theology

i studied in a catholic school all the way. way back in elementary, i perfected all my religion quizzes and exams. i was a pretty diligent and obedient kid way back then. but i remembered, in the sixth grade, i had a fight with my religion teacher. unfortunately, she was also my teacher in fourth year high school. had a fight again with her during my recollection, in front of the class. there goes my experiences in high school religion.

last year, i had my first taste of "theology". eversince, i found it crap to take one. i had a bad teacher who is smart, but close-minded. i never believed that one should be taught how to have a relationship with anyone. it's by experience. it's supposed to be by trial and error. it's supposed to be done through sensitivity and feeling. and here i am, studying in a catholic university, memorizing a red book in front of me, but was not convinced enough that the book was the key to have a perfect relationship with God. i would start some debates with my teacher, but i still had to draw the line, to spare everyone from his fury.

now, after a year, i'm taking theology class' next level. topic: marriage and sexuality. i deliberately got a tough teacher. he's actually scary but really smart. somehow, theology doesn't feel like teaching me the ways to have a perfect relationship with God. and even if the teacher's a priest, he never insisted that non-catholics are abnormal people, unlike the other theology teachers in school. the class was just about how marriage and other sexual topics should be handled. i still haven't changed my disposition on catholicism, God, and the rest, but it's something else. it's like making me see things from a different light.

so what's with me and theology classes? i honestly think that they are waste of time, money, and effort. taking these classes are useless. there shouldn't be books that tell us the step-by-step guide to living a "godly" life or ten ways to go to heaven--the easier way, nor "catholic instructional books" that are similar to how fitness books are written. the red book for my intro to theo class was nothing but crap. the compiled articles were all about the history of Jesus Christ. if you come to think of it, would it make our faith deeper if we are able to memorize all of the important dates in His life? or the different councils that discussed all the useless catholic teachings? for crying out loud, humanity is never about this. God won't love us less if we are ignorant of these. there are more important lessons than these. how to deal with relationships, how to deal with the people around you, how to answer the call of conscience, how we should feel about others, what right things to do and what evil to avoid--these are what matters more. not all theology classes can teach us these. and how can one actually start teaching the right way when they themselves are not on the right way?

i was challenged by someone to go to church more often in order for me to have lesser problems. i don't believe that shit. i a lot of people go to churches and just do nothing. and going to church doesn't also mean that you're spared from punishment. i go to church not because i want to have lesser problems, but because i really feel the need to, and i indeed want to. i converse with God anytime and anywhere i feel like to. i don't go to confessions because i can tell God myself. praying tons and tons of hail marys or the Lord's prayer won't erase the fact that i did something wrong, that i hurt someone, or what have you. the best that i can do is to say sorry and make up for it by making the person i did wrong happy, not by reciting memorized prayers. i do have faith in God, and i guess i don't need these things to make me think that i am not loved by God or He loves me less--for not following what the church wants me to do. the church isn't even perfect. in fact, they have a lot of extremely wrong doings. they discriminate non-catholics, and ask their followers to do a lot of shit. these things just encloses who God is in a box. we think of Him merely as a concept. God is more than that. you won't get faith by reading the Bible, you just feel it.

a badly needed holiday

at around four fifteen this afternoon, i found myself suddenly blank. prior to that, i just came from power plant to take some pictures at play underground for a project, then went to book wagon to look for a potential christmas gift (unfortunately the barry manilow piano book that i was looking for was already sold and if i place an order, the copy would be here in april--too late for christmas), then went to rustan's to shop for pita bread, tuna, and dressings. so i was with a friend, on board the car and was talking with another friend over the phone since her group needed help for some project. my dad called my driver, and few minutes later, my phone had call wait and it was my mom. wasn't able to answer so, she called my driver. asked me some questions, so was the friend who was with me, and i was getting crazy.

