Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Secret

Blade Runner - New American Orchestra - Track 6: Blade Runner Blues.

10/13/2020

When information was hard to come by, it was easy to agree on a common set of facts. Now in this age of  social media, it seems everyone has flown of the handle. There's so much information - too much information. No matter how outlandish one's viewpoint, there's always a set of "facts" to support it and online forums to find other true believers.

Compounding this problem of a deluge of contradicting information is the incompetence or complete absence of any leader or authority that can corral the masses. Experts get it wrong all the time. Institutions fail. Everyone has his own agenda and trust is at an all time low. 

How crazy can things get? I don't know. I always assumed that there's a maximum amount of discord/idiocy that society can sustain. It seems that there's no limit and this state of affairs putters on despite itself. 

This pandemic has revealed that when it comes to having a unified response, there will always be people who think they know what's best for themselves and to hell with the rest. But maybe that's just the way it's got to be. Blame liberal democracy. No modern democratic government has the stomach to go full authoritarian. In the end you can only do what you can.

The The - This Is the Day (Official Audio)

Level 42 - Silence

Swab Test

So I had to take a swab test for the Wuhan flu. We were made to by the office because some genius cop decided to make his way into the building while he was still waiting for his own test results. He turned out to be positive for the virus. Just to be safe, we were all told to get tested.

I wasn't looking forward to the swab test to say the least. I don't know if you've seen the pictures but it's all nurses in spacesuits sticking long chopsticks in your nose until they hit something. I exaggerate but I was assured that the newer tests used shorter, less intrusive swabs. So I scheduled the only event I would ever schedule in 2020 -  a damn swab test in some hospital parking lot.

This is how it went. You fill out the forms, etc. of course. It was advertised as a "drive-thru" service, as if to bring to mind happier times when people could eat out. What it really meant was that I didn't need to step out of the car. So the nurse comes along and she takes out this really long cotton swab and I felt cheated. But as it turns out, this swab was for the throat. I felt relieved and distressed at the same time. I was relieved that this pencil wasn't going up my nose but I was distressed that it was for my throat. I hadn't anticipated the throat part.

Here's the problem: I have an extremely sensitive gag reflex. It doesn't take much for me to start choking and gasping for air. I'm also a picky eater. I'm sure it's a problem relating to the oral phase of psycho-sexual development as that fraud Freud would put it. I think I read that in a book or a place-mat at Shakey's. Anyway, all the nurse had to do was lean in and I was already like a cat hacking up a hairball. But it had to be done. The nurse told me she'd do it as quickly as possible. So I took a deep breath and to her credit, she managed to take the sample before I made like a dying animal again.

After that difficult experience, the nose swab seemed like an afterthought. It's true that the new tests aren't as intrusive as the old one. She inserted a mercifully shorter, thinner swab in each nostril. It took only like one to two seconds. It wasn't painful at all but it was just very uncomfortable. You can't help but tear up and start sniffling. 

I got my results back in a day and it was nothing to worry about. If you have to get tested, it's not so bad after all.

 Hopefully I won't have to do this again.

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th

Digital Noise

If twitter were a person, it would be a confused, gender-obsessed, bipolar teenager who is either screeching about the latest outrage du jour or slobbering over the newest K-POP song. I saw The Social Dilemma, a documentary about the evils of social media. You don't need a show to confirm what sane people already know; that social media is the devil. I know that's rich coming from a blog.

There is truth though, that social media is ruining us. Spend some time on the internet and it seems like the world is burning. It's easy to feel angry or afraid. There's plenty of bad news to go around. Just take your pick, you'll find plenty of online articles predicting your apocalypse of choice. But that's no way to live, no? 

If I may be so bold as to offer advice, I say that when the world seems so vast and scary, just shrink it and it will seem less so. When you hear something bad, really stop to think about whether or not it affects you. Why get worked up about wildfires in California when you live in some island in the Philippines? Some guy said a bad thing on the internet? You don't know him and was he even talking about you? Is there some cause you champion or at least, pretend to? Check yourself and think about whether some righteously indignant tweet is really gonna change the world. Even if there is something happening that seems important, are you even in a position to change it? Why give up your soul energy, piss yourself off and put yourself in a bad mood for all that?

We're being played. Man was not meant to live like this. Man was not meant to give a shit about so many things. Throughout most of human history, human beings have only cared about the little podunk village they were born in and no further than that. Scientifically speaking, a man can only give so much of a shit, three rat's asses worth at most. Our ability to give a damn is not infinite, otherwise it would be a mental illness. There is value in not caring, even if it makes you seem mean to other people talking about the latest bowel movements on the trending page. Life is full of irrelevant things aggressively trying to grab your attention with all their digital noise.

