"Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry. Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need." - Efren Penaflorida
I was reading the stories of the Top Ten CNN Heroes for 2009 and I realized that a lot of them had something in common-- these heroes started out as victims: a drug addicted war veteran, a cancer patient, a teenager that was raped, impregnated and infected with AIDS, a kid from the slums, an amputee. That hero within was shook awake, forced to stand up and fight the battle. A constant battle which I don't think they ever expect to end. That's one of the things I both admire and envy about them, their inexhaustible supply of strength and motivation.
Aside from Efren, one of my favorite among the ten nominees is Jorge Munoz. He is a Colombian immigrant who runs a mobile soup kitchen in Queens, New York. As a bus driver, he earns $700 a week and spends about $400 to $450 to fund the endeavor. It takes up most of his time and their apartment space. Where does he get his motivation?? I refuse to believe that he never had any doubts about it. I'm sure there are times when he felt tired and crazy and just wanted to stop, save some money and start his own family. But why still do it? What makes him go on? It's amazing.
Even more amazing are the ones that heed the call even though they didn't have to. Budi Soehardi was a pilot living in Singapore with his family and yet they reached out and helped the orphans in West Timor. Brad Blauser brought wheelchairs to Iraqi kids and Doc Hendley turned wine into water for developing countries. These people saw the need, went ahead and got to work. It's that simple.
We look at heroes and immediately we think of grandeur. Superman and saving the world. Grand transformations and dramatic revelations. We look at them and think, I can never do that. But maybe that's because we put them in a really high pedestal. Helping is not easy but it's not impossible. Heroes are not that hard to find. Just decide, get to work and be one.
Sabado, Nobyembre 28, 2009
Lunes, Nobyembre 23, 2009
cigarette butts and a bus ticket
My uncle was fixing something in the back of our house when a white flurry thing ran past him. It was bigger than a mouse but just as fast. He didn't want to mess with it, saying it was an "alaga ng maligno" (pet of an evil spirit). So we decided to go and catch it and name it "angel". It was nowhere to be found.
Guinea pigs aren't as common in my uncle's place as it is here, so he's not used to them. I think when we can't explain things, we usually associate them with the supernatural. I guess this is where most of our superstitions-- most of our beliefs come from. So I wonder what will happen if we looked deep deep deep into our beliefs and searched for the truth behind them? What will we find?
I was reading a book about occult last week. There was a section dedicated to amulets where the author tells about an incident in Africa where she was attending a ceremony. She noticed that the people had a small pouch hanging on their clothes. She asked to see its contents and was surprised to see cigarette butts, a bus ticket and some other items that are considered rare in that part of the world.
Is that what we will find? Cigarette butts and a bus ticket? Will all the things we uphold and believe to be special turn out to be nothing? Scary-- but the real question is, will we ever get to that point? Will we ever know the truth? Should we pursue it or should we let it lie hidden-- and continue believing? Is knowing the truth a gift or a curse?
Does it really matter in the end?
Guinea pigs aren't as common in my uncle's place as it is here, so he's not used to them. I think when we can't explain things, we usually associate them with the supernatural. I guess this is where most of our superstitions-- most of our beliefs come from. So I wonder what will happen if we looked deep deep deep into our beliefs and searched for the truth behind them? What will we find?
I was reading a book about occult last week. There was a section dedicated to amulets where the author tells about an incident in Africa where she was attending a ceremony. She noticed that the people had a small pouch hanging on their clothes. She asked to see its contents and was surprised to see cigarette butts, a bus ticket and some other items that are considered rare in that part of the world.
Is that what we will find? Cigarette butts and a bus ticket? Will all the things we uphold and believe to be special turn out to be nothing? Scary-- but the real question is, will we ever get to that point? Will we ever know the truth? Should we pursue it or should we let it lie hidden-- and continue believing? Is knowing the truth a gift or a curse?
Does it really matter in the end?
Huwebes, Nobyembre 19, 2009
on being perfect
 |
| ssabfoundation.org |
There were comments like "Hindi talaga ginawang perfect ni God ang mga tao, si Lucy, mayaman at maganda nga, klepto naman." (God never really made anyone perfect. Look at Lucy, she's rich and beautiful... but a kleptomaniac.)
I read that her response to this was that if this issue makes others feel blessed, or makes others feel better about themselves knowing that she isn't as perfect as they thought, then somehow, something positive still came out of it.
...now THAT is just perfect.