i was spaced out. couldn't even react to anything. it took me a while to get back to normal. there are just so many things in my mind right now. i'm supposed to take a field trip to the different museums in manila, then do this project for pr, then read the hundreds of pages of handouts and books for school, then there's the bowling marathon this sat. is fpj running? who will i vote for? should i even apply for work this december? when will i shop for christmas? who are the ones i'm giving gifts? my parents are separating and should i be happy about it? in court hearings for this case, should i attend? how do i deal with my other problems?

it's just the second week of school and everything's gone bad. real bad. i can't afford to enjoy doing what i used to do a lot before. i couldn't fulfill my promises to my cousins whom i owe a lot of things such as shopping together, playing ps2 (which they haven't returned to me), playing hiroclix, watching dvds, etc. etc. i am such a mess and so is everyone else.

for the past week, i had conversations with people about death. there's a atenean student whose brother was killed when he resisted hold-up. then, there's the youngest son of miriam santiago. then, there's the death of my friend's godfather. what is with this month? i thought all the bad things ended when the week ended, but it seems like the nearer christmas is, the more bad things are happening.

there aren't worthy consolations for me and everyone else. everything just happens so fast. it's been a week since the mariah concert, and it's hard to notice it especially if you have to go to school for six days a week. it's already a wednesday and i was actually shocked to see that it's only 29 days left before christmas?! jeez!

stephen bishop concert and songs i wish he sang

at around nine, southborder performed two of their old ballads--love of my life, and kahit kailan. i (and apparently the rest of the crowd) still like the voice of jay durias better than the new guys. i thought that the two new guys were supposed to replace luke alone. jay sang some lines, but he let the new guy sing more.

stephen bishop went on stage wearing blue pants and suit, black shirt and red pair of shoes. weird. he started with parked cars. a lot of people who watched his valentine concert (with michael johnson and david pomeranz years ago entitled reminscin) at the folk arts theater (when the tickets were still cheap then--imagine 3 artists for 1,500 front row na.) complained that he didn't sing this song. it's really worth complaining. it has good lyrics. then, he sang rhythm of the rain-- i don't really like that song so much. he cracked a joke. it's already his fourth time here. he was praising the mangoes and the women here. he mentioned that the food here is strange and that he was offered fish head soup. it reminded him of his ex-wife and he said that she had just remarried and that he was crying--for him.

he sang my favorite, send a little love my way. i did something stupid here. i accidentally erased the only mariah carey concert clip on my phone because i was all rushing to record this song. i remembered feeling lucky before when i heard him sing this song twice for his reminiscing concert (i heard him reherse this). then, he sang a song from his new album, dance of the heart. make it last still has the good lyrics of a bishop song, but i don't think i'd be considering it a classic just as the other ones. he sang his loveable upbeat song one love. then he sang the crowd favorite's breaking up song separate lives. this song was nominated for an oscar for best song (from the movie white knight). he lost to lionell richie for say you, say me. he sang another favorite of mine one more night. then little italy, then of course my first favorite stephen bishop song--never letting go.

he introduced lani misalucha and they sang on and on together. i still don't get it why on this song did they do a duet. then he gave the floor to lani and she sang bring me to life, and one of her new songs. then stephen came back, with no costume change, sang a new song--un baile del corazon. didn't like it. his last three songs were something new in my life, save it for a rainy day, and of course, it might be you. before he did this, he again cracked, 'oh i think i forgot something. it should be you, it could be you, it must be you, oh, it might be you!" pathetic.

there. i really hate the thought of majority of the crowd just went there to see him sing it might be you. and not a lot of people were familiar with his other hits. i feel so bad for it. oh, i was able to greet him a belated happy birthday too.

here's the list of my other bishop favorites that he didn't sing:

1. losing myself in you
2. badge
3. careless
4. a fool at heart
5. only the heart within you
6. same old tears in a new background
7. every minute
8. walkin' on air
9. heart and soul
10. everybody needs love

thoughts on the 22nd of november, 2003

the first three hours of this day was depressing. although i had problems on my own, everything had to take a back seat. a friend needed me more. i just came home from an evening of mixed emotions. by around six pm, i had just parted ways with another friend because we had our own respective plans. i promised another friend to meet up with her at the mtv aids summit at the fort for her events management class. i was already on my way, when i received a call from another friend. her usual perky voice sounded exactly the opposite. she asked me to meet her in her place. i couldn't feel like letting her down, so since i was already at mckinley and her house was nearby, i decided to ditch the mtv thing.

