Television is Today’s Opium

I have been a couch potato for a long time.

However, this is not to say that I don’t get off my ass to go to work, do my laundry, and of course, blog. I do all these things with regular routine. But when placed in front of the television, I forget all things like a 5-year old kid watching television on a Saturday morning. Forget that the cereal has become soggy. Forget that I’m still in my pajamas at noon. Forget that I haven’t had lunch yet. Television is the most addicting pastime, hobby, or leisure anyone can afford.

This is one of the many reasons why watching television have made many of today’s generation so oriented towards it. It has become a family activity that renders both parents and children’s free time glued to the screen. What used to be a past time has now become a household routine which both amazes me and perplexes me.

I admit to being one of the millions of people out there who turn on the television once they get home – without even watching it. I just walk in and turn it on. Change into comfortable clothes, prepare my meal and 30 minutes later, that’s the only time I get to sit down and see what is on the television.

If you take a look at this picture, nothing says sadder than a single person eating dinner in front of the television. Take another look and you’re just looking at millions of others like me.  One more look and you’d know why many people tune in and watch the tube.

I get a dose of news, a bit of entertainment with good movies, some brain food with channels like National Geographic or Discovery Channel, and a bite of culture through Travel & Living. These are the redeeming qualities of television – it makes all your time worthwhile with quality programs like these

However, this is not always the case. This must be why TV Guide is created. It allows you to optimize your time and help you find whatever it is you are looking for. Then again, we don’t always buy a TV Guide because really, we think we don’t watch that much television anyway. And so, we don’t actually have brochures at home to browse through, thumbing the pages for any good old movie or that particular sitcom we liked and caught last week, whatever that was.

Nevertheless, my point in case is that the time we spend watching television is most probably spent on not watching it at all. I don’t know if there are any exact figures that demonstrate the watching habits of people – but I bet that this is true. Most of the time, we spend hours upon hours surfing between channels, watching a program we caught halfway and then switching it on to another without really finishing it, and then as boredom sets in, we struggle in futility to find a program we really like. But to no avail, it is already way past our bedtime and we sleep more tired than ever. This is not to count the other things we do like answer the phone, put our dishes in the sink, and take a bathroom break.

Many people have the misconception that watching television is relaxing. Well, it really isn’t. It’s time we hear what people who don’t spend as much time watching television tell us. Watching television is an activity that requires our attention and concentration – so while we may be entertained, we are still straining ourselves for hours on end trying to decipher everything that our senses are assaulted with.

It is time to change our watching habits. I, for one, would want that more than ever. Call me a goody-goody two shoes or a spaz, but I have had my share of television watching. It is simply about time that you realize too that watching television should not be a passive activity. Don’t just sit there waiting for a good program to come up. Either you know what you want to watch or you just turn in for the night and catch a long, sound sleep.

Bishop Gene Robinson and the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness

There are things in life that are much worse than death says Bishop Gene Robinson.

I couldn’t agree more with the fellow.

Yet with all the happenings and controversial issues on and about religion in the US – the polygamous sect in Eldorado, Texas and Pope Benedict XVI visiting the USA – nothing quite compares to openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson’s interview in the Today’s show with Matt Lauer. His belief that living life to the fullest, being able to love and marry the person you want to, in this case his own life partner Mark Andrew, is something that God wishes him to do.

Many gays and lesbians have pushed for this principle a long, long time ago –with or without God in the equation. And so, while a lot of countries have already allowed homosexual couples to marry, a man of the cloth marrying another man seems to bring or make a different equation – especially when the foundations of the Church concerns it and it begins to shake.

I am a true believer that everyone has the right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Gays, lesbians, transgendered among others have as much rights as any other straight Dick or Jane on the street.  I am not particularly an expert on the subject but I know for sure that the fundamentals of the Church are facing very different and difficult times.

Opening up to changes and new ideas are not the best qualities of the Church. By the capital “C” I mean the institutions of the Catholic or Christian religions. So while gays and lesbians can be just about anybody, a lot of speculations are brought to mind when Bishop Gene Robinson declares he wants to marry Mark Andrew.

Just what is a priest anyway or a bishop for that matter? What concepts are we changing? What history are we making? And what does this all have to do with the Church? I still have to work out the contradictions that keep floating on the surface on my mind.

Personally, I think there is a certain hypocrisy in the Church whose doctrines and interpretations marginalizes a lot of people even when at the core of all its teachings only tells us to love. All this humanistic values they preach are somehow exclusive to a select kind of people.  So I guess Bishop Gene Robinson must be a more contemporary or unconventional man of the cloth.