Sabado, Nobyembre 14, 2009
training
I'm excited to watch the Pacquiao-Cotto fight tomorrow-- of course my money's on Manny. I think some people would want to skip the fight though and go out instead. It's a good day to travel, because whenever a Pacquiao fight is on, there's less traffic and lower crime rate. He's that good!
Pacquiao was featured in the news a few days back. They showed his trainers hitting his sides and stomach with a yantok (some sort of stick). It desensitizes him to pain, they said. Well, it could work.. I guess it's better than drinking your urine.
Use of unorthodox equipment for training is not exclusive to boxing. Football players in GridIron Training lift and push items like 5 ton tires, ship anchor chains, sledgehammer and prowler sleds. I think this is also a form of Junkyard Training, where athletes make use of everyday objects to build up their strength. There's a bunch of videos in YouTube about it, but this one is my favorite. It's of football player, LaDainian "LT" Tomlinsons:
It's not just the body that's getting pumped here, the athlete's creative muscles are working as well. Tim Lajcik, a mixed martial arts fighter, writes about how Eugene Jackson, a UFC veteran, perfected his guillotine choke move:
"He developed his formidable constricting strength upstairs in the dispatch office using an old truck inner tube. Eugene tied off a foot and a half section of the tube and wrapped the section in duct tape so that he could inflate it to high pressure. Then, Eugene squeezed the inflated section of the tire in the crook of his elbow like it was a neck. Using various locks (guillotine, rear naked choke) he'd squeeze against the tube's air pressure repeatedly, or hold the lock for minutes at a time to build his muscular endurance."
Junkyard Training is cheap and effective, but as this study recommends, it should be planned and monitored for each athlete. It can cause an extreme stress to the person, physically and mentally-- imagine pulling a car for about a quarter of a mile. If we're not careful, the training-- not the opponents, will be the cause of our athletes' defeat.
UPDATE (11/16/2009): Manny won! Yey!
Sources:
http://salemnews.com/pusports/local_story_286005945.html
http://timlajcik.net
http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2008/may/junkyard_training.htm
 |
| yantok |
Pacquiao was featured in the news a few days back. They showed his trainers hitting his sides and stomach with a yantok (some sort of stick). It desensitizes him to pain, they said. Well, it could work.. I guess it's better than drinking your urine.
Use of unorthodox equipment for training is not exclusive to boxing. Football players in GridIron Training lift and push items like 5 ton tires, ship anchor chains, sledgehammer and prowler sleds. I think this is also a form of Junkyard Training, where athletes make use of everyday objects to build up their strength. There's a bunch of videos in YouTube about it, but this one is my favorite. It's of football player, LaDainian "LT" Tomlinsons:
It's not just the body that's getting pumped here, the athlete's creative muscles are working as well. Tim Lajcik, a mixed martial arts fighter, writes about how Eugene Jackson, a UFC veteran, perfected his guillotine choke move:
"He developed his formidable constricting strength upstairs in the dispatch office using an old truck inner tube. Eugene tied off a foot and a half section of the tube and wrapped the section in duct tape so that he could inflate it to high pressure. Then, Eugene squeezed the inflated section of the tire in the crook of his elbow like it was a neck. Using various locks (guillotine, rear naked choke) he'd squeeze against the tube's air pressure repeatedly, or hold the lock for minutes at a time to build his muscular endurance."
Junkyard Training is cheap and effective, but as this study recommends, it should be planned and monitored for each athlete. It can cause an extreme stress to the person, physically and mentally-- imagine pulling a car for about a quarter of a mile. If we're not careful, the training-- not the opponents, will be the cause of our athletes' defeat.
UPDATE (11/16/2009): Manny won! Yey!
Sources:
http://salemnews.com/pusports/local_story_286005945.html
http://timlajcik.net
http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2008/may/junkyard_training.htm
Miyerkules, Nobyembre 11, 2009
can you tell me how to get
Growing up here in the Philippines, I was only able to watch my first Sesame Street episode when I was already, I think, fourteen or fifteen. Back then I was just getting into the pop culture of the 90s, the music (eraserheads), the books (sweet valley), movies (Steven Seagal and Van Damme, my father is a big fan! heheh) and the TV. There's another show though, a local tv program, that I still hold dear and is a very big part of my childhood -- Batibot. It's also a children's show and for its first year, it was co-produced with Children's Television Workshop. The show ran from 1984 to 1998. I miss it! Batibot is always a favorite topic whenever people reminisce about their past. I always expect one of them to imitate Kiko Matsing's voice.
