Goodbye, Liz

Her unquestionable celebrity and prolific contributions to the arts; her tumultuous love affairs and the numerous men who chased her shamelessly and whom she shamelessly claimed; her efforts at humanitarianism and equality of rights; her determination to live life to its brim along with all its heartaches and turbulences; her breathtaking beauty and unabashedly violet eyes...

Elizabeth Taylor was, and will always be, a force to reckon with.

She was a Pisces.

What's next?

Massacre+key+witness+killed+in+Maguindanao
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/194255/maguindanao-massacre-witness-killed-lawyer

And the DOJ is pointing fingers.
Tsk.

And, as usual, huli na naman ako sa balita.
Tsk.

Let me shout, too.

In the same way that I put off writing about typhoon Ondoy (I eventually did, I couldn't help it), I have also tried to put aside saying anything about the Maguindanao massacre. And this, for reasons difficult to put a finger on; though I will definitely make an attempt to make sense of it in this post.

I did try, you see. Tried to be my usual, clammed-up, indifferent self--a side of me which only the people closest to me understand, or tolerate--who would much rather stay in one corner and watch while everybody else scrambles for something. It's a sorry state to be in, most people would say. But it does have its advantages, which might seem selfish, but to those who understand the human psyche and its workings, and how the clamming up is a result of some trauma or another, it would make sense.

But, moving on, I could only stay quiet for so long. Not that it matters if I could, in any way, influence those reading this blog--which is not to say that I fancy this blog to have a host of readers because I am fully aware that it doesn't; but if I could provide some faint glimmer of rhetoric to you, dear reader reading this now, then I would be content. And as for the self that is trying to make sense of this whole thing, let it be spelled out that this is for you, so that you could gather whatever pieces of it you may and, in the process, perhaps emerge the least bit enlightened, for whatever it may be worth.

I realize that this may be the only time that I get to vent about it, so now is definitely not the time to hold back. Excuse the lack of understatement. It is not called for, at this time, nor will it be until the perpetrators pay—and pay what they owe—for the deed they have done.

So, the massacre. Massacre. The word itself is chilling, and for it to be actualized is nothing short of horrifying. Horror should be reserved for the movies, not real life. That this atrocity even happened is stupefying.

What evil, allegorical worm could be bad enough as to plant itself in someone’s mind, which must be narrow enough, small enough for the worm to be incubated and for it to grow to a size unwarranted by such a brain, so that it would, at some point in time, break loose into an act so violent, so full of hate, so blood-curdling?

I did feel my blood acerbate the first time I saw it in the news. How dare these people think that they could kill and violate and tamper with life and get away with it, too? It’s the proverbial glutton wanting to have his cake and eat it. Or, the severely misguided charlatan who was given a hand and now wants to take the whole arm.

It is an assault to the Filipino, this barbarity; a crime against humanity and its animus.

I am fuming as I type this. One can only shake one’s head and wait for what happens next. And the Filipino—even this Filipino--will wait. Woe to him who underestimates our capacity to think, and feel.

At the end of the day, though, is the question of what will happen next: so we have expressed outrage at what happened; so we have talked about it, discussed the details in detail, shaken our heads at the unreality of it all; so some of us, especially those in positions of power, have vowed--in front of millions, in front of the press, making our words seep through the television screens and the airwaves--to follow this affront through and ensure that justice sees daylight.

The question, then, is: where does this all end?

Here is a prayer that the archives get to record the event to its last; and may it be written in the last page:

RESOLUTION: JUSTICE.

Poor Dolphins!

Did you hear about the hundreds of Melon-head dolphins who got stranded in the shallow waters of Manila Bay?

Such sad news, the poor creatures. Hope they get back to safe waters soon.

(Thanks, Wowoo, for the update)

OBAMA IS PRESIDENT.

W.

Oliver Stone recently finished a movie about George W. Bush, which is set for release this coming October 17th.

Bush is played by Josh Brolin, who, last year, took on the role of Llewelyn Moss in the critically acclaimed film "No Country for Old Men." Moss is the guy who finds two suitcases filled with cash, then gets endlessly pursued (and, eventually, gets killed) by the deeply disturbed, coin-flipping Anton Chigurh (brilliantly played by Javier Bardem). I absolutely loved that movie.

