed, when smaller shops existed. Sure, people weren’t as rich then, but at least they were happy. At least they lived on their own philosophies in life. Nowadays, it seems that most of the things we consider our own ideals and beliefs are simply jacked from the various media that surrounds us. We’ve become too accustomed to absorbing information at a fast rate that we fail to segregate the good from the crap. In a sense, we’ve failed in becoming individuals.

I’d actually like to take this time to reassess my life and how I want to live my life. Yes my life, not my career, although it would be great if I could do something that I love for the rest of my life. I’d like to map out what my philosophies in life really are. I thought I knew, I thought my groundwork was solid but something I read made me realize I didn’t know jack. Maybe try to step out of the comfort zone for a bit, take public transportation more often and just take in reality for what it is.

I’ve also thought that maybe driving in cars too much, makes us dull. Things has become too easy, too convenient. Driving usually makes us pass by the usual road, where we are used to. Creatures of habit, that’s us. Whereas when taking public transportation or even walking, you have a dearth of options available to you, where you want to pass is up to you. Most of us don’t have the patience for this though, we are too used to the fast life.

This is the city, baby, you can either play by the rules or get left behind.

Well ain’t that just a full load of bullshit. At the end of the day, whether you want to get swept along with the waves, it’s really up to you. Although swimming against the flow is ALWAYS more interesting, but it’s much tougher and not always accepted by the general public. Then again, who really cares what others think?

I hope that one day, I can achieve this. I want to become my own person, free from this Matrix life that we live, to live a life with passion and pride.

With that, I leave a few parting words from the immortal Beatles:

You say you want a revolution, well you know, we’d all want to change the world.

The Perfect Excuse To Buy More Sneakers

Thanks to sir Edgar from NT/ISS. From Yahoo!:

Always buying sneakers? It’s the sign of a leader: poll

Tue Apr 1, 9:50 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Got a passion for buying sneakers? It could be a good sign, with a poll finding that people who buy three pairs of sneakers or more a year are far more likely to be a leadership type that other people.

Mindset Media, a media company that examines personality traits of different consumers, found that people who buy more than three pairs of sneakers a year are 61 percent more likely to have the qualities of a modern leader.These qualities were defined as having ideas and vision, and a style with others that is both inclusive and decisive.

The survey of 7,500 people, using market research group Nielsen’s online panel, found multi-sneaker buyers were 50 percent more likely to be very assertive and 47 percent more likely to be spontaneous.

Lauren Arvonio, a spokeswoman for Mindset Media, said sneaker buyers were more likely to fly by the seat of their pants.

“It is often said you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear, and now we have some hard data to back that up,” Arvonio told Reuters.

“What is interesting is that these personality traits held true across the board, regardless of age, income, or gender.”

Previous Mindset Media surveys found that people who pay their credit card bills off each month were more likely to be “highly deliberate,” thinking through their actions, but also less modest than others, likely to brag about their habits.

Hybrid car owners were found to be 78 percent more likely to be highly creative than other people and less dogmatic.

 

5 x 5: Top 5 Music Artists and Songs

1. The Beatles

• All You Need Is Love
• Blackbird
• Come Together
• Penny Lane
• Two Of Us

..hell 5 songs ain’t enough! I Will, Penny Lane, etc etc etc.

2. Death Cab For Cutie

• Photobooth
• Movie Script Ending
• A New Year
• Lack Of Color
• 405

3. Incubus

• A Certain Shade Of Green
• Favorite Things
• Summer Romance (Anti-gravity Love Song)
• The Warmth
• Stellar

4. Wu-Tang Clan

• M.E.T.H.O.D. Man
• C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)
• Protect Ya Neck
• Triumph
• Gravel Pit

5. Jay-Z

• Politics As Usual
• Dead Presidents II
• Dirt Off Your Shoulder
• Lucifer
• Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love)

It was tougher than I thought, I mean 1 to 3 was easy, they were no-brainers, but the last two slots was tough but I had to give it to the artists who got me into hip-hop.