an hour later, we were discussing the problem. i felt so helpless. i really hate myself because i can only come up with crappy pieces of advice for my friends whenever they ask me to give them some. also, i promised a friend to watch the showing of his movie in makati, but because the traffic was so bad, wouldn't be able to arrive on time. so, i decided to stay with my friend.

so from around seven til twelve, my friend, her problem, my problem, and i were stuck together. within that 5 hours, there would be instances where she would feel hope, and that everything wasn't too late, but minutes later, she'd be breaking down beside me. and i found myself so useless then. couldn't do anything better than stay with her. but, i was happy to do that for a friend.

there was no resolution that evening, so we decided to go home, and go ponder and reflect on things. by the time i got home, i remembered i had another friend in trouble. hoping it wasn't too late, i decided to give her a ring. she answered. after listening to her woes, i felt like breaking down too. i couldn't help but wonder why everyone had to be in terrible problems during the same time that i am having my own. in the past, it's usually either i'm okay and my friends aren't, or i'm not okay, and my friends are. that was my consolation-- at least people beside me are okay. apparently, this time, this disease is quite contagious. everyone around me had problems, and these aren't superficial at all.

after two-and-a-half hours over the phone, we were both tired. since we felt like we have accomplished something, at least we felt like we got something off our chests. my eyes were swelling and i was drained, so i decided to catch a nap, so i could wake up an hour after to do some paperwork.

i wasn't able to get up on time. woke up at seven, did half of the work, and had to prepare for school. my consolation for that day was that i enjoyed the first session of our advertising management class. my teacher is really good, good looking, smart, and flawless. the class was great--only half of the class showed up. everyone else was in baguio. (another reason to rant this week was that almost everyone in school kept was surprised and kept asking me why i didn't go to baguio for the ad congress. isn't it depressing when you don't have enough funds to go there, and you know you really want to? besides, i of all people would want to go there. i haven't gone to baguio in my whole life and i always feel like a loser for this.) after the class, i had to rush home to finish half of the paperwork i promised my friend. so i went back again to school and saw some of my friends and felt bad because it's been a while since we spent time together. eversince school started, was busy with a lot of things.

i was aboard the car going to greenhills for my practice, when we had to fill the gas tank. my driver and i didn't notice that we couldn't pay through credit card, i didn't have enough money, so i had to wait for my brother there in the gas station for more than 30 minutes. when i got into the venue, i was already two hours late. well, at least i still was able to play three games. then, before i got home, had dinner with a teammate. it was fifteen minutes to seven when i arrived and i was supposed to leave the house so i could get to the stephen bishop concert on time. however, received a message from a friend to call her if i was interested in a business opportunity. i discussed it with her for around thirty minutes. so, i was really rushing. that was a bit fine with me since i drive fast. when i was about to get the car keys, my dad had already started the car, and my mom said he would be driving. i hate it when he drives. he texts and talks over the phone while driving, doesn't abide by the traffic laws. he's one of the drivers that we hate because they feel like they own all the streets in the metro. it was my first time to arrive later than the listed time for a concert. thankfully, the show didn't start on time. after the show, i was able to have my album jacket autographed and even had a picture taken with him and two other girls i met after the concert.

when i got home, my parents were, as usual, fighting. i felt so tired so i slept. the time was around 1230--it was early for me since i usually sleep at three or four.