It's OK to not care. 

Shrink the world and you'll discover the things you really should care about and the things you can actually do. Why whine about some injustice happening a million miles away when you just had a fight with your loved one and should fix that instead? You know what I mean? All these outrages are just distractions keeping you from seeing the things that really matter.

I know this will sound cruel but I don't care that Chadwick Boseman died. I'm sure he was a fine person and it's a bad thing that he died. Trust me, I know watching someone die of cancer is one of the worst things in the world, but I didn't know him personally. I didn't watch Black Panther and I'm unfamiliar with his body of work. Sure, I might watch one of his movies if I felt like it since everyone says he was a good actor but I don't expect me to tweet "Rest in peace, king..." or go on dishonestly about how he touched my life by putting on a cat-themed costume in a dumb billion dollar comic book movie.

Fucking whatever.

The Dictator's Holiday

Happy Marcos day, everybody. The house recently passed a bill to declare September 11 as Marcos Day in Ilocos Norte, the date being the late dictators birthday, Of course, people got worked up about it, made angry tweets and all that ineffectual nonsense. How nice of congress to find the time to focus on the really important issues during this global pandemic. Why are these people in charge of anything?

Even if the holiday is limited to Ilocos Norte, Marcos' old stomping grounds, this is yet another blow to the people power cinematic universe infesting the national psyche. They allowed Marcos to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani but now there's a holiday in his name too. How will the yellows ever recover? What's next? Marcos ice cream bars?

History is not a bland statement of facts. History is ultimately a narrative. History is story. We're wired to learn through stories. Stories supply the who, where, when, what, and why. The "story" of the Filipino people frames how we see ourselves and what we ought to be. 

As I have written here before, the people power revolution was a bad movie. The people rose up and overthrew the tyrant but the expected utopia never came. Instead of one asshole, we now have a multitude. You know how when you watch a movie or play with an awful third act, you begin to think about the previous acts and then slowly find out how lousy they also were in retrospect? Well, our story has collapsed and people now find themselves questioning the script. What if Ninoy Aquino wasn't a hero? What if Marcos wasn't so bad? Was the revolution really that widespread? Who wrote this crap?

Now the "upstanding" straight-laced people are shaking their heads at the historical revisionists - those hecklers throwing garbage on the stage and ruining the show. They shouldn't blame the revisionists. If anything, it's a collective failure. It doesn't matter now. The narrative will continue to erode until, perhaps, that fateful day in EDSA will be reduced to a footnote.  

China Crisis - Wishful Thinking

Incubus - Wish You Were Here

Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (Official Music Video)

Movie Review: Kesari

Kesari is an Indian historical war/action movie written and directed by Anurag Singh and released in 2019. The movie is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, a last stand battle between 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army and some 10,000 Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.

The movie doesn't claim to portray the battle with absolute historical accuracy. This is an action movie, not a slow-burn war drama. There are serious scenes yes, but there are a lot more scenes where people do slow-motion leaps in the air while a big "thwooooom!" sound plays. It's that kind of movie.

Havaldar Ishar Singh (Akshay Kumar) is part of a Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army guarding the Indian-Afghan border. Despite the prevailing diplomatic arrangements, the locals are itching for a fight. One day, a local mullah tries to kill a married Afghan woman who refuses to acknowledge her forced marriage. Before they could behead her, Ishar Singh intervenes against the orders of his superior. He fights the tribesmen off, killing the woman's husband in the process. The woman is grateful but Ishar unwittingly gives the tribesmen cause to rise up against the British. For his insubordination, Ishar Singh is sent away to Saragarhi Fort, a boring place where "nothing ever happens". Gee, I wonder what could possibly go wrong.

The Battle of Saragarhi is supposedly famous in India with poems and songs written about it. It's even commemorated annually. If you're Indian, you already know how it ends. Even if you aren't, you can probably guess. It's a story of sacrifice - brave soldiers giving their lives for their country. But we can't just skip to the end. There's more to the movie than the inevitable violence.

The story is told from the perspective of Ishar Singh. He is strong, wise, fierce, and courageous. He is portrayed as a larger-than-life figure. At the beginning of the movie, the stock racist British character makes snide remarks about how Indian people are cowards. Ishar Singh proves him wrong. He bravely takes on the odds no matter how hopeless.

