iWork '08? iLike!

I've never been very open to change. Despite an oddly fairly widespread reputation as an easy-going, roguishly handsome international man of mystery (and I'll leave it to you guys to determine which of those hastily strung modifiers most applies to moi), I really enjoy a certain amount of order in my life. I might seem open to change, but whatever changes I decide to make are often the result of much deliberation.

Which is my roundabout way of saying that, after a decade of being subject to the whims of Microsoft Office, I've finally decided to switch to iWork. And you know what? It feels just like quitting smoking. What took me so long?

Running Commentary: Wine and Cheese, vol. 4

For the past year or so, my wife and her cousin have been holding what one, I suppose, could euphemistically term a "genteel wine and cheese" party, with the sole aim of getting a bunch of bored cousins together and poke light hearted fun at life, the universe and everything (again, my apologies to Douglas Adams). The amazing thing is that, despite the hectic schedules, regularly schedule family dramas, and overall weirdness that comes from being part of this crazy/cool family, we churn these events out like clockwork. To this end, I would like to embarrass G.K. Chesterton by quoting from his novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill: "...adventures happen on dull days, and not on sunny ones. When the chord of monotony is stretched most tight, then it breaks with a sound like song."

Right now, we're deathly bored. Time for another wine and cheese party! Time for a running commentary...

This is so cool. Since I have two sons, and my sister Joey brought her son Miguel over, the first part of the evening has been totally dictated by the kids. Right now, instead of listening to grown up music, we're being regaled by the unnaturally cheerful tones of the Fun Song Factory.

Bodie just got the results of his medical back, and it turns out that his liver has more miles on it than my sister's 1997 Toyota Corolla. Of course, having just been recently apprised of Bodie's liver, Jeroen quickly took the opportunity to invite him to have some wine. Quite the jokester, this Jeroen. Ralph's engaged in Ateneo basketball discussion with Chris, who's also from the Ateneo, but who would rather die than have me reveal that he was in college when Plaza Miranda was being bombed. Oops, sorry!

Nick, Jeroen and Francis got together in the middle of the room and started talking. They're all 6 feet and taller. If anyone needed any proof for an evolutionary bias against short people, they just nailed it. I walk over and ask if there's a height requirement to hang out with them. Someone, and I'm not sure who, just some voice from way up high, says no, just a wine requirement. Again, with the wine...

My sisters, Papot and Joey, crowd Cecile. Since they regularly read Cecile's blog, they want to get the inside story on some of the juicy chismis, particularly the one about this Amazona who's notorious for pimping her ride, so to speak (again, apologies to MTV).

Chelo, sporting a spiffy short haircut, reminds everyone that we should schedule the next wine and cheese party mid-September, after she officially becomes "leukemia-free". Since she was never "friends-and-loving-cousins-free", we wholeheartedly agree. Chelo also makes me kulit about the Magic Sing. In good time, my dear cousin. In good time...

Which is around now. I just warmed up with a 91 on Randy Santiago's Hindi Magbabago. Nick's got next.

Mike just nailed a 96 on Lead Me, Lord. Nick suggests that divine intervention was responsible for that score. I keep my mouth shut. At this point, our neighbor, Carlo Villegas shows up, fresh from a basketball game at Club 650. He takes one look at the Magic Sing, smirks, then proceeds to plow into the food. Wise man.

School Pride: Nicky Mapa

It's been a while since I've written an entry specifically for a community, but I decided to do so again because of my good friend Nicky Mapa's impassioned appeal for school pride, which has been circulating through the University of Asia and the Pacific community.

Nicky writes:

A couple of days ago, I was having dinner at the Podium.
As I was enjoying the thin crust pizza I could not help but overhear
someone from the next table saying "CRC? Yuck!". Quite peeved, I
looked over to see a group of yuppies, all saying the same thing for a
good two minutes "CRC? Yuck". Blood boiling, I couldn't help but start
thinking ill of these people. Just who the heck did they think they
were? Blasting my alma matter like there was no tomorrow? There was
no respect afforded to our University, none whatsoever. They could
not even have the courtesy to refer to us by our new name: UA&P.
"CRC, Yuck!".

Normally, such an unfortunate incident (which serves as a grave disservice to all concerned, regardless of where one finished), it would have been very easy for anyone to simple rant and rave to little or no effect. It would have been very easy for anyone to surrender to anger and bitterness. It would have been child's play to let loose with a barrage of ill-chosen sentiments, or vitriol. To his credit, Nicky did not do so. He continues:

We have an identity and we are proud of who we are as an institution...
In a world where education has degenerated to the creation of money making
machines, UA&P has remained steadfast in its zeal to provide
individuals with an education that not only prepares you for the
working world, but champions the fact that education is a way of life
and not simply a means to earning money...We are proud to say that we still, in
this day and age, uphold the values of a true Christian education,
ever championing the cause in a world that seems to believe that faith
and morals is simply not in style...We are proud of the fact that
although many of our students are blessed with material wealth, we
never forget the fact that to those that much is given, much is
expected in return.