songs i wish mariah sang during her concert

i enjoyed the show last sunday, even if the concert started late (almost ten pm!). i was already at the venue at roughly five thirty pm, and the P1,500 and P500 sections were already full. at around seven pm, there were lightning striking and people were screaming. there was light rain. good thing that it didn't last long, although the soil was wet nevertheless. i was having a chat with a guy who seemed to be the most dedicated mariah fan that i have met in my entire life. he actually told stories of mariah that he found from the various mariah fan sites. well, as expected, the news were not so good to hear. from him, i discovered that during tours, mariah has so much demands. her suite has to be adorned with girly stuffs and on the bed, there should be a hello kitty (what the?!) stuff toy. she also demands 25 bottles of mineral water available in her room. also (much to the dismay of the filipino fans), rumor has it that aside from calling regine velasquez a "brown monkey", she once questioned if filipinos could actually afford her tickets. in a presscon in shanghai, regarding her attire, she said, "the skimpier, the better." and a lot lot harsher and odder stories (or probably just rumors).

funny, there was a time when i actually thought mariah was already there. people were screaming. well, it wasn't her who the people were screaming at. it was aga muhlach with charlene. and jay-r, the 'feeling guwapo' kept on waving to the crowd. oh and maurice arcache was there too. yuck! tsk tsk.

i wasn't really expecting her repertoire to be full of old hits, since it was supposed to be a promotional tour for her latest album, charmbracelet. but, she actually did (yehey!). she started with heartbreaker and dreamlover. the moment she started singing, everyone, including me, stood up on our chairs, and were screaming like hell. imagine, for hours ago, i was hearing how bitchy mariah is, but at that moment, i acted as if i saw one of the mythical gods, feeling nothing but awe and shock. (i didn't actually believe that mariah was there on stage). i still am a big mariah fan, after all.

as you might have already read from more reliable sources, she had around 7 costume changes. one of which (she wore the exact black Harley Davidson tube top which she had worn in the 'i know what you want' video), she used only for as short as the bridge in the said song. she only came out and sang that part, and immediately left. there was also an instance where she actually ran towards backstage. even if the stage lights were already turned off, the entire audience still saw her and actually a lot were laughing about it.

just like what the mariah fan that i met that night said, she lipsynced one (thank God it was just one) of her songs--"fantasy". obviously, the song needed her to sing it on a high note, and since her voice wasn't at its best that night, she was obliged to cheat. noticeably, she was paos too. well, she still got away with it, since she was able to blow the audience away anyway.

of course, since she sang her upbeat songs, she had to danced too. her dance moves (complemented by skimpy attires) were really slutty. honestly, she couldn't anymore dance well. she was voluptous. my gay friend was right. mariah doesn't have any face value, but she was EXTREMELY SEXY. he even told me that if he really was a genuine woman, he would be wearing the clothes mariah wore in school. most of her tops were plunging, pek-pek shorts (forgive me for the language) in blue and pink shades, tube tops, and others. well, i'd have to say that i liked her black dress!

she was sweating hard as if she were in hell. poor her! i think she even saw a cockroach on stage.

oh, and there was something mysterious about the concert. lani misalucha was supposed to be her guest in the concert. they were supposed to sing when you believe together. it was announced in the papers and i think even in the radio stations. lani didn't show up. i wonder why.

back to what i really wanted to talk about: the songs i wished she sang.

1. subtle invitation- my new mariah favorite song. track 12 off the charmbracelet album. when i first heard it, i thought twice if it indeed was a mariah song. it's jazzy, not your usual R&B/hiphop mariah. the mariah fan i met said that she sang this in her US tour while on a swing.

2. the one- track 3 off the same album. basta it's a good song.

3. you got me- track 5, same album. cute!!!

4. boy (i need you)- track 2, same album. it was released on air, so i think it's a bit famous.

5. underneath the stars- one of my mariah favorites. unreleased here in the philippines. not a lot knows about this song (yehey!) track 2 off daydream album. super nice!

6. melt away- track 9 off daydream. her duet with 'the great' babyface. they really sound good together even in every time i close my eyes.

7. breakdown- yep. she didn't sing it, surprisingly. apparently, this song wasn't a hit in the states, and she probably didn't know that this song reached the top of the charts here. ouch lyrics!

8. love takes time- oldie, but goodie. ballad. eleventh track off her first, self-titled album.

