Monthly Archives: April 2011

Nasi Lemak-Daddy

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Not being a food blogger or a foodie or anything – I have no plans to resurrect a dead and decaying food blog that I maintain – means that I can do a few things that would be no-no’s to consummate foodies/foodistas/food bloggers within six degrees of separation.  “Reviewing food” would be one thing.  Or use adjectives I hate; while I used the word “idiot” in 19 entries in this blog, the word “succulent” was only used twice.  Or take good pictures of food.  For example:

 

Above is the Malaysian national dish, nasi lemak. Me, my girlfriend Jam, and her cousin Chill had dinner at a restaurant called Nasi Lemak in Robinson’s Galleria (no, the meal was not free, and yes, it’s ethical to say that), apparently ran by Chef Gene Gonzalez.  While Jam and Chill had… succulent… plates of Hainanese Chicken Rice to go with the delectable tom yum goong and the exceptional Malaysian chicken curry, I chose the nasi lemak. “A complete meal,” I justified to myself, anticipating the fun I would have mixing coconut cream rice with chicken, fish, egg, peanuts, and dried anchovies.  That, or I was preparing myself for philosophizing in the comfort of my own toilet bowl.

Suffice to say the dinner affair between me and a plate full of food became a battle of brawn, appetite, and shredded bits of chicken.

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Notes on the "Death" of Friendster

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Techcrunch reports that Friendster, a pioneer of social networking, is going to wipe out photos, blogs, comments, testimonials, comments, and groups on May 31st.  Reading through the comments and some of the thoughts of friends and acquaintances, it’s fairly easy to see some consensus forming: that “Friendster is dead,” and would be part of a running “body count” of social networks that have gone the way of the 404 (or some other more apt analogy).

It’s hard to argue with the obvious that a Darwinian (or to be more accurate, Spencerian) flavor is present in social networks after the seeming dominance of Facebook in the social networking space.  Only the fit social networking sites survive, and it just so happens that Facebook and Twitter are the fittest of them all.  I’d venture to say that nobody uses Friendster anymore.  From the looks of things, what was once a vibrant and exciting community of friends and users has somehow ebbed into relative obscurity in favor of social networks driven by apps and APIs, and where entire digital marketing disciplines cover just one or two mega-platforms.

I won’t claim to be an “expert” on social media or anything, but I’d just like to stick my neck out and say that maybe – just maybe – the idea that “Friendster is dead” is wrong.

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Jesus, the Revolutionary

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In a noon mass, Father JV Ilano, parish priest of the Baguio Cathedral, turned away parishioners who were for the Reproductive Health Bill.  He was quoted in saying, “If there is anyone in the Mass here who are pro-RH bill… please, go out.  It’s useless.”

Today is Black Saturday, where the Christian faithful commemorates the day when the Body of Christ was laid in the tomb.  For many of us, it is a day to reflect on the suffering and passion of Christ on Good Friday, where he was crucified for doing things that, even by today’s standards, remain revolutionary.  In His time, Jesus was the leader of a group of radicals that taught things that ran against the grain of convention: to love your enemy, to turn away from sin.  He was first in a very revolutionary belief that He bore the message of God.

I ask, does a statement like turning parishioners away from Church for things they do not believe in follow in the same radical, revolutionary ways of Christ?

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Willie [and the] Poor

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In his 25-minute long tirade on national television, Willie Revillame somehow claimed a monopoly of practice in helping the poor.  Nina Terol-Zialcita rightly says that it is a diversionary tactic to shift the issue from abuse to class war, but at the same time, Ina Stuart-Santiago rightly says that in our criticism, we reveal our class.

Much has been said about the tasteless, vomit-inducing behavior of Willie, but I’d like to take up Willie’s gauntlet on class war.

Class distinctions may be easy to invoke, but the argument is extremely powerful.  The captive audience of Willing Willie is that segment of the Filipino population in dire need of emancipation from poverty.  But more than being denied of wealth – as Willie would trot, highlight, and underscore over and over again – they are denied of opportunity.

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