Last April 19, Fox announced that Glee has been renewed for two more seasons, a move that surprised many since the most recent season of Glee garnered the lowest ratings since its inception. In the course of four seasons, the musical comedy went from being an Emmy-worthy leviathan to a weekly viewed guilty pleasure; people even cited the habit of watching Glee as “hate-watching”. To be frank, Glee has indeed turned into something only a true Gleek will write: the dreaded fan fiction. Whatever happened to don’t stop believin’?

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan had a hard decision to make: let go of the show’s core cast and make the show as true-to-life as it is, bringing in a new crop of characters headed by Melissa Benoist who plays Marley Rose. Introduced in the season 4 premiere episode questionably titled “The New Rachel”, the audiences were delighted by Marley, a sweet beret – wearing dreamer who aspires to be “a singer on the radio”, and wowed the fans with a soulful and great performance of Chasing Pavements. However, as the season progressed, the fandom questioned how Marley became “The New Rachel” when the original Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele to perfection, focused on getting her dreams and making them come true; Marley, on the other hand, just chased the boy of her dreams, Jake Puckerman, and suffered through bulimia which caused them Sectionals. With just a thorough analysis, it is easy to say that Glee did lose its touch.

A die-hard fan or Gleek could actually say that Ryan Murphy may in fact be viewing fan-made stories on Tumblr or fanfiction.net because the stories that have been weaved together throughout the fourth season could conceivably be adapted from the fans’ innermost thoughts and desires. The new “ships”, the break-ups of the core couples are enough to keep the true blue fans tuned, but what about the other people? Is Glee turning into niche television?

Contrary to popular belief, Glee isn’t as popular and renowned compared to The Walking Dead, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and Suits. The difference is that these shows know the voice they employ and the tone and themes their shows need to maintain and improve. Glee, especially this past season, is struggling to maintain the wit and humor it was once known for (see: Brittany S. Pierce, Sue Sylvester) and the need to tell stories that will resonate with people and make them feel like Glee really is about everyone. Sometimes, it seems that the whole show is resting upon the comedic timings of Brittany or Sue, and it doesn’t even equal the efforts made during the first two seasons; some episodes tend to go from peculiar to downright tedious. The lines that are uttered can be very repetitive especially when Brittany says them. The season also focused too much on Blaine Anderson, which made the audiences clamor for more of the other characters.

Another thing that was highlighted was the comparison between the originals and the new characters which made the show better because a sighting of Santana Lopez or Finn Hudson brought light to a room filled with the mean vibes of Kitty Wilde or the annoying chatterbox that is Unique Adams. Glee gets meta when it reiterates how bad some “music themes” are, and it’s not bad at all because the show also realizes that it has flaws too.

If we’re talking about Emmy submissions, and it is very unlikely given the stiff competition (the return of Arrested Development, end of 30 Rock, and the excellent runs of Modern Family and Girls), the last five episodes of season four were the best in terms of story, drama and acting; “Shooting Star”, the episode that featured a gun being shot in McKinley High, were criticized by some but proved to be the most beautiful hour delivered by Murphy and Co. for its heartbreaking and tender performances. One thing Glee has not lost is the fact that it can be positive and uplifting, even in the darkest of times, because the message is clear and it is the main theme of the show: life is beautiful and it can be better with a little positivity and help from friends.

Yes, the show can be very polarizing and it is, as a matter of fact, the epitome of guilty pleasure television, but with a little tuning, and the fact that Ryan Murphy’s other show got cancelled, Glee can and may return to its true form from season one. People want the same dark, satirical and sarcastic tone that Glee employed during its earlier, more formal years, and it isn’t hard to go back to that, what with the opportunity Fox gave to the show. However, the answer would have to wait until the next TV season; until then, audiences just have to cross their fingers that Murphy won’t blindly pick stories from Tumblr anymore.

Rating: 3.0

Photos from the internet

Congrats, you tried!

The DLSU Lady Archers fended off the NU Lady Bulldogs, 64-62, to remain undefeated on top of the standings. The Lady Archers relied on Ara Abaca and Cass Santos, who paced DLSU with 13 points apiece from their fourth game in the Fil-Oil Flying V Preseason Premiere Cup in the Arena in San Juan. Lady Bulldog Shelly Gupilan led all scorers with 21 points, highlighted by shooting 12 of 15 from the charity stripe.

The game started out close as neither team got a lead of more than two points in the first quarter. Sam Paig scored a three pointer with 28 seconds remaining in the first period to give NU its first lead since the opening two minutes. The Lady Archers retaliated with a bucket from Trisha Piatos to close out the quarter with a one point lead, 12-11.

The Lady Archers started the second canto with a 9-2 run led by back-to-back buckets from center Ina Corcuera in the first two and a half minutes of the quarter. DLSU maintained their intensity by closing out the Lady Bulldogs, 29-23, to end the first half.

La Salle then opened the second half with a 5-0 run coming from the fiery Piatos. This opened up the lead to nine points as La Salle tried to rout NU; however, the Lady Bulldogs responded with an 18-7 run of their own, which gave them the lead at the end of the third quarter, 43-41. The Lady Archers missed basket after basket and could not convert on the charity stripe. NU outscored the Lady Archers, 20-12, in the third and their lead was down to two.

