Finally, and when I started to forget it, I now have a grade for my last subject. Now since this is my last subject and semester in UP, I'd like to post it for posterity. I thought, hindi naman sya uno so there's no reason to brag about it. Tehee! Thanks Mark & Tom for the tip!

Summer 2006 - 2007
Subject	Instructor	Units	Grade
J 198	LAMBINO, MARICHU C.	3.0	1.25

Flashback

Didn't know I was that opinionated 2 years ago. This same month on that year I was a gym rat, I watched Star War movie (“Train yourself to let go of things you fear to lose”-- my most unforgettable quote from Master Yoda), I ranted about Greenbelt, I complained about an old man beside me while hearing mass (I was, and is still struggling to be spiritual), I was a Tito to my nephew (those were indeed rare moments!).

Here's a link to that 2005 flashback!

a study on declining newspaper readership

I said I believe in miracles. A miracle is any amazing or wonderful occurrence. Others define it as a “marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of God.” Yes, it was amazing and it was also a marvelous act of God. I submitted my second draft on the last day of submission of grades (officially was April 9). Minutes after poring over my second draft, my thesis adviser gave me a grade I least expect. It was even higher than the one I wished for, and without further corrections! I was kind of worried because on Holy Thursday and Good Friday she was texting me to adjust, revise and add items on some chapters. I researched more, added tables and interpretations over here and there and refined my recommendations. Easter Sunday, I was done. The next day I went to school to submit my copy. All that I wished was I can have a grade on time, after the 3^rd semester, my maximum residency. What I got is a miracle, at least on my own terms!

Looking back, though lacking in in-depth sources and related references, I was encouraged by Dr. Georgina Encanto’s remarks when she said she can’t accept what I submitted as a thesis. She told me my topic was good but too short and shallow, and I ought to pursue it if only to contribute to the scarce references on the subject matter. She wants my work to be part of that rare resources of students and researchers seeking to expand knowledge on related research fields. Well, the way I see it, my thesis turned out to be more of a beacon, than a study tool, to journalists, editors and publishers especially, of the future of the print media. Why is newspaper readership declining? What can editors and publishers do to arrest the readership slide? How can the print medium cope up with the power of TV, radio and the Internet, especially the online publications and its interactive & dynamic nature? What lessons must the broadsheets learn from the compact tabloids? On theoretical perspective, how is the active news reader affected by the new media and how are editors and publishers dealing with it?

I just wish by the time I retire, there are still newspapers I can write with. I envy the likes of opinion makers Messrs. Teodoro Benigno and Luis Beltran—they died still holding on their pens, like the bridesmaids holding on their lighted lamps when Christ arrived.

Finally, the actual TV ad

The first time it was shown, all I heard was excited screaming in the house. I missed the sound of the jingle and half of the 30-seconder Alpo ad during "ASAP's" commercial break. Next, I waited on "S-Files" and there, I saw the longest (2 seconds?) frame-to-fame of "Murder", our birdie killer cat (it's where he got his name. His second victim by the way, was a neighbor's rabbit, slightly moving when he brought it home, his teeth still clinging to its neck!) Well, on this commercial, at least "Bundi", the dog, was able to finish his role. The end tag of this TV ad should have been:"No animal has been harmed by a cat during the filming of this commercial." Seriously, this TV ad is cute and has a universal appeal. Here goes the ad (blame my Nokia 6111 for the low res video).

Cramming

No, I don't have an exam-- my last was 2 sems ago. Besides, classes have ended March 23. And that was the day Dr. Georgina Encanto emailed me, then asked the Journalism Department to call me. My, I'd been visiting her 2 weeks in a row and she would just tell me she's a little busy to check on my thesis' first draft. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) it's end of the road. April 4 is deadline for submission of grades and I'm just revising my first draft. Miracles. Yeah I still believe in miracles! Believe me, I'll get my grade on April 4.

Padayon, Comrade!

