Age of Transition

Ive been in this situation before...
But when two sleepless nights has just passed, and when there's something much worse to expect, you ought to fight it...
Here we go again, wanting to get out of misery that I created.

And this song tells it all.
Some may have heard this from the radio not knowing that it's a special song for losers; failers in fact, that I am going to post. Off from a Smallville episode, titled "Ryan" (season 2), when Clarke failed to save a dying kid. This song written by Dishwalla, still resonates in my head for the nth time, making me want to play the guitar and sing it again and again.

I'll just put it here, before taking a much-deserved break and some isolation/hibernation stage these coming months. Only fate knows what will happen next...


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Angels or Devils
dishwalla

this is the last time
that I'm ever gonna come here tonight
this is the last time - I will fall
into a place that fails us all - inside

I can see the pain in you
I can see the love in you
but fighting all the demons will take time
it will take time

the angels they burn inside for us
are we ever
are we ever gonna learn to fly
the devils they burn inside of us
are we ever gonna come back down
come around
I'm always gonna worry 'bout the things that could make us cold

this is the last time that
I'm ever gonna give in tonight
are there angels or devils crawling here?
I just want to know what blurs and what is clear - to see

still I can see the pain in you
and I can see the love in you
and fighting all the demons will take time
it will take time

the angels they burn inside for us
are we ever
are we ever gonna learn to fly
the devils they burn inside of us
are we ever gonna come back down - come around
I'm always gonna worry 'bout the things that could break us

if I was to give in - give it up- and then
take a breath - make it deep
cause it might be the last one you get
be the last one
that could make us cold
you know that they could make us cold

I'm always gonna worry 'bout the things that could make us cold

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Time.
We want to control it, specially me. But I am not Tim Hunter, nor Gandalf the White. I'm not a wizard, and we can only control the Clock that is ticking, and not the Father Time itself...

Ernie Baron reported last night that it's gonna be a sunny day today. But outside, it's raining like hell...
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 is opening this day, but I feel ZERO excitement...
This coming weekend, I wish I can be with someone I really wanted to meet, but I just CANT...

My world is becoming a clear manifestation of Entropy.
Aberration.

Furthermore, being a veteran collegian, these coming seven days will be a "hell week."
And at the moment I see and feel its prelude, I'm just so sick and tired of it.
And terribly sad.

I want to burn out.
Escape.
Hide.
And finish a primary task, this burden, this mission number 1 in my priority list. Number 2's gotta wait...

But before doing it, I want to apologize first to people that I am going to hurt. I know that it's hard to sacrifice more important things to less urgent ones just to meet friends, and here I am, the one who will be missing in action. I hope they will understand in the end... Coz I believe that patience is a virtue.
It's not intentional, but I know it's gonna be my fault. And I'm gonna regret this.
Darn. It sucked when you carry a LOUSY excuse, but it's true.
Really true.
I just want to show a decent face, when I am going to see important people of my history. But fixing this shit through 'magic' is beyond my powers. It will take time.


This will be it, guys. For the mean time.
It's been fun...


acknowledgements:
to gigatabs for sharing that 'wicked' tabs-- http://www.gigatabs.com/d/dishwalla-tabs-000631146/angelsordevils-tabs-0007111787.html
to Michael Moore for showing me another 'truth' that is more real-- http://www.michaelmoore.com
to you. =)


Stealth Fighter is logging off in
5 seconds...

4...

3...

2...

1...

0.

The Storm Survivors

September 14, 2004
Latitude 21-30
Longitude 80-00
Republic of Cuba

“Houston, Ivan just left the island…”



When Hurricane Ivan grazed on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, Elma Garcia expected nothing left from her bathroom in her house in Pinar Del Rio. Her country has been ravaged by Mother Nature’s fury and when it all ended, cold water running from the faucet is considered a good news.

However, a greater news came when the national radio station (Radio Havana) announced that there has been zero deaths and injuries reported. Once again, ZERO deaths and injuries.

Every time I think of Cuba, I can’t stop thinking about my own country, the Philippines. Not because of the similarities between the two countries, but because of the contradiction. Of course, we cannot compare apples to oranges, but if we are judging within the context of disaster strategy program between the two, Cuba is far more effective.

Historically, we all know that Cuba being a communist republic, is considered an enemy by the Western perspective. They have been sanctioned economically by different countries, with “democracy” as the battlecry and at the helm, is no other than the United States of America. For decades of struggle, people of Cuba are living the simple, but surviving way of life---transistor radios, black & white television with highly localized programs, rural lifestyle and environment, literary books, beach resorts, cigars, no shopping malls, and of course, no Starbucks. Despite all of these, they were able to cope up with the rest of the world, and even became competitive in the field of athletics (they have a university tasked on national sports development, and being an athlete is considered a career itself).