Isn’t that disturbing or frightening? Why do we offer to judge who is acceptable in God’s eyes or worthy of His love? Are we to live life trying to see whether we pass the qualifying rounds?

Now, the simple act and desire of one man brings to surface many issues the Church has ignored for a long time.  It has failed to answer or acknowledge many pressing issues of the times as though banners and vinyl signs weren’t raised to bring many issues to light. Well, it’ll surely be a tight squeeze this time around.

And while I ponder and sort my own voice on this issue – I suggest the rest of us do the same. This is not just one man’s life, but everybody else’s – who are gay, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered, who are straight, who belongs to the church, who fights for liberty and rights, and who fights for the pursuit of happiness.

A Postcard View of People and Places as Inspired by Giada

Travelling is a luxury we cannot afford regularly.

Any plain Joe or Jane would know just how regular trips would dent one’s pockets and savings. And with the continuous increase of oil prices, who can truly afford to go so far? And so, I have resigned myself to watching television programs that featured all these must-see places, must-sample foods, and must-try activities.

I love and hate television this way.

This ambivalence, of course, can only spring from the fact that you are sitting at home watching these people visit one destination after another when it could have been you. All the while, you mutter under your breath “You lucky people.” And you think about this, time and again, and the irony presents itself louder each time. You think - how can I just sit here and watch these travel programs? Why cannot I just go and wander off? It’s not as though I am chained to this couch. Besides, am I not working to earn enough and fund what I love to do? But in the end, the reality just bites you in the ass. There are bills to pay, work to go to, a cat to feed, and so on.

Then you pity yourself and reality sticks its head back in the room. Reality hangs around as you mull over thoughts that prick your ego like needles. You think you want to stop watching travel programs but you can’t. You know how this cycle is insufferable yet you still do it. This sado-masochistic activity pulls your heart two ways.

And so, once you have had your fill, you retire to your bed and wonder how you’ll boost yourself for the next day.

*      *      *

That’s me right there. The person who can’t seem to have anything going. And funny thing is, I’m sure I’m not the only. I’m sure this isn’t my story alone.

So while I can’t afford to go to a private island just yet, I’ve decided to do what two things that will help me through. As inspired by a program by Giada de Laurentis, I will do even the most cliché things that any tourist would do – I might, hopefully, learn a few things that way. I’ll do this by visiting select places that a particular town or city is famous for – be it by their frozen custard ice cream or by a local lake. When that is not an option, I can go on a little adventure and can look for a postcard perfect view of my own – even if I am in an urban landscape.

And so, as inspired by Giada de Laurentis, I do these things: 1) At the River Side café, I will sit under the Brooklyn Bridge with a Manhattan cocktail in hand, watching the sunset fade out into the night while the skyscrapers’ lights fill the skyline. 2) Wait in line at Grimaldis and order a whole Margherita pizza; 3) I will find a heavenly spot in the acres of sprawling space that is Central Park and have a breakfast of bagels with smoked salmon or cream cheese, foamy cappuccino, and fresh strawberries. 4) Go up the Empire State Building and capture my own picture, postcard design perfect image of New York.

Miley Cyrus Makes a Milestone with Annie Liebovitz Shoot

There has been a lot of news about Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana - with her purportedly billion-dollar worth of franchise and now her transition from tween-queen to the ranks of Mickey Mouse graduates like the Olsen twins and La Loha. This time around, it’s about the flesh-baring photo shoot with world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Not too many people make the right choices, but I think Miley Cyrus did. How can you go wrong working with Annie Leibovitz? Her substantial work and profile of business clients says it all.  If you want to break away from the bopping-kid crowd as your target market, how else would you have it? A summer-thriller film?

Annie Leibovitz is an icon herself. The legendary shutterbug who captured John Lennon and Yoko Ono for an album cover before he was killed hours later has also captured the smiles of Angelina Jolie, the controversial and then pregnant Demi Moore, Queen Elizabeth and of course, Susan Sontag. If I could instantly whip up a portfolio of her works right here, right now either online or custom brochure printing, you’d know just who Annie Leibovitz is.

And now, publicity statements are flying off from all across directions. It’s quite insulting to Annie Leibovitz if you ask me, with all these negative feedbacks that they spun off from the picture and the shoot just to make it all the more bigger, controversial, and talked about. It’s just the hypocrisy which I can’t stand. Now, everybody is speculating online or on print, from tabloids to blogs and more.