With the lead in the Lady Bulldogs’ favor to begin the fourth quarter, the Lady Archers added pressure to the backcourt to force turnovers from NU. The Lady Archers were able to reclaim the lead, 52-50, with 6:25 left in the game. DLSU was able to convert on key baskets in the final minutes of the game to give them a 63-59 lead with two minutes left. Gupilan then converted a three point play with 25 seconds left to trim the lead to one.

NU applied pressure defense and forced Abaca to commit a travelling violation with 11 seconds left. The potential game winner by Tongco missed the mark; Santos was able to come down with the rebound to secure the win for the Lady Archers, who remain undefeated after three games.

Next up for the Lady Archers are the ADMU Lady Eagles, whom they will face on June 1 at 10:30 am in the same venue.

DLSU 64 – Abaca 13, Santos 13, Garcia 10, Piatos 7, Corcuera 6, Ong 3, Melendres 3, Oyao 3, Claro 2, Ramos 2, Vergara 2, Revillosa 0, Scott 0

NU – Gupilan 21, Paig 19, Tongco 8, Borleon 4, Escoto 2, Abriam 2, Antiguera 2, Maghibon 2, Castro 0, Sison 0, Senarosa 0, Ross 0

Quarter Scores: 12-11; 29-23; 41-43; 64-62.

Photos from Magic Liwanag

It was around 7:30 in the evening at the Circuit Makati, and masses of people had just formed in front of the stage, awaiting as Up Dharma Down is about to play their set. Everyone in the crowd could barely breathe from the lack of flowing air, with a downright exhaustion that started building in since the early afternoon. As usual, the band takes their time to get on stage. Everyone is antsy from the waiting. Pushing for a close position and struggling for personal space is rampant.  Water is now good as gold, and breathing has become a privilege; everyone is restless.

But as Armi makes her way through for her red piano, flashing that sweet grin – the crowd starts to erupt. As they play their first song “Parks”, everything doesn’t matter. No one cares about having no space, air or water. What matters right now is the blasting keyboard, riffing guitar, and soaring voice filling the field. The only thing that matters right now is the moment, the moment where we all become one. Yes, everyone is now more restless than ever.

This is Wanderland.

Making their blazing debut this 2013, the music and arts festival aptly named “Wanderland” proved to be a huge success and instant classic that is already being awaited for its encore next year. Fans got an experience of a lifetime as they were treated to a diverse lineup of musicians that was headlined by long-awaited indie artists from around the world, alongside amazing acts from homegrown bands.

Wanderland, in all its beauty, is the first music and art festival of its kind in the country. Held on the grassy fields of Circuit Makati, the booths and mats all around, the quirky, soulful fashion of fans frolicking on the grass, one can’t resist basking in the happy aura. Even before the bands came out, crowds were growing, people from all around walking around seeing what else Wanderland had to offer. From food to Raybans, to a giant inflatable slide to a velcro wall, Wanderland was the perfect getaway playground for the restless. But at the strike of 2pm (an hour late but who cares) when the stage boomed with the sound of drums and guitars, everyone knew it was time.

The performances were electric from the beginning as Taken By Cars ignited the festivities, with help from members of Pedicab and Sandwich. They would be followed by indie mainstays and frontrunners Pulso and She’s Only Sixteen, jolting the crowd with their electrifying performances. And delivering their own soulful thunder is Yolanda Moon who gave everyone some much-needed relaxation that brought the crowd into the clouds.

After a paced crew arrangement allowed revelers (what the PA kept calling the people inside Wanderland) to roam around the fields and get a quick bite and sip to reenergize, the first foreign act Colour Coding entered the stage, sending people up on their feet with their hits, and a special cover of The Killers’ “When We Were Young”. The music continued as Avalanche City took the mic next, delivering some folk sound to the crowd who responded with synchronized claps alongside the toe-tapping melodies. Not too long, the sun began to set almost at the same time the banjo had started fading. It would now be Tully on Tully who would kickstart the night, as their lead songstress Natalie Foster amped up the crowd and gave everyone a reason to go bonkers, with her sultry tone and terrific stage presence highlighting the band’s post-rock tone. With their hits “Naked” and “Stay”, Tully on Tully certainly made themselves a talent that leaves the Philippines wanting them back from down under.

A break now from the foreign acts, but no break from the hype, came Up Dharma Down, taking the stage and lifting the crowd with their ever soulful sound. Song after song, UDD knew how to move their audience. Ending their set with their undying hit “Tadhana”, they left the crowd in cheers for an encore. Accepting that they wouldn’t return, the crowd now shifted to anticipation in waiting for the last three acts: Nada Surf, Neon Trees and The Temper Trap; craziness is bound to ensue.

Nada Surf came out with smirks of cheeky intentions. They were very open with the audience through their act, with bassist Daniel Lorca sharing an anecdote of his teenage years in Manila. Not only did the band play their songs such as “Popular” and “Inside of Love”, but also had some extra fun with the crowd between performances with small talk and picture taking. Through the heat and sweat, Nada Surf played on and gave the crowd a taste of music so smooth that it didn’t matter where you were hearing it from; for as long as you could hear it, it all made sense. Nada Surf ended with a thank you and expressed hopes of coming back.