9. fourth of july- again, thank God it wasn't released. track 5 off butterfly.

10. babydoll- another good one that wasn't released. track 7 off butterfly.

11. if we- her song with ja rule and nate dogg! off glitter album, track 3.

12. emotions- the original mariah trademark song. maybe she can't anymore reach the notes. track one off emotions album.

these are my favorites, and of course, if i were to mention all of the mariah songs that i like, i'd run out of energy. so, i hope she really does come back and sing her other songs. she was probably shocked to see the huge number of flilipino fans. for those who didn't watch it, regret!

another bad week

aside from the problem that i am currently grieving about, there are also school stuffs and others that are also beginning to bother me. it's just technically the first week of school and hell month is making it's presence felt. because it's a general rule (although some are fortunate to get away with this) in philosophy department, the professor i had for ph101 would be the same for ph102. honestly, i think i got into the wrong class. i don't really like the teacher. and funny, it was my choice to get into a filipino philo class. you see, i am not really an avid fan of reading, especially if it's a period material, and obviously, philo articles are from the ancient greek period. the book written by fr. ferriols (according to sir gongora, he's been considered by time magazine as one of the top 100 greatest philosphers of all time) is a bit boring. it's easy to get what he's saying, but it's just that he keeps on repeating his words, making it redundant. enough of that. my point is that in philo, we were taught that what are said (or written in this case) are less important than what is done. and it's weird. my philo teacher is so dependent on the book. even if i enjoy the idea of philosophy, i have been getting irritated by how it is being taught in class.

it was my choice to get a legendary teacher for my theology class: marriage and sexuality. he's really good. i never enjoyed theology this much (because i had a terrible close-minded teacher for the previous theo class and honestly, i don't believe that we shouldn't be taught on how to deal with our relationship with God.) maybe it's because that this class isn't really God-centered that's why i'm enjoying it. admittedly though, i felt bad of getting an F for my first quiz in this subject. nevertheless, i see myself opening more eyes with this class and with this professor.

today, i was late for my first class because i had to go to the library for the microform reading for history class. our homework was to write a paper on what the world was on the day i was born. my history teacher, another good one, has 300 students, so everyone was basically bugging the staff in the microform reading section. poor them. but anyway, i was thinking that instead of describing what the world was on my birthdate through the headlines and other serious news, i'll be seeing through the use of entertainment and classified ads perspective. i went to my first class around ten minutes late. fortunately, since it was a psych class, there were graduating students who were there to ask us to answer their questionnaire for their thesis. our nice teacher said that we would be granted extra points for our first long exam just with answering it. the senior students were also generous enough to give us lollipops in return. however, i needed to go to the bathroom because of how sticky the wrapper of the lollipop was. i was running to the bathroom when suddenly, i twisted my ankle... again. i had just twisted it last week, a day before school, and it's not even done recovering. it was swelling bad, so a good classmate of mine was nice enough to accompany me to the infirmary. they wrapped my ankle with a bandage after applying some bengay. i don't think the nurse wrapped it well.

with all these, i don't really know where i'm off to now. these problems are relatively lighter and easier to solve than my "big" problem. however, i'm at least fortunate enough to have these minor problems for me not to dwell on the "big" problem as much as i would have to.

stars

there are a lot of them tonight. in relation to the terrible day i have today, i opted to hope upon them. (my english teacher way back in grade four taught me that wishes don't come true, only hopes.)

sometimes, when we lose something, even if it comes back, there is no guarantee that it would still be the same as when it left us (or in some cases, when we left it). it might not be as good as it was. it might be better as it was. but one thing's for sure, it would have changed, either it comes back to you or not. but in this case, maybe i'm a fool to accept it still whatever changes it had underwent.

i would like to correct myself when i said that there is no consolation. some good people have proven me wrong. they are some of my friends, who i sincerely never thought would be here when i need them. it's just too painful to think that sometimes, even if we get something better in exchange of what was taken away from us, or what we lost, we still would prefer to be with it. there are just some things that it's too difficult to let go of.