Miley Cyrus is saying sorry to her fans. Her parents are now saying “shame on you”. I say what gives?! Wasn’t this all set-up like an initiation that Miley Cyrus has indeed made it? No one else would have captured a much better picture, a picture that will be remembered years from now - all with the great eye and aesthetic taste of an Annie Leibovitz.

Interpret the photograph anyway you want it. In the end, you’ll see what it truly reveals – like the saying truth is beauty, beauty is truth - that is all ye need to know.

So I say brava! While the mouseketeer graduates are crashing their cars, guzzling their booze, and checking in rehabs, yours is a road way safer than the others and more tasteful.

Ramiele Malubay: An American Idol Star Falls Out

The little frame that held such a big voice – Ramiele Malubay has been sadly eliminated from the competition American Idol. The Dolly Parton song, Do I Ever Cross Your Mind, failed to win her a safe spot that would have brought closer to her dream of becoming the first Asian-American Idol. More specifically, the first Filipina-American Idol in history.

Contests, I must say, are a gamble one must take. It does not matter that you have a singing voice in American Idol, what matters is that you are still left standing no matter what they throw at you. It’s a battery of tests, a roller coaster ride with many twists and turns, and a lottery game all in one.

It is just unfortunate to see how compassion can only be brought out in television through someone else’s loss. And she stood there, crying and sobbing, and there was really nothing Ryan Seacrest could say to sincerely offer her any consolation. All he could really do was soften the blow by giving her a squeeze in the shoulder as he tries to wrap up the show for an encore, saying they wouldn’t let Ramiele leave crying like that or to that effect. The poor guy had no idea what to do and that just left him cold. If someone had cued him what were the right things to say, he could have ended up saying more sincere words.

But as for Rachelle Malubay – your voice has a distinct character. You’ve shown the world you’ve got it, so flaunt it. My heart just goes out to her and frankly, it is a bit surprising to see her leave. I think it is just one of those times where Simon Cowell’s words had rung far and wide and had brought heavy influence of viewers’ votes.

It’s even quite ironic how she chose to sang that song and it still fails to reverberate throughout the American audience in a way that would and should have been positive for her. “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” has become as song that has been begging a question which has been ultimately answered.

America answered Ramiele and while it may not be the most pleasant response, the most important feedbacks are those from the ones who truly love you. And I personally think, while the calls here were not enough, while mails and postcard printing mailing of this news are sent out, and while this spreads online like wildfire all across the Pacific to the Philippines, I know we would still be seeing you around, for all its worth.

Sicko on Oprah: What’s Happening to the American Dream?

Michael Moore’s documentary film Sicko is another bold and brave commentary that explores and pokes through the health care system of the United States. He confronts the many unfortunate circumstances Americans face when their health insurance doesn’t cover their medical bills and costs enough, when Americans are forced to declare bankruptcy, and when American find themselves debilitated not only by their disease but by the same system that is supposed to take care of them.

Oprah Winfrey declared in her show that she has been one of the many millions of Americans who thinks “We’re okay.” Michael Moore and Oprah cannot address this issue at any other time but today when we think about our future president.

What does that say about us? We’re no. 37 on the world’s list of best health-care systems in the world while France and Canada, who only spend between 11 % and 10% respectively, are in the top ten list. We pay a significantly bigger 15% but how does our health care system truly compare?

I may not know enough about insurance, health plans coverage, or even health-care policies, but it is enough to worry me how a respectable and well-paid man, a former hospital administrator, could be denied of certain medical assistance. This certainly begs the question, if it can happen to him, what more of the underprivileged others?

There is a problem. A problem that goes beyond the aid of bandage dressings. It is a disease in itself which needs to be dealt with.

So raise your voices high America.

Raise your voices not because you pity the uninsured few, not because you are angry, and not because you despair. Raise your voices because you know we can change it. Raise your voices because there is hope. Raise your voices because it is the right thing to do.

So wave all kinds of banner high and adhere to a motion of change. Put up your vinyl signs and rally up for a cause.

Make America better. Make the change today. Make the future now.

Summer Fantasy Islands

If you still remember the pilot episode of I Dream of Jeannie, then you would remember that picture of a small, uninhabited island with its perfect white beaches and blue skies. While the sitcom’s character considers the place as a trap, for many of us today, finding one such beautiful island is finding a real vacation spot.