An eerie silence then covered the stage, almost ten minutes of just crew members walking around setting up drums, mic stands. People started to wonder what had happened. Then the mic stand lights up. Shining like a beacon at the center stage, followed by the bursting of guitars. Through the fog,  Neon Trees has arrived. Probably the craziest act of the night, the band rocked the stage with their hits “Animal”, “1983” and, of course, “Everybody Talks”. The eccentric performance was punctuated with shoe throwing, sock tossing, crowd surfing goodness. Words lack the capacity of awesomeness to describe what Neon Trees had done to the Wanderland stage. The energy was all out and the crowd sang and screeched every word of every song. Neon Trees definitely gave all the love they could give to Manila. Their performance will never be forgotten.

The screams of a wild crowd transformed to an echoing chant of people in euphoria. Yes, it is the final act; the band that will end it all, The Temper Trap takes us on a flight of emotions that no other band could have created. Each song was a roller coaster ride of emotions. Dougy Mandagi’s voice is like cherubs whispering all the secrets of the world into your ears. It is an experience truly worthy of the name Wanderland; thoughts and emotions wandering about as if independent from your control.  Ending their set, ending the festival, with “Sweet Disposition”; how that song just took everyone, timing it perfectly in the end. The crowd became a choir, every one word with all emotion. This was it. Wanderland is over but it has started something that will definitely be coming back.

Wanderland 2013 isn’t perfect, of course, with minor inconveniences to hamper one’s experience. But with all the bands, energy, freebies and all, Wanderland 2013 is an experience of high recommendation. Even now, it is safe to say that people are already anticipating for next year’s festival.  As remarkable as it is being the first, it has the potential to be better and surpass the standard it has set.

Rating: 3.75

For more information on the event, kindly visit the following sites:

https://www.facebook.com/wanderlandfest (Wanderland Facebook Page)

http://facebook.com/karposmultimedia (Karpos Multimedia Facebook Page)
http://twitter.com/karposmm (Karpos Multimedia Twitter)
www.karposmultimedia.com (Karpos Multimedia Website)

Photos by Magic Liwanag at his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/magicliwanagphotography

With reports from Marvin Fernando

After playing carelessly and losing their composure in the last outing against Lyceum, the DLSU Green Archers came out of the gates with an unselfish offense and tenacious defense, handily conquering the EAC Generals by 28 points at the Arena in San Juan.

After the team’s 91-63 triumph, La Salle head coach Gee Abanilla was satisfied with their performance but said that he expects more than just wins from his team. “The Fil-Oil is not about winning only but improving individually and as a team. If we win and do not improve, it defeats the purpose of the league. I think we are on the right track,” shares the second year mentor.

The Green Archers started out with a 9-0 advantage after Jason Perkins scored seven straight points, forcing EAC to call for a time-out. Perkins then ended the quarter with 11 points as La Salle took a comfortable 26-14 advantage over the Generals.

Early in the second quarter, the Green Archers continued their aggressive play, led by Robert Bolick and Arnold van Opstal. This surmounted to a short run for the Green Archers that allowed the team to grab an 18 point lead. EAC had a run of their own, though, as they were able to cut the lead down to single digits, 37-28, but the Green Archers managed to regain their composure by halftime as they settled with a 10 point lead, 47-37.

Both Kib Montalbo and Oda Tampus contributed 6 points each during the 16-3 run of the Green Archers, giving them a 22 point lead midway through the third quarter. EAC would not let the game get out of hand though as they did not quit, trailing by just 16 points as they headed into the last quarter.

As the Green Archers tried to seal the deal in the fourth quarter, they opened up the period with a pair of three pointers from Bolick and Perkins. The Green Archers kept on pushing the basketball as they stretched the lead to 28, their biggest lead of the game, at the end of four quarters. To end the game in convincing fashion, DLSU outscored EAC in the final quarter by 12, resulting to a 91-63 victory for the Green Archers who maintain a perfect streak in the Fil-Oil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup.

It was the fifth straight win in as many outings for coach Gee Abanilla’s squad and they won it with a complete team effort. There were no isolations or selfish plays to be seen as the youthful squad dismantled their rivals with precision passing and timely cuts to finish with a final score of 91-63.

After the game, the humble La Salle mentor shares, “There were stretches where we looked good but there are still aspects to improve in our game.”

Starting big men Perkins and Norbert Torres both finished with double-double performances, while Jeron Teng added 11 points of his own.

The rookie Perkins finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Torres tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds. “Jason [Perkins] is a very versatile player and he can work the ball inside and outside,” says Abanilla of his prized forward.

EAC was bannered by Noube Happi and Jan Jamon who both had 14 points, but the rest of the squad was unable to contribute in their resistance of the streaking Green Archers.

The Green Archers will next face UAAP rival UE on May 25, Saturday, in the same venue at 4pm. The Green Archers are looking to go for their sixth straight win and, after the encounter with UE, will have two more games before the end of the elimination round.

A black Blackberry.

It is mine. It belongs to me. Where most people had Bolds and Curves, I had the Pearl. Not the popular choice but one that I never regretted making. This phone was stolen not by me but from me. It was on a desk in a room in a house in Ayala Heights, where I saw it last. In my hand though is where I see it now. First comes happiness then comes relief. I thought I would never see it again. I was half right.