But the movie also depicts his softer side. During the quiet scenes of the movie, Ishar is visited by his wife, Jeevani Kaur (Parineeti Chopra). They talk, laugh, and reminisce. Of course, the wife isn't really there; she is a figment of Ishar's imagination. But the way they interact is depicted as real and genuine, that it's almost like a flashback playing in and interacting with the present. It's a strange thing but I ended up really liking it. The quirk with many Indian/Bollywood movies is that no matter how grounded the movie is, there are always occasional breaks in reality and the viewer is supposed to roll with it. That's when they put the infamous song and dance numbers Indian movies are known for. In this movie, there's a pretty cool love song between Ishar and Jeevani that's worth a listen. It's catchy.

The sets of the movie are pretty good and realistic. The uniforms of the soldiers, however, are utterly badass. They have turbans with a chakram wrapped around it. It's seriously eye-catching, especially when Ishar dons a saffron colored one. Kesari means "saffron" and it's the color of bravery. CGI rears its ugly head once in a while but it's not too distracting. But just like my Detective Dee review, there's always this one iffy scene that threatens to take the viewer out of the movie. It happens in the end when the last soldier makes his last defiant stand. Let's just say that fire effects are always tricky to pull off. Let's leave it at that.

But what about the action? The action is pleasing to watch and whenever it goes over-the-top (and it often does) it's hilariously entertaining. But there's no wackiness here, just feats of strength and daring. It avoids becoming too ridiculous and thus undermining the solemn tone of the movie.

Speaking of tone, this is a very, very patriotic movie. The movie is clearly meant to appeal to its native audience and there's plenty of red meat to go around. Unfortunately, I'm not in the target demographic so a lot of the stuff went over my head but an Indian movie about this famous battle just has to be this way. Nevertheless, as an action movie, it's still enjoyable. The theme of bravery and courage against overwhelming odds is universal. It's easy to get into and is a decent watch even if the patriotic message isn't made for you or you don't know much about the historical event.

The movie avoids portraying the villains as complete caricatures. The evil mullah does plenty of objectively bad stuff to justify his comeuppance. There is, however, this really odd villain in the movie. He's an enemy sniper and he's there to pose a serious threat to the heroes. What's strange is that he's portrayed as very flamboyant and effete. He's clean-shaven and has eyeliner and painted fingernails. Maybe that's just villain coding. Personally, I found him hilarious and I wish he had more screen time.

Overall, I recommend giving this movie a shot.

Тачанка (Tachanka)

Movie Review: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is a Hong Kong Action/Mystery film released in 2010 and directed by Tsui Hark. The story is about Di Renjie (Andy Lau), a celebrated official of the Tang Dynasty, tasked by Empress Wu Zetian (Carina Lau) to solve a series of deaths via spontaneous human combustion.

I was surprised to learn that this movie is inspired by an 18th century Chinese detective novel Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, the English translation published in 1949. This stuff really goes back. It's a pretty interesting bit of trivia but the movie has little to do with the book.

Empress Wu Zetian is about to ascend to the imperial throne. Of course she has political enemies, even more so since she's a woman. A woman as head of state was unprecedented at the time. In honor of her coronation, a giant statue of Buddha is constructed and things hit a snag when one of its designers suddenly bursts into flames.

Aaaaaaahhh!

I was already interested with the idea of a detective movie set in Imperial China, but the opening mystery of people inexplicably exploding into fireballs got my attention.

So what's causing all these government officials to go to an early fiery retirement? This looks like a job for master detective Dee who, by the way, has been locked up in prison for the last eight years on charges of treason. Hey, it's no big deal. I love scenes where heroes are summoned from retirement/confinement to do a job only they can do. The Empress doesn't seem to mind letting him have a crack at it. On his part, Dee has no hard feelings since the whole affair was not borne of personal animosity to the empress but out of his concern for the state. That's how you can tell who's the hero in Chinese films.

The movie isn't all sleuthing and deducing. There's plenty of kung-fu action to go around and it's pretty damn good. The fight choreography was arranged by Sammo Hung so this is no third-rate movie we're talking about here. This is a blockbuster style movie with a big budget to match. The visuals are great to look at, the setting is rich, and the costumes are eye-catching, especially the empress' outrageous robes and hairdos.

You know who's in charge.