In response, allow me to recall, in this limited space, something that I wrote sometime ago about the University, by way of celebrating its varsity teams:

For better or for worse, UA&P has never been consumed by an undying passion for competitive sports, at least not in the way that other schools have. Rather, UA&P has chosen to participate in sports, not particularly to win, but to excel. In my many years as both a casual observer, and a impassioned participant in UA&P sports, I have come to the conclusion that I would rather have a UA&P team in the finals of any athletic competition rather than anyone else.

Some teams are poor losers---when subjected to the ignominy of defeat, they insist on courting the scandal of truly losing. They rant and rave against the fickle finger of fate. They blame the miserable playing conditions, and cast aspersions on either the visual acuity or the mental clarity of the referees. They blame everyone but themselves, and in doing so merely bring spectators and atheists alike to the brink of a religious conversion: if this team did not win, then there truly is a God.

Some teams are poor winners---when blessed with the eminence of victory, they insist on hewing to the ballyhoo or barbarity. They preen and jest. They mock the downtrodden. They congratulate none but themselves for their sweet satisfaction, and in doing so, bring spectators and believers alike to the brink of a crisis of faith: if there truly were a God, these buffoons shouldn't have won.

The reason why I would rather have a UA&P team in the finals of any sport, (yes, even a marathon, double round elimination tournament for Magic: the Gathering) is simple. No other team loses, or wins, with as much grace and dignity as a UA&P team. When you watch our brave young athletes give their very best, either in victory or in defeat, you couldn't help but think that excellence in sports really is ennobling, that by watching them give their all, we are somehow blessed, even a little bit, by witnessing their passion, sacrifice, and joy in competing.

Nicky, some of us still remember what makes us special. Unitas!

Off to Cebu, Off-Tangent?

I thought I'd make a quick post right before I leave for Cebu. As I don't have the time to express myself in the style that my readers have become accustomed to, let me just spew out barely coherent paragraphs randomly.

The pictures from the I AM STRONG! Bukidnon run are online. I'm especially proud of this particular run because the participants were fantastic: open, warm, generous, insightful, and truly inspiring. It's just a shame that my poorly taken pictures cannot do justice to the picture of hope that these people left, indelibly, in the hearts of the I AM STRONG! team.

I finally met up with my online conspirators and fellow bloggers, Brian and Jason, for merienda yesterday at Starbucks Pearl Plaza. Needless to say, if geekery could have been broadcast wirelessly, then we certainly constituted our own wireless network...and failed just as miserably at increasing our barely plural readership. If this previous sentence makes no sense whatsoever, I absolve myself from any blame whatsoever as I am eagerly anticipating...

Stardust, Neil Gaiman's charming fantasy novel. I have ceased to be impressed by Robert De Niro's singular desire to be the finest actor of any generation to have appeared in the most lazy, formulaic, and utterly horrible movies ever. (Don't believe me? Check out this filmography. When he's good, he's great. When he's bad, he's still good, but only in a way that makes you feel ashamed for having recognized his genius even in movies of extreme craptitude.) But, hope springs eternal. And this story's just too classically simple and enchanting for someone who truly enjoys it to screw up. So yes, despite the pathetically thin, but promising resume of director Matthew Vaughn, I'm going out on a limb here and hope that Stardust manages to be just as good as it deserves to be.

I'm off to Cebu!

Photo Credits:

Stardust poster comes courtesy of Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery.

I AM STRONG: Bukidnon!

Malaybalay City, Bukidnon is one of the most pleasant cities I've ever been to in the many occasions I have been called to serve on I AM STRONG. The entire trip, perhaps due to the accessibility of the Monastery of the Transfiguration, was blessed by cool weather, warm smiles and wide, generous hearts. And yet Memory is a peculiar muse. She is almost wanton in the experiences that she allows hapless mortals to look back on with fondness. To wit:

1. It was on this trip that I discovered that Nikko Fortades, IEP student, is something of a wacky pose wunderkind. His youthful exuberance and creativity, as well as his masterful poise and execution, allow him to seamlessly pose for "wacky" pictures at the drop of the hat. It's not just a skill, Nikko. It's a gift!
2. Vina Arenal, on the other hand, has just one "wacky" pose. She bends, with studied grace, with just the slightest bob of the head, to the right. It takes talent to willfully suppress the "wacky" poses that I know are in you Vina. You have my sincere admiration.
3. Michee, Carla, and Dez, whom we will henceforth refer to as Destiny's Child, will sing anything. But I get ahead of myself.
4. The context? Kuya Jun Corona, our beloved driver, has the most eclectic musical taste in Mindanao. The shuffle function on your iPod doesn't stand a chance. Given that he burned all those songs to disk, and his songs can just as easily shift from Piolo Pascual to a punk version of the Backstreet Boys hit "I Want it That Way" (ironic, I know) faster than Nikko can adopt a "wacky" pose, what is truly amazing about Kuya Jun's selection was that he deliberately chose them to be played that way.
5. That being said, Destiny's Child will sing anything. Anything!