I blink.

I am not sitting but lying down on a bed in my room in my house. My long gone phone remains to be as is. First comes sadness then comes acceptance. It was the third time in a week I dreamt of finding that phone.

This dream may not share the same shock value of films like Nolan’s Inception or Crowe’s Vanilla Sky but it has the formula. You experience the world of the dream but what do you bring back to the world of those awake?

A student in DLSU whose real name is not John had a nightmare. John recounts a dream with a girl, a hallway and a clock. He stands at the end of a hallway opposite a stranger. John thought he knew her. At that moment the face of a clock flashes in front of him. Not to argue with the physics of a dream, he sees the arms pointing up and right.

Three am.

The clock passes and the girl is now in front of him. He was wrong. He did not know her. “She wasn’t scary,” John says. At that moment he bolted up, now awake sitting upright on his bed. He looks for his clock out of curiosity and sees a familiar sight.

Three am.

Eerie, later in the day, he tells this story to his mother. His mother then tells him of the dreams his tito had when he would sleep in the room John now occupies. Different person, different dream but the same girl, eerie.

Robert Stickgold, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, explained in a talk how dreams work. They take things you experience during the day, or the night for owls, and try to understand it. It takes the gist of it and then factors in our insights subconsciously. This all comes from Stickgold’s studies dedicated to understanding the relationship of sleep and learning.

Nightmares would then come from something we experienced and fear while awake. But the story of John seems to do the opposite. It seemed as if the fear was created during the dream and was brought back to the world of the conscious and the awake. Maybe fear goes both ways.

We all know that there is a fine line between sleep and awareness. Some more than others pay closer attention to it. So people just gave it a name, with people like Dr. Andreas Mavromatis, naming the experience – hypnagogia. Although at times the line that divides the two states of sleep and awareness tends to get blurry. Hazy would be the optimal word. It is during this wherein people experience phenomena such as sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming. Hypnagogia begins to sound like purgatory.

Does that make heaven the dream, or waking up?

Sleep paralysis is the inability to move as a person falls asleep or wakes up. It is like when you are the first one to wake up when sleeping over with friends, except it was your brain that jumped the gun while your body remains asleep. During this, people experience a number of sinister sensations. The most devilish, probably, is the combination of a stinging vibration that begins in your chest and a noise that begins to shape into voices.

A student from Ateneo, whose real name is Jelo, experienced sleep paralysis. It was only until this article was made that he was made known of the condition. Until then, he just remembered it as the time he thought he was being possessed, maybe. He tried to shout but couldn’t. He tried to move but couldn’t. He thought he was going to die. He was half right.

Nocturnal death is what they call it. Basically it is dying in your sleep; these are not ninety year old men and women who have lived a good life whose death we explain to the children with the line “It was their time.” These deaths were and are happening to the young. Jelo didn’t die though, goes without saying.

Ever watch The Matrix? That was a rhetorical question. You die in the matrix; you die in the real world.

It is this gamification of real life that is most daunting. With this aspect of sleep coupled with the fear of simple dreaming, monsters in our closets are nothing compared to the monsters within our heads. All these nightmares represent the negative. A negative is usually shown as a villain or a problem, but since nightmares come from our minds then it is we who make up this evil. We may not be much of a villain but more of an unreliable narrator. At a certain point maybe we can’t even trust ourselves.

John, Jelo and the writer of this article share one thing in common: We went to sleep without a problem but woke up with one. Science hasn’t been able to explain it. We don’t really know why we need to sleep or why we dream. It’s not like we have a choice though, a bad dream is almost the risk we take in sleeping. This though is a concern only for some, as I asked people about any dreams they had, they replied with “I haven’t been dreaming lately.” With the amount of dreams this writer has been having, I should tell them:

“I haven’t been awake lately.”

Despite being overshadowed by other forms of media, the radio remains a staple of college life: during morning trips to school, when the mind has yet to regain full functionality, and we need something to sweep away the residue of sleep; during blackouts amidst a storm, and the family gathers around the only connection to the rest of the world, while the mighty television and the juggernaut of the internet lay dead; when we’re looking for a companion on those lonely late night drives.

Or perhaps the average college student only tunes in on the commute to those white-collar summer internships, a last sip of humanity before plunging into the depths of capitalism. But for some kids, that internship is the radio.

‘Junior jockey’ is the name of the gig, and Alan Everhard (pseudonym), a junior jock himself and a former DLSU student, gives us a glimpse into the booth and the goings on about it.

Beginnings and a tip

A year ago, he applied to a radio station in Mandaluyong, sending in a resume and a demo tape three minutes long. A tip for interested applicants, he says, is to submit a demo as if you’re actually going through the motions of being on-air. He recalls how his consisted of a song coming to an end, him introducing a topic and then introducing a song, and then the beginning of the song, as if going through the actual motions. “This gave me a leg up over others,” he says, as most people simply gave a three minute demo of incessant talking.

After that, the station recalled him for a callback audition, wherein he was brought into a small room and was spontaneously asked to talk about the cellphone of the facilitator. This was the last test before he was accepted.

When asked about his first time being on air, he said it “went well.” He wasn’t nervous (or so he says), despite stuttering and messing up a sentence or two. Back then, he was relegated to reciting ads and top of the hour news reports every hour or so.

