Hai Naku

Live in Las Vegas
Living vicariously
People's Champion

I got nothing...

The Great Storyseller

Floyd Mayweather boasted today about how he was "greater than the greatest". I learned about this since his statement was apparently important enough to make most of the front pages of the national and local newspapers. I used to think the headlines were for things of great importance, not for the "greater than the greatest". I digress. Floyd is referring to Muhammad Ali, a boxer who was known as the "greatest" and many would consider him so. Floyd is, in effect, claiming he is bigger than the boxing Jesus.

Me and my mother were having breakfast one morning. Small talk eventually led to the MayPac bout because of course it would. She didn't follow boxing but told me that she hoped Manny would win. I asked her why she hoped so. She told me that she'd like to see Manny win because that Floyd person was so arrogant.

I was reminded immediately of pro wrestling. In pro wrestling, you have a good guy fight the bad guy. The bad guy would do all sorts of things to get the crowd to hate him. He'd insult the local sports team, denounce America and so on. The logic was that people would pay good money to see the bad guy get his ass kicked by the American hero. It's catharsis. It's nice to see a bad guy get his comeuppance and for good to prevail; the feeling of revulsion, triumph then relief.

Of course, boxing isn't a fixed fight but the principle is the same. It's Floyd's way of drumming up the hype for the fight. By making arrogant, semi-ridiculous boasts, Floyd is not only generating buzz for the media but also getting people to hate him enough to want to pay to hopefully see his ass kicked. Ironically, Muhammad Ali knew this as well. Why do you think Muhammad Ali called himself the "greatest" in the first place? He knew how it worked. He crafted his own cocky persona that would generate the hype and hate. 

We are all salesmen. In our everyday interactions with other people and society at large, we are selling our image. From the way we dress down to the way we walk, we project what we want others to think of us consciously or subconsciously. We are all the heroes of our own storybooks; the leading actors of the movies of our lives and like movie stars, it is necessary to craft an image with wide appeal and fit for mass consumption.

Floyd is probably only acting like an arrogant prick for the reasons I already stated. Even if he is an arrogant person in real life, that's irrelevant. What matters is his persona and the interest it generates. You have to understand Americans. They like a guy with a cocky swagger. The tastes have changed but there is still an appeal to what he does.

You look at Manny and you already know the storyline. It's so obvious. In fact, it seems almost made-to-order for the Philippine market. A man from humble origins... poor and downtrodden Kid Kulafu. He fought his way to the top. He fought for his country... for us. Jeez, that's cheesy but it works. Filipinos eat it up.

But the real reason why Manny is so beloved by the country is that he lived the part. He's the real method actor. Manny did in fact, come from humble origins. The best stories are those with a bit of truth in them, which is why despite Floyd's boastful claims, it's easy for people who pay attention to see through the gimmick.

We are all salesmen. PNoy for example, isn't a very good salesman and is a very lousy actor in the tragicomedic play that is his life. The son of heroes is he! He is honorable and pure. He is light and his enemies are darkness. Anyone against him is corrupt and allied with the forces of evil. I've written before how PNoy is a victim of his own mythology. What happens when the actor does not match the character? The best stories are those with truth in them. PNoy liked to sell this idea that he was righteous solely because he came out of the vagina of a righteous person. But the actor did not play his part very well. He wasn't who he said he was. That's why his approval rating is so low. You can't make a sale when nobody is buying.

Look at Mar Roxas. He's even worse. Mar likes to direct traffic, haul bags of onions and other menial tasks in an attempt to look relatable to the common man. Nobody bought it. He looked ridiculous. Poor actor. Poor salesman.

Can you imagine a man like Jaime Zobel de Ayala manning a counter at McDonalds in order to look relatable to food service personnel? How about Lucio Tan collecting garbage to appear like a good public servant? You can't sell false stories. Not even businessmen tycoons like them are skilled enough to sell themselves like that. It takes a certain cunning and skill to change roles like a chameleon changes color. It's called charisma.

So in the end, here we have Manny vs. Floyd. It's a battle between a humble and pious Filipino boy vs. the smug American coward. People will pay. People want to see how the movie ends since it really is unpredictable. If Manny wins, songs of victory will be sung and the hero vanquishes the villain. If Floyd wins, then a new tale will be spun from whole cloth to suit the needs of whoever. 

What's your story?

rik schaffer - World Spirit Map

Or the theme from "Vesuvius" if you will.

Live Forever

I've been reading many articles on the tech trends of today and have found that there's a lot of talk about researching ways to stop or even reverse the aging process. 

It is often said as a joke that the unfortunate side effect of medicine is that people live longer. But what if that joke would no longer hold any truth to it? What if people lived longer but remained in a state of youth; living longer but never aging? Imagine that. Now the millenials of today can be literal millenials.