I had this mixed feeling of sympathy and admiration when I first heard that Gemma Bagayaua was arrested on libel charges because of her feature story on Chavit Singson. Gemma, the online editor of hard-hitting Newsbreak magazine has been exchanging mails with me months past while she was setting up the online publication of Newsbreak. I was seriously asking her to consider me on part time job uploading online their past articles but she insisted I was kind of over qualified for the job. Nevertheless, I relented, proud with the fact that indeed, Gemma is now on serious business of truth telling. I remember her to be the reserved but determined applicant of CNS (Center for Nationalist Studies of UP Diliman). When I tease her about anything or anyone she would always blush, her cheeks would literally turn reddish but with a ready smile. We had a college life sated with political discussions and integration (some call it immersion, but we agreed that integration was more thorough and experiential) with the depressed communities around UP and the Payatas.

Gemma has carried out her convictions well, and her arrest yesterday was an honor-badge for a vocation she was willing to die for. To Gemma, your CNS comrades is proud of you! Padayon Comrade! Here's a link to details of her arrest.

Organic Salt "Tultul"

I felt nostalgic when I read this article about "tultul", an edible salt-rock painstakingly made out of discards on the shore such as coconut husks, twigs, broken coral—anything except things made of plastic.

For me, it was synonymous with poverty because it was the usual pair for rice every time we run out of delectable viand. But it was fun rolling it on rice plate and nibbling where it's thicker until you taste the powdery salt. Here's another feature about one of Iloilo's original but vanishing trade.

post-traumatic stress disorder test

If you are a journalist, and feels you have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, check out this site http://www.conflict-study.com

The site promotes itself as a self-assessment tool that helps journalists determine if they are suffering from the effects of PTSD.

On Losing Anorexia

Another cat is lost in the "Muning" genealogy, the cat that delivered kittens to the Flores family and died days after. Her kittens named "Badjing", "Murder", and "Anorexia" were cared for, or put it correctly, placed on a pedestal by my girlfriend Paulette that they grew up fat and in silky fur. "Badjing" (named after her kitten-days bungee jumping mode) was most loved, "Murder" (after his kitten-days obsession to eat yellow-green Birdie) was second and "Anorexia" (after her anorexic look, sickly body, swollen eyes) was the least, although she was the most "malambing" and "mabait".

On February 17, last year, "Badjing" was lost, or we surmised snatched up while playing outside the gate and sold for P20 (that was the buying rate in Caloocan according to a "basurero" we talked to) to be fed to a Rottweiler or a wild snake. What an ending for a cute, clean cat that eats nothing but Friskies and "galunggong". So "Badjing" is indeed gone and can never come back. Since then, "Murder" sleeps with my girlfriend-- you just don't know how it feels to have a cat for a rival, hehe! By the way, "Murder", the local Garfield (he's so sluggish and fat) or the little Lion King (so fiery and possessive at times) fathered many more sons and daughters from his incestuous relationship with "Badjing" and "Anorexia". Among them left is "Namfrel" (the vegetarian cat) and "Pretty" (cat so quiet, so petty)-- the others we gave away to friends and neighbors.

Last February 14, "Anorexia" was found lost, or snatched up in an unholy hour by what we suspect as a February serial cat stealer. Until today, we still look for "Anorexia", wondering how she has been treated, for a cat like her has never been outside and exposed to strangers. Her loss refreshes the pain of having lost "Badjing", even makes more painful as my girlfriend contemplates on the day that "Murder" is out of her life, and for reasons that they were sold and helplessly fed to carnivores. It's unfortunate that these cats live in a neighborhood, or perhaps city, where most people care only about what they could sell and eat for a day.

They say, there are many ways to skin a cat. But I say, if I see whoever snatched our cats, I will skin him in so many ways!

Global Warming

My Philosophy 1 teacher once declared, "the truth of the general contains the truth of the particular." Eg. "The world is warming", "Manila is part of the world", "Therefore, Manila is warming."

But is it? For almost a week now, newspapers and cable news channels looked like weather bureaus dispatching gloomy updates on the state of the global climate. Global warming has become the staple topic, and maybe for lack of local gossips, or tired of political grandstandings, even AM radio commentators picked up the issue, inviting climatologists to talk about something we have long been neglecting. As if global warming has just dawned on our asses. But it's long been decided, said Dan Vergano of USA Today- The Debate is Over: Globe is Warming! Matitigas lang talaga ulo natin!

Ironically, since the last week of January, Manila, and perhaps many parts of the country, is swallowed by colder air believably caused by the advancing cold front. It is colder in the evening and culminates in the wee hours, reminding me that my orinola has not yet come of age.