The usual grind

“There are no schedules,” Alan says. “If you’re free, just come over.” In his first few months, his classes ended at the unwelcome hour of nine in the evening. So he’d leave school, take the often twenty minute commute to Mandaluyong to handle the 12-3 AM shift. At this time, there were only about 2-3 others in the station—all junior jocks.

This was when he got to learn to use the computers and how to transition. “But there were no ads, so it wasn’t the full gist of it.” (And ads are a big thing).

Of course, choosing songs is part of the job, but the choices are limited to a readied playlist of popular songs, and the playlist “has to make sense. You can’t play Diamonds (by Rihanna) after a song from The Script just played.’

While songs are playing, the jocks usually play games, watch television shows, and talk unless they’re the assigned spinner (more on that later) because they keep track of time and fix things.

The other trainees are nice, and the supervisors are nice as well, albeit strict. The supervisors aren’t necessarily the preconceived image of a capitalist squeezing his/her slaves dry of money, but they were indeed businesspeople. If you messed up, they would get mad and scream at you, causing some of the student jocks to even cry, he shares.

At any given time, there’s a spinner among the jocks who handles the transitions, the ads, the songs, the log times for the venerated ads, the microphone volumes and turning these off, deciding whether a caller speaks, etc. ‘People say it’s hard, but once you learn it, it’s pretty simple.’ Alan likes to handle spinning duties whenever he’s on, though normally the jocks take turns.

Thinking of a topic before the show starts is required, but one topic is enough. Alan has noticed how the popular topics are the ones you don’t have to think about too much. People are more responsive to blank type questions, such as ‘you know you’re in love when _____.’

Among all the responsibilities, what’s the most important? Not screwing up.

Screwing up

Screwing up includes (but is not limited to) cursing, leaving the microphones on when a song is playing, messing up the almighty ads, making negative comments about brands advertised by the station (imagine bad-mouthing Coke only to have a Coke ad play afterwards?), praising rival brands of aforementioned brands (imagine saying how great Pepsi is only to have a Coke ad play afterwards. Awkward…), and forgetting to log the time of the advertisements. Since ads are one of the few ways, if not the only way, for a radio station to make money, these are given the utmost importance.

On one occasion, a junior jock forgot to log the time and the entire junior jock program was threatened to be shut down because of it.

Tales from inside the Booth

There was one time Alan’s friend was on the air, and not only did he mess up an ad, he also cursed afterwards. Once the song started playing, the DJ started screaming at his friend, and did so for that entire song.

Alan had one show where he was spinning, and normally they have to keep talk minutes tight, around 4-5 minutes. But one of his fellow student jocks started doing shout-outs to everyone, the family (they were an entire clan, Alan quips), family friends, neighbors, friends of the neighbors. If Alan had not cut it short, it would have gone on for maybe two more minutes.

They get some interesting callers now and then. One fourteen year old patron calls in every now and then and talks about her love life.

Trade-offs

Radio jockeying is not exactly a job where you meet a lot of people, but you do learn how to speak better.

It’s not the same for all stations, but in Alan’s particular station, student jocks aren’t given contracts. So there’s no payment, meaning you commute with your own money. ‘Problem is, during late night shows, commuting dries up in the Mandaluyong area, and only taxis are available.’

The whole student jock thing can last your entire college life, but once you graduate, you can work for one more year before you get the boot, unless you get hired, which is only a slight possibility. So if you’re not retained, ‘you have nothing to show for it,’ Alan shares.

It’s also a year-round job, unlike most internships. That includes the school year, and sometimes you can miss out on being with friends.

Life in the booth has its drama too. Some of them don’t like each other, and there are cliques among both the student and regular jocks. There are about fifty of them all in all.

Despite all these, it’s still definitely a fun experience for Alan. The bragging rights, the resume points, and getting up to date with popular music don’t hurt either.

See you again

“See you again” – or any of its alternative forms such as “Talk to you later” and “We should hang out sometime” – is an innocuous phrase used by two individuals who may or may not have had a casual conversation beforehand. Instead of the phrase acting as a subtle compliment or expression of gratitude for a wonderful time spent getting to know each other better, it falls into misuse as a meaningless get-away excuse from any conversation.  After deciding to call the conversation off and bid your hearty adieus, what usually happens is that the other person never calls or even makes an attempt to talk to you again. End of story.

Happy Birthday

Birthday greetings are special. When others wish you a happy birthday, it somehow gives you an assurance that they believe that another year of your existence is something to celebrate and be grateful for. More personal birthday greetings may come in forms of a self-composed chorus, a gigantic Hallmark card that plays a “Happy Birthday” tune, or perhaps a video presentation composed of special messages from the birthday celebrant’s friends.

Nowadays, as people become dependent on technological upheavals for more comfortable lives, the most utilized method of relaying birthday wishes is now through social networking sites, most notably Facebook. They allow us to send our wishes conveniently through a simple wall post. However, others abuse this accessibility when they send birthday greetings only for the sake of earning notifications and fulfilling their daily greet the birthday celebrants on Facebook routine. Instead of coming off as a thoughtful gesture, these greetings feel perfunctory and insincere. Being inundated with a barrage of these posts which say exactly the same thing (but with varying trails of smile emoticons and exclamation points at the end to keep it “creative”), especially from your “friends” whom you didn’t know existed before this day can be very unnerving.