But if you were offered the chance to live, let's say even just a thousand years, would you take it? It is possible that medicine could reach a point where such can be a reality.

How about forever?

MayPac: The Neverending Story

Not a single day goes by without the media doing a special report on how Manny Pacquiao is preparing for his fight against Floyd Mayweather. It's like watching the Rocky training montage nonstop 24/7. Try it. Watch the video below nonstop dawn till dusk and that's pretty much the Philippine media.

It's already declared as the fight of the century and if you judge how important something is based on web hits and traffic, then the upcoming bout is the most important thing to Filipinos at the moment. It's even more important than our looming power crisis or the bargaining away of our sovereignty to terrorists for a vague promise of peace.

It's really amazing how so much attention and energy is given for what is simply a boxing match between two millionaires. What's even more amazing is how the hype is being maintained daily with no signs of dying down. I think it's too much. Normally. I'd gripe about how our nation has its priorities all mixed up and how its citizens care more for an inconsequential bout than real issues of substance but that's too easy. It's just too easy.

I don't think our problems will go away after this boxing match. The sun will still rise over this country and its wretched people. The idiot will still be President. Nothing will change. Nothing ever changes.

For now, it's nonstop hype day in and day out. There's a lot of people who will make a lot of money out of this so if you don't care, you will be made to eventually.

What if Pacquiao loses though? Wouldn't that be something after all that hype?

Hot Heat

This thing has always bugged me. You know the song, A Horse With No Name , by the band called America? Well at one point, the lyrics go:

"The heat was hot and the ground was dry but the air was full of sound."

Isn't that a bit redundant? The heat was "hot"?

Anyway, it is freaking hot so you know summer is already here. That's the Philippines for you. If it isn't the torrential rainfall, it's the blistering heat.

Stay hydrated.

In Defense of the "Haters"

Holy Week came and passed. Holy Week is that time of the year when Filipinos set aside some special time for God and attend to spiritual matters. After that, it's back to the usual sinning and immorality.

El Presidente claims to have spent the Holy Week praying for his "haters". His words: "Siguro pagmumuni-munihan ko 'yung 'di ba some quarters have this intense hate that they have continuously exhibited. Siguro I'll concentrate in praying for them."

I've already gone over previously that if you look at the President as an egotistical narcissist, every stupid thing he says and does begins to make sense. His hypersensitivity to hearing bad things from people, whether it's his own men or his critics, is further evidence of my humble theory.

I wonder what he was praying for specifically. Was he praying for them to have good health and long lives or was he praying for God to shove lightning bolts up their asses, given that he's a vindictive man-child? I digress.

I find the use of the word "hate" a very interesting choice. What is hatred? Simply put, hatred is an intense and passionate dislike for something or someone. "Hate" was a very revealing choice of word because hate is seen as something negative. In a Christian culture such as ours, "hate" is seen as something to be avoided. To hate is to sin; we must love God and neighbor. Hatred is evil and is not seen as a positive in any way, at least over here.

PNoy dismisses his critics as merely people who have intense hate for him. Hate is a very strong word. In this way, he paints his critics as evil people who hate. To be fair, there are probably people who do hate the President but remember that there are also people who simply disagree. There are those who criticize not out of personal hatred but out of, I dunno, genuine concern for national affairs or sense of civic duty to hold leaders accountable for mistakes?

To lump all your critics into one category, no matter how valid and fair their grievances, is a whole lot easier than having to deal with them. If you simply say they're "haters" then it becomes easier to dismiss them rather than having to listen to them. To label someone a "hater" makes them evil and it makes them seem irrational. Better to call them haters than critics. "Critic" has an air of legitimacy to it. "Hater" on the other hand, delegitimizes a person.

In the broader culture, it's becoming trendy to simply label your critics as haters. "Haters gonna hate" is the popular phrase. The point of the hater label is to dismiss criticism outright. "You're a hater, I don't have to listen to you since you just hate for no reason!" Pop culture is narcissistic and whatever convenient delusion we cook up for ourselves to block out "negativity", we are eager to use. So call them haters! That way, you don't have to engage. There doesn't have to be any actual debate or exchange of ideas. That way, you don't have to change. Nothing changes. Everything stays exactly the way it is because you're already perfect the way you are, right? Narcissists are so into the present.

The hater label is problematic. It is not good also to label every critic as a hater. If a person is making valid criticisms out of real concern for you, a knee-jerk reaction to label that person a hater won't do either of you any good. Taken to its extreme, just look at the President. He doesn't listen at all to his critics. To PNoy, everyone who doesn't toe the line and say what he wants to hear, is just a hater. No need to talk. No need to answer questions. NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE. Just shut them out. After all, that's democracy, right?

For the record, I don't hate PNoy; I pity him.