stars are maybe there for some scientific reasons, but for me, they are there to give me hope. when i was a kid, i found hoping upon a star such a silly joke. but funny when as we grow old, the more we'd want to go back as a kid. when i chance upon stars, i get reminded of talking with God, hoping for my loved one's happiness, and thanking Him for every blessing he has bestowed upon me.

thoughts on the 15th of november, 2003

damn! last wednesday, i got a bad news. the tickets for the mariah concert tomorrow are now being sold with a 20% discount! and, what's worse, currently, the weather's worse than how it was during the past week. why on all days should the typhoon have to make it's presence felt on this weekend?!? a part of me also fears that she won't be singing her old songs since it's the charmbracelet world tour! no regrets though!

this morning, after a much brain-draining debate with a friend (which ended at 2:30 in the morning), i woke up just in time for my 9 am advertising management class, which i have been looking forward to since enrollment. however, because my driver was so slow in fixing his stuffs, i was ten minutes late. to make matters worse, the room was changed at the last minute. God was merciful to me today though! fortunate for me, the teacher (who's really hot!) didn't show up. he left a letter saying that he's on his way to baguio for his marriage tomorrow! (awwww!!!) my ates of advertising told me that he's getting married with one of the smb-binibini girls!

don't you just hate 24 being tagalized by abs-cbn? kiefer sutherland has a good voice and people won't be able to savor it. damn! oh well, can't be too selfish. Filipinos aren't really educated, so subtitles won't really work!
though i wasn't really expecting it to be shown nightly.

the weather lately is killing me! last night, i didn't think of leaving the house. however, i forgot that i was supposed to! i promised a dear friend to watch the premier of his film, but i didn't show up.

christmas is coming near, so have to do christmas shopping. the most exciting yet difficult thing to do for christmas is to think of what GOOD gifts to give your friends. i really have to start soon...

current song: subtle invitation by mariah carey.

"old school channel"

i am a child at heart!
thanks to the wonderful ideas of one group in my broadcast management class last sem, i am probably considering establishing a network showing only reruns (when i become a billionaire). the things (both local and foreign) that i would aire are:

1. takeshi's castle
--was aired on IBC 13
--until now, everyone still wonders about these two things:
a. what the grand prize is if the contestant is able to defeat takeshi and enter the castle.
b. has any contestant actually defeated takeshi?

2. oh tokyo (both the first and the second)
--aired on WINS channel
--eleanor, marichu are actually the most entertaining hosts

3. the filipino-niponggo tutorial
--was aired on WINS
--there are two hosts for this show- a male and a female, and three unenthusiastic male students. (from their appearances and expressions, they look unprepared and also seemed to be forced to be part of the show, and they are the same students for every episode) the male host starts with a scenario where the phrase might be appropriate to use. afterwhcih, he repeats the phrase. the only role of the girl host is to say "ULITIN PO NATIN" and the students would repeat the phrase until all three students get the phrase right. i actually took some words and phrases down.

4. crystal maze
--was aired on star world
--i still think this is the most fascinating "skill-and-intelligence-test" show. there are four or five venues in the entire maze which has a different theme for each. some of which are the aztec and the industrial. the goal of the team (composed of around six members, i think) is to collect as much crystals as they can from the different rooms in the maze after finishing the required task under a certain period of time. the team leader picks out from the group, which he or she thinks is the most capable of accomplishing the task. if the contestant fails to leave the room by the time time runs out, he or she gets locked into the room until the final round, or if the team is willing to exchange a crystal for their teammate's freedom. the significance of the crystals is the more crystal the team has, the longer their time they are given for the final round. in the final round, the contestants are inside the huge crystal dome and their task is to collect the gold palara and put them inside the container. if they get silver ones, the number of the gold ones decreases correspondingly. if they are able to reach a certain amount of gold, they win the jackpot prize, which is a giant crystal. the host of the show is the bald (but not hot), richard o' brien (donned in tim yappy clothes), who i think first gave me the idea of what gay is.