And yes, you are obliged to reply to each one of them. With your very own Thank you! (Number of exclamation points may vary) which become meaningless by the tenth post.

Awesome

Slash wondrous, charming, and radical out of your everyday English discourse. Nowadays, everything that is pleasing is instantly labeled as awesome because most individuals are just too lazy to come up with proper adjectives to describe their experiences.  How was your day? Awesome. What are you reading? 10 Amazing Things about Cats. Have you played the latest installment of Pokémon games? Yes, totally awesomesauce! When awesome is used to describe a particular object, one assumes that the object made you stop without hesitation to take a second look at it, with your jaw dropping close to the ground as a sense of child- like wonder and awe completely engulfs your very being (which definitely is not close to what you really felt). It may just be more preferable if everything was assigned an awesomeness rating from a scale from one to ten just to clarify things.

I’m Okay

The knee-jerk response to the passing greeting of “How are you?” may probably be the shortest yet biggest white lie that anyone could ever say. For a more convincing act, a straight face and a forced smile is required to hide the fact that the positive emotions are only feigned. Almost all of us are guilty of saying this as a play- safe method to prevent conflict or stop others from worrying about us. We sometimes tend to believe that the other person hardly wants to know anyway, and that he might just be asking “How are you?” as a casual greeting. Furthermore, an “I’m okay” response can also be said when we are feeling too distressed to explain the current situation, or if the person who asked you is the source of distress in the first place.

There may be occasions when the other person cares enough to genuinely want to know how you are doing. One’s body language can help detect the sincerity buried behind these words.

Good luck

This is a completely pointless phrase that we say to another person who is on an endeavor. Rather than acting as a courteous expression of moral support to accomplish a task, it becomes an empty expression because most of the time, the said task does not really involve or require luck to accomplish satisfactorily. No, you do not wish good luck to someone who is asking for directions or studying for next week’s exam.

Sometimes, instead of being a morale booster, the phrase may come across as a condescending remark for others. It could imply that there is lack of faith towards the other person because he cannot fulfill the endeavor at hand with his own strength or creativity, and therefore he must resort to good luck if he wants it done properly. The moral lesson is that hard work and right attitude are the ingredients to success, never sheer luck.

We live in a time where intellectuality is scarce and knowledge is taken for granted. Diligent watch over proper grammar comes across as Nazism and intentional misspellings come across as Kewl. This is not the great human endeavor we have planned. It is collective progress that is the aim, not this half-witted culture that too many have fallen into. If we cannot express ourselves as whole as we can in words, what more in actions? Only in clear meticulous word choices can writers create art, only when we when have a full grasp of language can we truly understand one another, it is only then when we can truly, honestly be awesome.

Institutionalized activities such as the LPEP and LASARE struggle to inculcate a familiarity with the French saint among Lasallians; academic programs are encouraged to try and integrate St. La Salle in their courses, with professors left groping in the dark on how to fuse the values of his life into subjects like thermodynamics and game theory.

Perhaps it is difficult to make students relate to La Salle because of the way by which St. La Salle is presented in these endeavors – that is, as the protagonist in a riches-to-rags story of holy mission and lifelong vocation, of self sacrifice and visionary leadership. It is more uncommon to hear of St. La Salle as a maverick, who went against the common thinking of his time and the thinking of the institutions in France. The very fact that he let go of managing the vast estate of his family – now reputedly a leading champagne producing company – not to mention an esteemed and profitable ecclesiastical position in the historic cathedral of Rheims, were tantamount to his radical thinking about society, and what truly matters.

He had a vision for a society that was beyond the prevalent status quo – a society where teachers were respected, where the poor children and ‘scum’ of the streets of Paris were given an education in letters and arithmetic and piety and were empowered to step up the socioeconomic ladder and lead virtuous lives.

He faced a lot of intense opposition during his life, branded as he is as a different kind of thinker. He faced off against the teachers of Paris, who were envious of the success of his free elementary schools. He got into a spat with Church authorities after he resigned as canon in Rheims and as he furthered the dangerous idea of his group of consecrated lay teachers, the Christian Brothers. Within his own ranks, his close compatriot and trusted comrade Nicolas Vuyart deserted the order, and many others who were disillusioned with La Salle’s ‘madness’ left the order of black-clad Brothers. To add to all that, La Salle had completely forsaken family: as the eldest, he was rejected and banished from the aristocratic household whose name he had besmirched, for choosing to dedicate his life serving God and the poor.

He was defiant, as a social reformer, an educator and academic, a leader of men. He met a lot of despair, and midway into his floundering career it seemed like his order would dissipate from all the oppression he faced at every turn of the Brothers’ progress. And yet despite all the opposition he remained avant-garde, developing foundational theories in pedagogy, introducing the concept of technical vocational and night schools, taught subjects in the vernacular instead of Latin, the Simultaneous Method of group learning and clustering students equally according to their learning capabilities instead of letting a star stand out, in addition to other practical contributions that addressed issues in the medieval and generally ineffective teaching methods that St. La Salle so glaringly observed during his time.