And so, I have often dreamt of finding such beaches and isles. Those picture perfect landscapes of sea, sand and sky sparkling in the distance.

And so, as famous beach moments fill through my head from Blue Lagoon to the Pirates of the Caribbean, I prepare a list of places to go where sun worshippers and water babies like me would just have to go.

Dig up some travel custom size brochure and thumb your way through maps to reach these destinations. These fantasy islands of mine are truly pockets of paradise. These are well-kept and preserved islands that act as a haven for one’s soul. The pure and unspoiled beaches are just as serene and poetic. But at the same time, these islands provide you with an incredible underwater adventure, spoiling you with colorful schools of fish and reefs of corals.

Maldives
Maldives is a destination where you can truly taste a life of luxury. Rustic yet homey cabanas rest atop the beaches, behind a backdrop of pure blue and endless skies. The crystal clear waters are all filled with colorful marine life that invites you to dive in anytime.

The seclusion itself is the charm of Maldives. Its wide open spaces, clean air and virgin islands are a completely new and different world in itself.

Philippines
Philippines is an archipelago of hundreds and thousands of islands. Each town or region boasting their local culture and distinct scenic, hot spots. Here’s but a brief summary of the island hopping you need to do.

San Salvador, Zambales
This uninhabited island is a marine sanctuary where you can encounter manta rays 10 ft. in diameter. This is one of the giants of the seas freely breeding and living in this protected habitat. More than this, you can get up close and personal with giants clams in a protected clam farm.

Palawan
Palawan is one of the greenest cities in the Philippines with handfuls of islands with clean, white beaches. You can go snorkeling, diving, and even spelunking as waters run through mountainous caves full of stalactites and stalagmites.

Boracay
If you’re looking for a place to mingle with all kinds of beach lovers, where the white sands are as pure and fine, you’d find that this is the place to be. Boracay island offers a long stretch of white sand beaches surrounded with music and palm trees.

This list could just go on and on. And so, it’ll have to do for this time as the list goes longer and longer on the next post. Ciao!

Summer Vacation Ideas: All in a Single Day

Summer has always meant a get-away for most people. It is the time to unwind, stretch those long legs out unto a comfortable lounge chair and take a well-deserved rest with a cocktail in hand.

Yes, summer is definitely here. But with the gas price hiking up, who can really afford to drive all the way to their yearly destinations and retreats? I’ve been wondering about this for a time. If I only have the weekend to spare and a little bit of money to spend, how exactly can I go to a vacation?

I keep picturing other people who go through all their ceremonies before launching themselves off to a good vacation. Women go to parlors and have their nails done, their foot pampered, and their highlights re-done. They go to shopping malls and buy new swimsuits for the beach or winter jacket if they’re going up the alps. The men go on oiling and polishing their gears, cleaning out their tackle boxes, and maybe polishing their own car.

While all the travel and custom size brochures are all enticing, I need a vacation that is well within my means – without driving off to far destinations, without flying out to another coast, and without renting hotel rooms or a private cabin.

As some people suggested, vacation is not about going to truly foreign or exotic places. It is about discovery. And so, while people go off to Hawaii or Paris for a vacation, I venture into my own local town and create my own pocket vacations. Here’s how I did it, all in a day.

1.    Eat at an exotic restaurant
Vacation is about renewing the senses, so I found myself and my stomach to a place offering foreign cuisine. It’s best if you come to a place frequented by a lot of people, and it does not matter if it is Korean, Indian, Haitian etcetera. The trick is to order the most popular food or what else everybody is eating. And if you want to be a daredevil of some sorts, try something on the menu that scares you the most.

2.    Take a camera with you
Keep moving and shoot from all angles. I constantly took pictures of the places I’ve been to, no matter how familiar. Consider it as a form of documentary on how I spent my day. While I may not have pictures of exotic places, at least I can preserve a memory of my one-day vacation within my own town which in 5 or 10 years time may never look the same again.

3.    Go to the market
Not too many people enjoy shopping or doing the grocery, but an outdoor or Sunday market is truly something different. I went to an outdoor market and sampled new things and even bought things that simply intrigued me. This is one way of indulging myself and my curiosity. I tried a new cheese, looked for hot and fresh baked bread, and bought a pound of ground beef (I thought it’d be great to make my own hamburgers tonight). You’ll never know what will surprise you this way.