Let's see what Stone (and Brolin) has to show in "W." (do I add a period here?)

*BTW, Josh Brolin is:
-Diane Lane's husband
-Barbra Streisand's stepson

Goodbye, Mr. Newman

Friday, September 26, 2008.

Actor Paul Newman, who starred in, among many others, movies such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Road to Perdition," died of cancer. He was 83.

Read more here.

Another bank follows suit

And it happens again.

Washington Mutual finds itself taken over by JP Morgan Chase in what seems to be an endless series of gigantic banking losses.

Click here to learn more.

(Reuters photo)

Found!

If you're following the developments in the U.S. financial crisis, you might want to go over this interesting article by James Surowiecki in newyorker.com.

And, while you're there, go ahead and check out Deborah Treisman's piece on David Foster Wallace.

Treisman ends the article with a really strong, lingering paragraph:

"Great literature, Wallace once said, made him feel “unalone—intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.” He was one of the few satirists able to avoid meanness; he was moral without being judgmental. He took on the absurdities of modern life in an attempt to understand or to parse them, not to mock them. Debating the tone of the title of “Good People,” he noted, “My own terror of appearing sentimental is so strong that I’ve decided to fight against it, some; but the terror is still there. . . . Do you identify with a distaste/fear about sentimentality? Do you agree that, past a certain line, such distaste can turn everything arch and sneering and too ironic? Or do you have your own set of abstract questions to drive yourself nuts with?” Gleefully compacted as his language could be, it was designed to be unwrapped—and there was always a gift inside for those who took the trouble. Wallace, who had moved to California in 2002, purposely stayed away from the noise of New York City publishing, but, even in his absence, he had a definite, gracious presence in the world of letters. This new absence will be far harder to bear."

*

Suddenly Homesick

My dad called me earlier to remind me that it was fiesta at home. I was shocked to realize that I had completely forgotten all about it.

I must have been that busy with work and that caught up with my issues.

Oh, but I want so badly to go home.

When I said "fiesta at home," I meant the Peñafrancia festival of Bicolandia.

From THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT TRAVEL CONFEDERATION:
Peñafrancia Fiesta
A triumphant, water-borne procession carrying a statue of the Virgin is the highlight of Naga City's biggest annual celebration, the Peñafrancia Fiesta. An image of the Blessed Virgin of Peñafrancia travels back to her Basilica on the Bicol River from the Metropolitan Cathedral. The procession is a phenomenal spectacle - the statue bobbing on the decorated boat is surrounded by her devotees and cheered by hundreds of locals. The week preceding the celebration features parades, a sports festival, exhibitions, a regatta and a beauty pageant.


For pictures, click here and here.
For the festival's history, click here.
To find out just how famous this festival is, click here.

It's been ages since I was home for the festivities and I must say that I miss it sorely. Talking to my dad this morning made me feel homesick all of a sudden, wishing badly that I could be back in Naga if only for a few days, re-living my childhood and High School days, when my most serious predicament would be the anxiety that every Math exam brings.

But, hey, I'm digressing. There are no exams during Peñafrancia.

What I will be missing are: the processions and the parades, the food, the food, the food (Daddy said my brother was grilling pork ribs as we were talking), the joyous frenzy shared by the Bicolanos, the expressions of devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia, the fairs.

Most of all, I shall miss the sense of belonging and the comforts of home, because every Peñafrancia festival is a reunion between friends and family, a reaffirmation of one's roots, a reminder that one is loved and protected.

Happy Fiesta to my fellow Bicolanos.

Sign of the times

And this is where it all began...

Cartoon depicting Uncle Sam's present financial crisis, so glaringly magnified by the downslide of such Wall Street giants as Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Co. and AIG.

David Foster Wallace Dies at 46

A good friend and fellow blogger is devastated at the news of this incredibly talented writer's demise.

I, myself, know how much of a loss this is to the Literary World.

For details, click on this link.

I do have a question, one which I posed to my friend after having heard the sad news. To all the David Foster Wallace fans out there, after having read his works, do you think the cause of his death was illogical?

This, perhaps, is one of the grim sides of being an artist.