And yet many students might fail to see La Salle in their life, even as they recite his prayer in class: “I will continue to do, O my God, all my actions for the love of you.” It is a short request that seems so humble when in truth it is worth a second look: are ALL of one’s actions done for the love of God? That La Salle saw the Sacred in everything he did, he was possessed by a supernatural drive and sense of surrender, that despite daily ordeals and his own doubt in fruitless causes, God would forever provide for His loyal servant. It was a sense of passionate mission and devotion that drove him to keep on striving despite the trials of his life and the order, the frailty of his mission and his Quixotic quest.

Lasallians may be less aware of the niceties of St. La Salle’s life: his struggles and his fears, his apprehensions and his groundbreaking contributions to the field of education. After all, not many teachers succeed in injecting a talk on La Salle in classes on thermodynamics and game theory; even theology classes do not promote a great awareness of who St. La Salle really was. But more than anything, the truth of the matter is that St. La Salle reflected himself in his teachers. He was who his teachers were, and they were disciplined to be virtuous souls who crossed themselves before entering the classroom, never swearing and controlling their temper, trading an angry reproach with compassionate correction, never discriminating against social class and race and religion, open to all new ideas while maintaining a solid, independent, consistent world view shaped by faith and communion.

The best way that St. La Salle can be taught to students is by the example of teachers who lead just and virtuous lives, who by their very action, conduct and speech can be distinguished as followers of the saint who forsook comfortable riches for a chance to change the world and the way that people think. More than anything, it is teachers who have to be transformed by La Salle, and not the students. For it is the teachers who must live his example in class, whether they are teaching theology or thermodynamics or game theory. It is not just his life that must be taught, for such teaching would be hollow if it were not seen in the life of a Lasallian teacher.

It is a difficult challenge for the faculty of La Salle schools. But today, on the feast of his proclamation as patron saint of teachers, may teachers never grow complacent and always seek to challenge contemporary thought, remaining critical and always open to new ideas, mavericks in their own right who never let the small details be too small for them. It is, after all, in each and every action, word, lesson, and interaction with everyone else that they reflect the very Sacred that drove La Salle to change the world.

Feeling lethargic as you wake, or just can’t find the right way to start your summer morning? Was your usual school day rush habit kicking in, only you had the rest of the day to do anything? Is your energizing playlist full of Avicii or Zedd and yet you find that coffee is not enough to jumpstart your lousy limbs? Why not take out those new sneakers from last Christmas, strap that player on your armband and let the wind and sun flow through you.

This summer, The LaSallian will give you the top places to spend the morning, with friends or none, just feeling the wind and expelling good ol’ sweat. Just maybe you’ll find that new track for your summer morn.

SM Mall of Asia

Travel tips: From EDSA, go straight to the end, crossing Taft Avenue and Roxas Boulevard, until you reach the huge globe of SM Mall of Asia at the end.

Along with the morning ocean breeze, the long and nicely cemented open road can be suitable for your jogging. Run freely and inhale plenty of that fresh air on every lap. Another thing that could be a plus is the huge mall beside this particular track, which surely has your needs or wants. After your run, why not pick up your groceries or do your morning shopping here, and hit two birds with one stone? There are also different fitness classes that can be found along the route of your jog. Feel free to join these along with new acquaintances. Different activities such as biking, and other recreational sports can also be availed of in the mall complex.

Bonifacio Global City

Travel tips: From C5, turn right into the service road going to Fort Bonifacio. From EDSA southbound, turn left to McKinley Road, and go straight till you reach the Fort.

BGC welcomes runners of different levels, may you be new or experienced to running.  For starters, you could take Bonifacio High Street for a lap or two, but if you’re really in for a challenge then add McKinley Hill to your route and exert that hidden energy as you go uphill (Just be careful as you go downhill and make sure you bend your knees). With very light traffic and wide, long roads and towering structures, the experience is like having a tour in Utopia. Running events are also frequently hosted here. Try them out: you may just be the next holder of the victor’s cup.

Ayala Triangle

Travel tips: This is the meeting point of Ayala Avenue, Makati Avenue, and Paseo De Roxas. Any route – be it through EDSA or some other route – that ends in an intersection of the two out of three roads mentioned would be a good starting point.

At the heart of the Metro, you can find serenity and solace in the Ayala Triangle. If you live in the Metro, you can take any means of transportation to get there, may it be bus or jeep. Amidst the great pollution and clutter in the rest of the city, you’ll be surprised with the verdant grove that can be found in the place. The huge trees in the area not only provide a refreshing dash of green for everyone, but also serve as shade for weary runners to rest in. If the day is too full for a jog, a night tread wouldn’t be bad as well, because of the countless lamps among the path. Plus you might even get a chance to see the lights and sound show in the afternoon.

La Mesa Eco Park

Travel Tips: From Commonwealth Avenue, turn right at East Fairview Subdivision’s Winston Street. Turn left at Dunhill Street and go straight until you reach the entrance to the park.

Up north of Manila, with just 50 pesos, you can enjoy the beauty of a lush green environment and get to avoid the rigid concrete lines and angles of the city, for once. Here in La Mesa Eco Park you have different running options, such as running around to enjoy the sights, or the biker’s path for a more off-trail run. But if you’re really in for more thrill, why not climb down the hundred steps to the watershed? There are also different attractions around the park, such as the butterfly garden and the lake view in the morning. Feel the oneness of you and nature in this really Earthy place in the Metro.