By the way, while I don't consciously patronize Green Peace, Haribon or any environmentalist group, I downloaded my first step of my first "fight against global warming" from LocalCooling.Com. Clap! Clap! We'll honestly, not actually out of nobler cause than to save the lifespan of my laptop battery-- from an original 80-Watt output, now it's 56 Watts! In effect, me and those who use LocalCooling are saving trees, galloons of gas and energy. Ultimately we also save the world from warming!

"The world is warming."
"Manila, where I live, is part of the world."
"Therefore the world, because of me, will have hope!"

A New New Year

When I embarked on the Cebu Pacific plane going to Iloilo, I felt it was just one routine that I have to undergo each December, except for the stricter frisking and taking off of shoes as I went through the pre-departure area (I read somewhere that our airport x-rays are already so outdated). And oh yes, except also for the rising cost of fare, which took me almost P7k for the roundtrip, last year it was somewhere P5k-P6k. Again, an additional security fee of around P150 will be charged, tucked in the ticket fares, to upgrade our airports’ security systems, courtesy of our government’s efficient anti-terrorism drive. Rising cost of services and fares are as routine as probinsyanos need to go back home to recharge their spirits and become productive again.

It turned out this vacation is not one routine thing. I almost forgot my niece and nephew are back from the States, and home would look like it was 5 years ago, or 10 years ago with their ubiquitous presence, sans their Lolo who passed away 3 years back, and their Nanay who opted to stay in Georgia making both ends of her world meet. My 3^rd eldest sister, however, contributed to the Christmas melee with another 4-month old baby boy named Hans Christian, while Michael Romeo, born a month after his Lolo Romeo passed away, is now taking all the scenes in the house if not shaking it to the ground. What do you expect from a three year old toddler who communicates effluent syllables but cannot be understood except by himself? He would throw everything that’s within his grab just don’t ignore what he says! And so this family is starting all over again, with their Lola humming a little lullaby, or chasing a wobbling apo while Tito’s and Tita’s look on with inhibited laughter.

Year 2007, year of the pig, beckons a good year to come. After all, this family has been raised by our father buying and selling swine, along with other farm animals. Yes indeed, this is a new new year!

Welcome Home

My niece Kim and her younger brother Jon will arrive at the NAIA airport at 11:00pm tonight on board Northwest. Will fetch them from there and transport them with their bagages to Centennial Airport for their 5:00am flight to Iloilo early next day. It's been over three years that they left the country with their mom who got a nice job as registered nurse in the University Hospital in Augusta, Georgia. They left as highschool kids and will be returning as nursing students, joining their two cousins from my eldest sister and my brother as the next wave of nurses in the family tree. I only wish their lolo who sent them off crying is still alive to welcome them back.

Wi-Fi Galore

I bought many months ago this unlabeled silver Blue Argon laptop nearly size of a notebook in its 12" width. It made my PC at home almost extinct because aside from it being inconvenient to use with all the switches and cables, this laptop is far more faster and handy. But there's more to it than the advantage of being small. I made sure this laptop comes with a Wi-Fi and multiple USB ports for the mouse, the flashdisk and my phone's data cable (DKU 2) making my online life even more convenient, wherever.

A little secret to reveal. When I was in one Starbucks place in Makati, my laptop intercepted a free wi-fi, apparently from one of the offices nearby. Next day I tried connecting again, lo and behold it was still there, and free! One Sunday, after buying my toiletries, I tried dropping by again same place and found that the wi-fi is 7 days a week, almost 24-7 operational! I'm quite sure only a few Starbucks visitors with wi-fi-enabled laptops had noticed this that they still buy the wi-fi card. As for me, the effect is, I buy coffee as my passport to use the unlimited wi-fi, the electric outlet and the homey ambiance.

Three more peppermint mochas and I'm going to get my Starbucks organizer!

happy birthday Asi!

Today, I thank the Lord for His magnificent goodness. For His unconditional love, I adore Him and praise His Holy Name. He loved me long before I learned to love Him. He made sure to take care of me and shower me with every good thing in life. Today I thank Him most especially, for giving me one of His most loving, most adorable and beautiful creation, to share the triumphs and trials of life. This day then, and thereafter, God has reserved for me someone named Paulette, to transform me to become better and bolder. And I am most grateful to the Lord for that. Happy birthday my dearest Asi!