5. cartoons:
--rainbow brite (rpn 9 ata), smurfs (rpn 9 ata, those blue freaks with white hats and undies), visionaries (was aired on star world, the heroes have pictures of animals on their chests, and their super ability is to be able to transform to that animal), looney toons, tiny toons (we're tiny, we're toony, we're all a little looney, and in this cartoony we're invading your tv!), garfield and friends (abc 5 ata, cute ni odie! but i really hate the pig!), g.i. joe (storm shadow's hot! and i always found lady jane stupid!), voltes v, voltron, care bears, chipmunks, batman adventures, teenage mutant ninja turtles, x-men (the original cartoon series), chipmunks, chip n' dale rescue rangers, darkwing, he-man, she-ra, transformers (more than meets the eye), super mario brothers, wacky races (mutley!!), jem and the holograms...

6. shaider
--was aired on IBC 13
--don't you ever wonder why annie always wore the same yellow top and short shorts every episode, and how she always flirts with shaider?
--shigi shigi shigi oo ba

7. bioman
--was aired on IBC 13

8. old double dare and the nickelodeon obstacle course show (which i forget the title)

9. ang tv
--wouldn't it be fun to laugh at how current stars of today were then?
--four thirty na! ang tv na!

10. okay ka! fairy ko!
--was really happy when i found where the show got it's theme song
--charito solis scared the hell out of me!

11. moonlighting
--bruce willis and cybill shepard as david addison and maddie hayes
--hurrburrt!

12. picket fences
--the best drama show ever created by david e. kelley.
--i love waldo! who know plays the old teacher in boston public.

13. ER
--had a crush on eriq lasalle

14. the old x-files
--had a crush on skinner

15. gimik
--the second season was not able to carry over the cartoon effect that they had on the first

16. flames
--used to be happy during periodical exam weeks because i get to go home early for this!

17. doogie houser m.d.
--friday nights before murphy brown at abs-cbn
--tagalized shows were not yet the "in thing" then!

18. murphy brown

19. alf
--the weird brown creature
--i was scared of him at first

20. perfect strangers
--balki and larry

21. la law

22. old commercials
--that's the problem with commercials. it's impossible for the networks to re-air them.

23. batman
--the one with adam west! had a crush on him too!
--don't you just love the wham!s kapow!s?

24. the simpsons
--the most famous dysfunctional family next to the mcmahons!

25. friends
--shit! it's going to end soon!

26. sex and the city
--the uncut version!

27. the game show hosted by panjee gonzalez and roderick paulate

28. goin' bananas

29. palibhasa lalake

30. the old 5 and up

31. cooking shows of all the dazas

32. JULLIE!
--i sincerely wish abs-cbn brings this show back! her new show aired on anc isn't as good as jullie.
--this is probably the best talk show in the history of the philippine televisions.
--cosmo on tv!

32. all the shows of JUICE CHANNEL
--i really feel bad about this channel! nakakahinayang! i hope to revive this channel, again, when i have the funds.

my first encounter with social psychology

every now and then, i will be sharing some of the fascinating lessons i got from my different classes.

1. most people DO NOT rate themselves as worse than the average. we usually rate ourselves better than the average.

2. people's behavior is NOT BEST predicted based on a person's disposition or personality. we must consider the power of the situation.

3. to alter the way people act, one has to make the person experience the situation.

4. people who are made self-conscious by looking to a mirror tend to act more in line with their attitude.

5. one DOES NOT NECESSARILY enjoy the activity if thereis a greater reward for it.

6. most people WOULD NOT disobey an officer if asked to hurt a stranger.

7. during debates, persuaders WILL NOT ALWAYS BE more effective if they acknowledge the opposing arguments. if the persuader is speaking in front of an audience agreeing to his or her position, don't even bother. however, if it's the other way around, consider doing it.

8. in a formal debate, it is NOT ALWAYS to your advantage if you go last.

9. in a game of tug of war, people generally pull harder if without a team.

10. in a group, the greater the cohesiveness, or the more "we" feeling, there is a LESSER tendency to come up with a good decision.