Roxas Boulevard

Travel Tips: From Monumento or Baclaran, look for any ride and don’t get down until you can see the sea.

If there is such a running center in Manila, this would be the place. With a road that stretches kilometers in length, it is indeed a runner’s place to be. Enjoy the sight of Manila bay on one side, and the towering skyscrapers and structures on the other.  You can also have a spot at kilometer zero, or the starting point of the kilometer system in our country, on one end, and maybe you can start marking your own personal best record for yours truly to beat.

In truth, running has always been part of our lifestyle, may it be because of rush or recreation. This summer, let us spend time doing something that could not only benefit our body, but could also give us that extra edge of exercise in our daily activities. Hopefully these routes can add a dash of color to our summer routines.

Almost 10 years ago, economist Winnie Monsod told the media that the automation of vote counting and canvassing makes the typical cadena or electoral fraud syndicates “impossible to operate” while “relegating wholesale cheating – the dagdag-bawas operations of the municipal and provincial canvassing level – to the dustbin of history.”

Prior to the automation of elections in the country, sentiments such as Monsod’s were common and reflected a spirit of hope, a general perception of progress in the institutionalization of automated ballot counting. Then National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) chairman Jose Concepcion went so far as to declare, “It is nearly impossible to cheat using computerized vote-counting machines. In a manual environment, cheating can be easily committed, but not in an automated environment.”

The situation during election day, however, suggests that where the integration of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines have brought the efficiency of the voting process ways away from the glacial pace of vote counting and canvassing in previous elections, it is not the be-all and end-all of ensuring a fair, free election.

Election watchdog Kontra Daya reports that technical difficulties with the PCOS machines made up 60 percent of poll problems reported. These problems engendered even more problems while opening avenues for others. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reports that 200 to 300 PCOS machines were defective; the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) reports 400. Beyond these claims, the overall experience not only with the genuinely defective machines but also those that merely malfunctioned suggest that the problem with the PCOS machines is not just in their inability to function but in their overall functionality, and ease of use for voters.

In many polling centers, the simple fact of delay in the delivery of PCOS machines or in the vote counting process itself caused disenfranchised voters in the problematic precincts to instead head home and forfeit their votes.Lasallians who volunteered with NAMFREL to monitor four polling centers yesterday reported by independent count as many as 13 malfunctioning machines in the four schools alone, approximately delaying the process for at least 50 precincts.

In addition, precincts with defective and malfunctioning machines, for lack of a better alternative, proceeded with the old method of simply collecting ballot boxes to be delivered either to the local canvassing committees, or locations ordered by less well-intentioned individuals and groups. Case in point, according to the updates of Lasallian NAMFREL poll watchers, a ballot box with votes from seven precincts in a Manila elementary school was ordered to be sent outside Metro Manila for canvassing, separately from other ballot boxes, under the orders of the school’s principal.

Consistently, the poll watchers monitored many other electoral violations in the assigned precincts: sample ballots with shaded candidates, political paraphernalia and blatant vote buying from “poll watchers”, the use of minors in electioneering within precincts and partisan assistants who “guided” voters without official permits, among others.

Despite statements from the PNP that the elections are ‘peaceful’, outside Metro Manila, electoral violence remains the norm, both during the campaign period and election day, which became particularly bloody in Sulu, Maguindanao and parts of Luzon. PNP figures cite 46 deaths during the entire period, and 72 reported incidents of electoral violence, 104 less than in 2010.

All these in mind, enforcement of Comelec policy remained the biggest problem, not quite differently from the pre-automation period. Where the Philippines is finally on track in working out its automated elections system, and PCOS machines have greatly expedited the counting and canvassing process, election monitoring groups and the Comelec still have a lot of work to do in terms of addressing the bigger problems that hinder the conduct of truly democratic voting.

With the next presidential elections only three years away, Comelec has to keep in mind that despite hopeful forecasts of automation 10 years ago, the cadenas have adapted and are still operating, and that the PCOS machines have not yet truly eradicated wholesale electoral fraud. Evaluating policies based on this year’s reports is a response, but is only one aspect of removing the impediments to a democratic election, just like automation is merely an important aspect of enabling that democratic environment. Electoral reform does not end with evaluation or automation: it ends, ultimately, in enforcement and vigilant action.

Even though this action, being more vigilant and critical of the flaws in the electoral system, holds governing authorities accountable and challenges them to be more capable of responsive execution, it is still not enough to vindicate electoral fraud and other obstructions to the basic exercise of voters’ political right. At the end of the day, people are not aware of how extensive the operation has been done, and why anomalies occur in the first place, even if voters’ education does happen.

Action is not confined to policymakers and electoral watchdogs that are themselves susceptible to organizational weaknesses, such as the conduct of abundant voters’ education campaigns that might be lacking effectiveness, or operation that might be logistically unsound and cannot be supported by adequately planned contingencies or sufficient government capital. Citizens then have to express the wrongs, and the vigilant action that falls to every voter and capable citizen to voice out what went wrong and how, in their precincts and their communities, and speak the truth to power, either online, or by themselves becoming part of election monitoring groups and organizations, instead of letting both the formal institutions and the stronger informal groups impede their right to a fair and free election.