A Journalist and Some Jerky Journalists

Business Mirror reporter Mia Gonzales was served an arrest warrant this morning for her allegedly libelous article written 2 years back in News Break Magazine about Miguel Arroyo. The six arresting officers who went inside the Press Working Area of the Malacañang Press Corps at the New Executive Building inside the Palace complex left empty handed as Ms. Gonzales was on sick leave. Talk about bobos. Out of the 42 journalists sued for libel by first gentleman Arroyo, Ms Gonzales should have been the last to receive her arrest warrant. Why? Here are my views.

Business Mirror, less than 2 years in publication, is owned by Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua, owner of DWIZ-AM, Fortune Care, Citystate Savings, Citystate Hotel, Eternal Gardens, Isuzu Gencars, the so-called flower group motels and many more business interests. Amb. Cabangon-Chua should have been pissed-off by the arrest of one of his reporters (or elated, what with the free publicities the paper got). A few years back, when I was still working with one of his companies, I remembered looking for sponsors for the First Gentleman's Cup held in Wack-Wack Golf Club, with our boss alledgedly doling out P.5M for the First Gentleman's Cup. Maybe some did not notice, but the fund raising was mentioned by the oppositions during the Jose Pidal controversy. Currently, no less than DOJ Sec. Raul Gonzales hosts one of the morning programs of DWIZ-AM, sort of a PR slot propagating the achievements of the Arroyo government. Now, do you also wonder why Mr. Ramon Tulfo's long running DWIZ program "Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo" was sacked? No, this is not a story of "you scratch my back, I scratch yours"-- this is pure political influence seemingly permeating to business decisions and vice-versa. In the above's case however, loopholes have to be plugged. How could his lackeys missed the connection? Oh I almost forget. Only blind leaders rule the blind. But blind and bobo were they who served the warrant. What then is their boss? You said it. Sue me, anyone?

Meanwhile, here are some future journalists the kind of Mike Arroyo might not be able to file libel with. Not ever. How could he, we are just a cutie jerky lot. Emman, Mark, Teejay, Tom, Dano, me and Camille on the first pic. Apple , ever camshy, joined us on the second shoot. Mucho's videoke bar wasn't much enough to hold the combined birthday party thrown by Tom, Camille and me. Scorpions , surprisingly, are gregarious!

And yes, we can also be obnoxious!

Ilonggo Indulgence

Kon kis-a napanumdum ko pano ayhan kon magsulat ako sa Hiligaynon diri? Baw ti damo gid guro indi ka intiende, luwas dulang kon kasimanwa ko gid mabasa, kapin pa kon karay-a. Pasensya dulang sa indi kamaan kay tulad daw gusto ko gid maghambal sa tumandok ko nga dila. Baw kabudlay man sagad panumdom kon magsulat sa Ingles kay ti kinanglan sakto gid grammar mo kag mga tinaga para mahangpan ka ka manugbasa mo, indi bala? Ti bahala sila ya subong eh. Basta ako ya gakatol tudlo ko magpitik keyboard nga Ilonggo ang tinaga gaguwa sa monitor ko.

Subong ti ari ko sa opisina, as usual sa conference room. Bag-o lang matapos meeting namon kag gahulat makadto sa Market Market sa The Fort para sa blood-letting event namon with Red Cross (basi mahambal sila waay ko ga-obra di). Indi ko na lang pagdetalye di ah, kay sensitive daan kumpanya namon sa mga tactical activities namon. Syado kagrabe ang kumpetisyon sa listeners kag advertisers. Para mabal-an nyo output ti pamati dulang kamo sa mga istasyon namon, kadto lang kamo di sa gin-obra ko nga website .