The concept of both of these shows is simple yet incredibly effective. Personally, I learned a lot from them and I still remember the humor, as well as the lessons. Batibot made me appreciate the uniqueness and importance of Pinoy culture. The muppets in the show are like teachers-- and old friends that never grew up. It's also cool that there are muppets in other Sesame Street productions that teach something significant about our society. I only found out about them today. Maybe we should all be required to watch them? There are still a lot of things we need to learn.
| * Kami: A bright yellow HIV-positive Muppet on "Takalani Sesame" in South Africa who teaches AIDS awareness |  |
| * Haneen: A playful orange and pink monster with a vibrant personality who teaches tolerance on "Sesame Stories," shown in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan |  |
 | * Zeliboba: This multicolored Muppet, who always wears a neck tie, was inspired by the tree spirits of Russian folklore. In Russia, Zeliboba and his buddies on "Ulitsa Sezam" encourage optimism, nutrition and health. |
 | * Pino: Another one of Big Bird's cousins, Pino, is a blue bird who lives on "Sesamstraat" in the Netherlands. His catch phrase is "echt waar" ("really?"), and he helps children with socio-emotional development. |
| * Businka, a bright pink Muppet from Russia who finds joy in everything |  |
Sources:
List of characters from international versions of Sesame Street
How elmo works
Biyernes, Nobyembre 6, 2009
Treasure Trove: sewage gold
- ottoman coins - http://www.presstv.com
the Find
A pot of gold coins dating back to the Ottoman Empire
the Lucky
Municipal workers in the village of Surekli in Southeastern Turkey. I don't think they got to keep it though. The area has been cordoned off and Mardin Museum archeologists were called to check it out.
the Place and the Time
The news came out Oct 4 2009. It was found 2 meters below the ground in (as mentioned earlier) the village of Surekli, in the southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey.
How in the world!?
By accident. They were excavating the ground and laying down pipes for the village's new sewage system.
Sources:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107933§ionid=3510212
http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/200910072348/Pot-of-gold-found-in-Surekli-sewage.html
Lunes, Nobyembre 2, 2009
the Reign of Edward III
Using a software called Pl@giarism, a literature professor was able to detect traces of Shakespeare in an unattributed play from the 1500s titled, "The Reign of Edward III".
The software compares writing patterns between two or more works and produces a list of phrases common to them. It's usually used to check the originality of a student's work. Sir Brian Vickers, from University of London, used it in examining the play and found 200 matches between Edward III and Shakespeare's other works.
"With this method we see the way authors use and reuse the same phrases and metaphors, like chunks of fabric in a weave," says Vickers.
And it looks like this play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and another playwright, Thomas Kyd. There's also a match of 200 phrases between this play and his works.
"In Edward III, it's quite a typical arrangement; Shakespeare writes three scenes near the beginning and one later on, presumably to guarantee some kind of continuity," says Vickers. "It's a very good play, but it suffers from some inconsistencies - characters who appear in some of Shakespeare's scenes don't appear later on."
It took Prof. Vickers two years of research to identify the play's possible authors, even if he has the expertise and the software, it still wasn't easy. "You have to go on hunches - you can't just feed in all the numbers on every play and sit back," he says. "But what I'm hoping to do is bring about a marriage between human reading and machine reading. If you distrust computers, you won't advance at all; if you have just computers and know nothing about literature, you're likely to go wrong as well."
Sources:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1930971,00.html
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/10/21/plagiarism-software-solves-mystery-of-unknown-shakespeare-play/
The software compares writing patterns between two or more works and produces a list of phrases common to them. It's usually used to check the originality of a student's work. Sir Brian Vickers, from University of London, used it in examining the play and found 200 matches between Edward III and Shakespeare's other works.
"With this method we see the way authors use and reuse the same phrases and metaphors, like chunks of fabric in a weave," says Vickers.
And it looks like this play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and another playwright, Thomas Kyd. There's also a match of 200 phrases between this play and his works.
"In Edward III, it's quite a typical arrangement; Shakespeare writes three scenes near the beginning and one later on, presumably to guarantee some kind of continuity," says Vickers. "It's a very good play, but it suffers from some inconsistencies - characters who appear in some of Shakespeare's scenes don't appear later on."
It took Prof. Vickers two years of research to identify the play's possible authors, even if he has the expertise and the software, it still wasn't easy. "You have to go on hunches - you can't just feed in all the numbers on every play and sit back," he says. "But what I'm hoping to do is bring about a marriage between human reading and machine reading. If you distrust computers, you won't advance at all; if you have just computers and know nothing about literature, you're likely to go wrong as well."
Sources:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1930971,00.html
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/10/21/plagiarism-software-solves-mystery-of-unknown-shakespeare-play/
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