4.    Cook for yourself
Not too many people would recommend that you cook for yourself for it is a lonely thought. But then again, it is a reward that I can treat myself to and so I did. I cooked burgers outside that night and while I wait, I simply enjoyed a sweet, cold bottle of beer while listening to the Beach Boys, blasting out from my stereo.

Joining Shelfari and Learning the Art of Mooching

I confess. I am a bibliophile. I scourge book shops and thrift stores for books that I can afford. I hoard books even when I cannot read them all at once. I devour books and rarely update my shelf to chuck out books I have gone tired of reading or those that may have been better off to someone else’s hands.

There are all sorts of bibliophiles. Just are there are different types of readers and writers. I, for one, love the presence of books, and read them when I can. Once I open a book and go beyond 20 pages, I am hooked.

Currently, I hold a rough estimate of 300 books. Since I do not catalogue them one by one, I have really no idea whether my collection is nearing 400 – though it definitely feels like it. For years, I have rarely met anyone who religiously went to book sales and thrift shops in search for new titles or old treasures. What I thought wasn’t possible, is possible. The gates have been opened and I am now initiated to the site www.shelfari.com and www.bookmooch.com

It has only been days when I joined in these communities. Shelfari is your online bookshelf where you get to catalogue your books, create a wishlist, and of course, meet people with similar passion for books. Simply search the author or the title of the book you currently hold and you can click options such as Own, Read, Planning to Read, Wish, and Favorite to mark where you want these books to appear in your online book shelf. You can make multiple selections for each book and enter as much as you want.

Now, I can’t wait to get my itchy fingers to type on the keyboard to look for books and put them on my wishlist. I also want to catalogue my books and organize them on the excel file so I can finally keep track of them. Shelfari is the trophy case of bibliophiles. It is also the room where readers can gather and discuss a similar passion for stories.

So while you can stack up your collection of books at Shelfari, you can acquire more books at Bookmooch from booklovers all over the world who aren’t afraid to share, exchange, and swap books. Through a network of people, you can tap into lists of books that they are willing to give away and have it mailed to you. However, you can’t get something in return without giving.

Bookmooch relies on a point-system basis where you can only start mooching for books once you have points. In order to garner points, you have to have a stack of book people would want to mooch from you. In this manner, there is a fair exchange going on and people can have exactly what they want.

I am just giddy with excitement to start screening and organizing my bookshelf so I can start mooching already. Just imagine being able to get great books in return for the stuff you no longer want!

These sites are just too good to be true that sometimes, blogs seem to be insufficient to spread the word around. Postcard printing mailings may just do the thing, but I have to figure out who would really want to belong in these communities. And whether you are a children’s books lover, an avid comic collector, or a classic fiction reader, you will surely belong to both of these sites without difficulty, as once again, they open themselves freely to all kinds of book lovers.

Questions on the ElDorado Texas Polygamy

ElDorado, Texas has become a worldwide controversy with the religious sect’s practice of polygamy, and sexual/physical abuse on women and minors. I just can’t believe that such has been going on for years that I cannot quite fathom how or why these practices are observed, even practiced by so called followers of Christ.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints looks as though it came right of the movies. It was all too incredible to believe. My mind still can’t quite grasp what sort of teachings and understanding of these teachings led all these men to treat women in such manner, without utter regards for their rights or even their welfare. Maybe it’s culture. Maybe again, it’s not.

A lot of questions are swarming in on my head and I can’t answer each and everyone one of them. The questions have become a hay stack of needles, with every new information and opinion probing about for an answer.

•    Isn’t it quite odd how long it took to finally say that something was wrong? With what, after hundreds of children and dozens of wives?

•    Isn’t it quite odd too how the news in our country focus on the protestors rallying against the Olympic Torch with vinyl signs on free Tibet and such when something entirely disturbing is happening in our own backyard?

•    Where does the line of civil rights and human rights blur?

•    Why have the officials waited for four years before breaking down or raiding the temple?

•    Why are the news covering about the beds found on the upper floor of the temple when other details and other matters on the case need to be discussed?

•    I can’t help but think that the women were treated like cattle that the men left in the barn when they had something else to do. Were they cattle for the men who go out of town and work and use cellular phones?

•    How could someone at 16 be ready for marriage in this day and age?

•    Why don’t people recognize the paradigm shift? That some things only hold true or applicable at a certain time frame or era?

•    What and how were those teachings taught in the temple?

•    And of course, how could one man make all of this possible?

Dozens and dozens of questions need to be answered, if not for the children and women who suffered, but for the sake of justice as well.