Looking to their evacuation program, and knowing how it worked during the height of Hurricane Ivan’s visit to their country, Cubans have the most reason to be proud. And for the other countries to learn about.

There will always be damages brought by a hurricane, as showed by the aerial views of torn-off roofs and walls, downed palm trees, flooded coastlines, and damages to livestock and agriculture, but the spared lives and injuries from the storm is an inspiring story of man’s triumph over a vengeful nature.

Perhaps, they are lucky. They are lucky because their people are not just well informed, they are also responsible citizens. Moreover, they have a healthy view of life; they know that a human life is much more valuable than any of their television sets, radios, and houses. Here in the Philippines, people could trade their lives for a mobile phone, or an iPod..

They shut the electricity down before the hurricane came, and it was a good move. Civil defense plans are highly developed, with preparedness education programs for the entire population. Evacuations are widespread and mandatory (check below for related story). The effectiveness of the program produced not just zero deaths and injuries, but also zero crime and abuse. Here in my country, expect a looting binge and abuse of power to occur in the streets whenever a typhoon comes. And when there is an extreme flooding, combined with the arrival of camera-clad media men on the immediate vicinity, the typical Filipino will not hesitate to flash a “peace sign,” frame his face and smile on the camera, even if he is submerged neck-deep on that mocha-colored floodwater in the middle of the wind and rain.

For Elma Garcia and her husband, it would be difficult to start all over again, losing almost everything to Hurricane Ivan in her destroyed home. But just like after the past hurricanes, she knows that her government will help her in rebuilding her house. The case is not the same here in my country.

If you want to survive, you must survive alone.

Philippines have many things to learn from Cuba.


related story: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5927015

Custom-MAXED Cars

"Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful,
and valued because they confer power;
they are hated because they are hideous,
and loathed because they impose slavery."
--- Bertrand Russell, 1928


Man's fascination with machine is always comparable to a double-edged sword. Even before the Industrial Revolution, this degree of fascination and admiration has either saved many lives, or ended them ---in an increasing level of efficiency. From the gas chambers of the Holocaust, to the MOAB-deploying Stealth Fighters in Iraq, humanity learned to fear their own scientific creation. On the other hand, from the airplanes pioneered by the Wright brothers to the Magnetic Levitation Transport in Germany, we are inclined to worship machines. But looking on both ends of the equation, there is one specific factor that determines the enduring force of machine's evolution with humanity, and they call it "necessity."

I confess that I am completely fascinated by machines. Whether they became agents of destruction or tools of human survival, I always find their beauty within their necessity. If I have an old bike(My father used to have one), I find a way to re-use them in whole or in parts as long as it's possible. I will try to reconfigure, recycle, or reprocess them into a whole new usable tool that will not just help me deal with my everyday life but also Mother Nature. This is good, because we are not just teaching ourselves to be creative and adaptive but also we fulfill our duty to our dying environment.

I can write this piece of crap because I just happened to see some episodes of MTV's Pimp my Ride (anchored by the one and only Busta Rhymes). There's something good from tv trash these days. Since playing Need for Speed: Underground on the PC platform, I find myself addicted to fanciful cars, specially customized cars. Personalized cars are so IN these days and people with different tastes and backgrounds are so aware for the need that their personalities must be reflected on their personal assets. They say it's all about freedom, power, and choice.

To be specific, the West Coast Customs in Los Angeles, California is one hell of a place in customizing cars. Their engineers, technicians, and specialists are masters of their own field. They are not just customizing for the sake of necessity and demand, but also for individuality and creativity. Ranging from interiors, vinyls, spoilers, to accessories and add-ons, the list is simply endless. They are doing it as a team, as a unit, and they certainly know what they are doing. The result is also limitless---according to each customer's taste and Net worth. So whether you want your car to be maximized in speed, space, safety, endurance, beauty, or all of the above, you have it. And what really makes it unbelievable is that they can transform your old ugly car (as long as its not a total wreck, or in Pinoy terms, kinakapitan na ng talaba) into a suave, mint-conditioned car-of-your-dreams. I wonder if they have a counterpart over there in Japan, or Europe.

Their expertise is tested from the episode when an owner of a Ferrari from Canada wanted to change his wheels. With help from another team that also specializes in customed cars, the job's done and the Ferrari is transported back to Canada within 2 weeks. Various episodes showed almost everything, from putting in shoe racks, coffee maker, to customized DVD/karaoke/Playstation entertainment system, and the personalized warning device. I expect GPS recievers being installed to some cars on their future episodes.

You gotta give it to these guys. They are simply experts of their craft, and I salute them. Everybody just loved their job, all in the name of the fast, beautiful, and mean machines.


--Xzibit A, aka Busta Rhymes