Harum-Scarum

But it’s still nice to talk about politics (and make jokes about it), over few bottles of beer, with friends. I find it very cathartic for anyone to break wind (pun unintended) and give fresh points of view on the shenanigans of today’s rat race. The very idea is to make fun, easy or lay down its seriousness because life is hard as it is; you never want to die tomorrow with a frown on your face.


I came across an article in the Inquirer’s Youngblood written by a young instructor in UPLB. While I agree with this guy’s rant on few things (i.e. how students in the past were more respectful of teachers’ privacy and consequently mindful of their personal opinions about them, among others), I still do not know how to respond to his misguided view on activism. Recent events and actions in the University may have stirred the boundaries of what’s proper, but it’s done to shake the hubris of an institution that is no longer pro-student and pro-Filipino. I am forever indebted to the same University and faculty that recognize the strength of mass actions when rights in the campus is threatened; that never kill the collective voice of the students’ stand on national issues; that service a well-rounded education system for all; that endeavor for providing quality education for bright, proactive and socially responsible Iskolar ng Bayan. If that is challenged with new breed of faculty who think and teach otherwise, I’m afraid of what future graduates would become.


This is becoming utterly ridiculous: Justin Bieber. So the kid is cute, I can give him that, but man, he can’t sing! Worse, seems the entire planet surmise that he can. He’s everywhere: radio, TV, internet, and specifically every time I log on Twitter, he’d be trending. How the fame came about is not what I want to know, it’s how that hair manages to be a real head-turner. I mean, look at it, it’s so shiny!

Anyhow, I don’t get affected easily of massive adoration in pop culture. I always say, ‘What of it? I’ll live!’ to any alien references shot at me. But when the pop sensation in question revolved around my orbit, say when he made an appearance on SNL, he turned into a bigger joke on me. I mean he has the formative years of Justin Timberlake (a joke, in theory) who is stable fixture in pop music and occasionally does movies or SNL. But Bieber has the youth, charm, and twice as much screaming fans at his tail-end which guarantees him more years in the business. I sense this is not the last we’ll expect of him. This is me facing my worst fear.


Have you gone to bookstores and pondered on the many silly titles by the aisle? I always have a kick out of discovering outlandish book titles and wondered if their authors thought a second or two naming them. Observe.