Ang mahambal ko lang, sako gid ako subong nga Nobyembre. Luwas sa pagdumdum sang kalag sang akon amay sang nagligad nga petsa uno kag dos (daw nakaduha ka misa gid ko to), amo man ni ang bulan sang akon pagkatawo, petsa otso, kag sang akon nobya, petsa biente siete. Sang lunes nag-enrol man ko sa UP, kag damo gid ko talapuson nga papers. Mga tunga-tunga sang bulan nga ni umpisa na ko pamakal regalo kag ticket pauli sa Pototan. Nahidlaw na ko sang balay namon, bisan waay pa matapos ang kisame kag mga palitada. Nahidalaw man ko magduaw sa Tatay ko kay waay gid ko ka puli sang Pista Minatay. Makilit-anay man kami sang mga hinablos ko nga mapuli man pagkatapos sang sobra apat ka tuig sa tate. Bakasyon lang sila kay gaeskwela pa, kag subong lang nila makit-an ang lolo nila nga gahamyang na sa patyo eh. So, ang gahulat sa ila kasadya kag kasubo man. Ang maayo lang mabaskog pa si lola nila kag sako ugtas sa duha nya ka apo sa balay. May isa pa ka 3-month old gahulat mag-entra sa gilinamo nila. Nami daad magpost pictures nila di pero for privacy reasons hasta diri na lang sila sa cellphone ko ah. Baw daw kalawig naman gali nasulat ko. Sige malakat na ko sa Fort.

Ti ikaw ya ano plano mo?

One Day

One Day. Because she no longer has the patronage of masses and her re-election is next to impossible. One day holiday. Because she wanted to woo the support of the business sector, sustaining the momentum of her self-acclaimed economic recovery via EVAT at the expense of the consumers while companies of her chinese patrons enjoy tax holidays, whatever they call it! One day, when before, she would declare two days in between weekend and a holiday, days to promote local tourism. Nov. 1 is long enough for Gloria to visit her father's tomb and tell his sorry soul that she's vindicated from all her shortcomings...

One Day. One day of rest and prayerful remembering. Because I can't go home to my father's grave, to touch his lonely tomb, to light a little candle, place a priceless rose and pray for his soul. Thanks to Gloria who deprived millions of Catholics of this chance to pray together as a family for the souls of their departed loved ones. (Remembering the souls, may I stress, is inadequate.)

One Day. I remember this one day when I was below 5 years old, walking home one stormy night he covered my head and tucked my upper body inside his fatherly-smelling jacket. We walked as fast as we could while the bright flashes of lighting lit the road and all that I see were his swaggering feet, steady and strong.

One Day.That one day I also remembered when I was holding, wrapped in black plastic bag, his chopped off leg fresh from amputation due to painful gangrene that eventually caused complications with his other vital organs and ultimately, his death. I held it with grateful heart, because through them we were cared for, protected and provided.

One Day. This one day, and each day of my life I will remember my father whom we loved so dearly. This one day, on November 1, I will lit a little candle and pray for him, who though physically far, will always be spiritually near.

Meanwhile, I will have to forbear life. One day at a time.

I'm sick!

I have flu this weekend so I stayed home the whole of Sunday. Got hooked tinkering on my codes and checking if my lay-out works. Have added this picture trail, which to my untrained eye, looks good on my page. You may check out for my enhanced events page. So this is what happens when I'm sick.

here's a dustcloth for this blog

been like this for the past weeks. my thesis is halfway. it's been halfway since last semester though. my work has eaten much of my time that i may eat and have time some more. and more time soon...

Foods I Miss

Nothing compares with my favorite menu. Of course taste is relative, though most of the time we have a universal agreement on what tastes good and what tastes bad. My provincial upbringing lingers in my tongue and to the right are foods that I could eat 7 times a week without puking. The fried rice (kalo-kalo, mas namit kon daw batok sa idalom), grilled fish (sinugba nga isda, bisan ano), steamed prawns (lukon o pasayan bisan ano okay lang), fried bangus (pinakas, mas namit kon binulad pa kag may dyutay asin) and native chicken adobo (may gata, luya, bits of salt and vinegar-- no toyo or patis or it takes away the Ilonggo adobo style). I miss these foods especially on rainy season. I don't know why, but the incessant rain has something in it that brings back memory of my mother's kitchen (and darapugan) and all the pots and wooden utensils hanging our bamboo posts.

By the way, all foods above have been converted a month ago to a potentially very rich source of vegetable nutrients. I wonder what can grow up on that heap of fertilizer many months from now. Blurp... Ha! ha!