Saturday, October 15, 2005

Upcoming WTO ministerial meeting; people march for "fair trade"


Rally against the WTO

Beautiful side of sadness

I was walking with my brother the other day and we were looking at some window displays of clothes. He pointed to an outfit with a white long sleeved polo shirt topped with a black V-neck sweater or pull as they call it here in Geneva. He said, “Ate, that matches you. Black suits you,” he said. I asked, “Why?” He said, “You know the beautiful side of sadness.” Taken aback by such a poetic expression of the appreciation of gothic living, I asked him to explain what he meant. He said, “It’s like those people who wear black know what is behind sadness. Like there is always a silver lining behind every cloud.” He said of himself, as he is a dark-donning adolescent man, “It’s like asking why do sad things happen, there must be a reason.”

This was coming from a 15-year old boy, almost 16 next week.

(I have a closet full of black apparel which my mom points out whenever she can and asks if I’m mourning. It’s nice to know that there is a beautiful side to sadness.)

Monday, October 10, 2005

to "GARCIFY" or not?

in light of the recent political developments in the philippines, especially the "alleged" vote-rigging of the incumbent president and the persons identified with the "hello garci" tapes as well as the prominent actors in the impeachement hearing, i am posting an email i received for proposed additions to our vocabulary (either filipino or english, doesn't matter):

> It's time to have some fun. I think we should
> propose adding the
> following words to the lexicon. Just remember one
> thing... YOU CANNOT
> QUOTE ME! For all intents and purposes, my name is
> Anoni Moose. :)
>
> 1) garcify
> a) to distort results
> b) to cheat in an election
> Used in a sentence: "The president was unable to
> evade
> allegations that she garcified her way to the
> highest office in
> the land." Or, "There are claims that the
> Philippines has
> become irreversibly garcified, claims which are
> becoming
> increasingly difficult to refute."
>
> 2) norberse
> a) to be purposely obtuse
> b) to obfuscate in an attempt to hide the truth
> Used in a sentence: "The official remained norberse
> all through
> the hearing, leading many to think he was clumsily
> trying to
> protect someone." Or, "There is no truth to the
> claim that
> norbersity can be cured through the slow ingestion
> of
> potassium-laden bananas."
>
> 3) miriamphony
> a) a verbose and lilting discourse during which the
> speaker drifts in
> and out of reality
> Used in a sentence: "The senator perorated in the
> expected
> miriamphony as she once again sought to prove to all
> and sundry that
> she
> was not insane." Or "Her miriamphony fooled no one
> --- she swiftly
> erased
> all remaining doubts about the state of her reason
> with her diatribe."
>
> 4) nogralese
> a) manner of political discourse in which a speaker
> pretends to agree with one side for as long as they
> are useful to him
> Used in a sentence: "Day after day, the congressman
> mollified his opponents with his smooth and unctuous
> nogralese,
> catching the unwary by surprise when he later
> removed them from their
> posts." Or, "Even his friends begin to flee to
> remote locations once he
> starts spouting his nogralese."
>
> 5) joedevivre
> a) a lifestyle which is devoted to always attempting
> to please others
> and never having to choose between right and wrong
> Used in a sentence: "His joedevivre caused his
> eventual downfall,
> as the electorate finally saw him for what he truly
> was." Or,
> "His joedevivre forced him to consistently refuse to
> play a
> simple game of chess, because there are no gray
> areas on a chess
> board."
>
> 6) dequirose
> a) having a Quixotic bent
> b) used to describe one who is constantly vilified
> by critics for his
> insistence that all public officials must be held
> accountable,
> regardless of which sector of society they belong to
> or who they are
> connected to
> Used in a sentence: "Despite virulent ad hominem
> attacks,
> the writer remained dequirose, steadfast in his
> convictions."