The CGI is... good enough. While CGI is a necessity for movies nowadays and allows movie makers to show stunning visuals they could not otherwise practically create, the problem is always if the CGI will age well or "hold up" in time. For the most part, the CGI in this movie is good. There may be some problems in certain areas. Without spoiling too much, there's a scene where Dee interacts with a bunch of animals. But overall, the CGI is good. It's not distracting and serves the movie well.

It's interesting that the movie is not fantastical. What I mean by that is that there's no magic spells, ghosts, chi energy, or any of that kind of stuff. In fact, one of the themes of the movie is Dee's dismissal of supernatural causes of events in favor of more rational explanations. The movie is presented with a sort of realness to it, until you get to the fight scenes that is. Oh, the fight scenes. It's all well and good to talk about logic and reason but when it comes time to throw down, people are leaping sixty feet in the air, spinning, twirling, and kicking logs at each other. Surprisingly, the movie doesn't suffer for this. This is pretty much a thing you can hand-wave away in Chinese cinema. "Wire-fu" is a convention of the genre. Their ludicrous feats of martial skills are not meant to be seen as a sort of magic ability but rather, as a way to enhance the characters. It makes them seem important, like mythical characters out of an epic tale. It fits. A more visceral, realistic take on fight scenes a la The Raid would not have worked.

Detective Dee is not working alone though. The empress sends her favorite officer Jing'er (Li Bingbing) to keep an eye on Dee.

Jing'er

She's not exactly a romantic interest but more of a foil. She's an annoyance to Dee, naturally, but she can kick ass and is super serious towards her duties to her mistress. Dee and Jing'er frequently get sassy and sarcastic to each other, which is entertaining. Another character, and my personal favorite, is Pei (Chao Deng).

My boy, Pei.

He's a police official who has white hair, wears all black, wields an axe, and has a perpetual scowl on his face. He's so edgy, I love it. He's more independent minded than Jing'er and is willing to accept explanations that may not be pleasant to hear for those in the imperial court. The main cast play off each other well but the star is of course Dee, the Sherlock Holmes who puts together the clues and pursues the leads.

Dee inspects the evidence.

But don't think this is a movie where the audience can "play along". You won't spot the answer early on or anything. The mystery unravels in an orderly manner. It's still fun nonetheless, to follow the heroes as they uncover the truth. The pacing is good and the movie kept my attention all throughout.

Overall, it's a pretty good movie and worth checking out.

Axel F

Thinking Positive

Instead of writing about how bad the quarantine has been, why don't I point out some positive things. After all, my mother always advised me to be more upbeat and not dwell on negativity.

I think that it's great that there are little to no people in the streets. I admit it. I think it's awesome.

I took a short walk in the park today and nobody was there. It was so quiet and peaceful. There were no loud, annoying people bringing along their pesky children and dumb pets. There were no young people blowing cigarette smoke or irritating foreigners. It was heaven. It was as how a park should be. Not a piece of trash, human or otherwise, was in sight.

The restaurants across the street from where I live have been closed since the start of the quarantine. This means that there were no hired bands playing their terrible music and keeping me awake at night. What a blessing. I've been sleeping so good. I hope they all went bankrupt and will never ever open again. 

If you do run into people, they keep things short and quickly go about their business. For once, there's no need for idle chit-chat. How pleasant. Recently, a man politely refused to ride the elevator with me and decided to wait for the next one. At that moment, I was ecstatic. After the euphoria died down, I treated myself to some otap and a glass of room temperature water.

Best of all, wearing a mask means that I don't have to force myself to smile.

Oingo Boingo - Little Guns

Writing

It is said that one doesn't know what he thinks until he has to write it down. Judging by the sorry state of this blog, it seems I'm at a loss and I freely admit that.

I believe I owe the handful of people who actually read this blog an explanation as to why I haven't been writing anything lately and by lately, I mean more than a year. To put it simply, I've come to a point in my life where I'm not sure of anything anymore. I can't explain exactly why or pinpoint the exact time when I ceased to become confident of anything I put to print. But every time I sit down and tell myself that I need to post something, my mind is just a blank. Why?

This may sound crazy but I think most of the things in life presented as truth is a lie or at least only partly true. This uncertainty scrambles my brain, clouds my thoughts, and stops me from writing more than a few sentences before I give up. It's as if I have no confidence at all to the point that I can't even put it down in some blog nobody reads.

As I look at my older posts, it disgusts me. What the hell did I know way back when I was a college student? How could I have known what hell the world would mutate into today?

I wish there was a word for this.

But after giving it some thought, I think the problem is that I feel the need to write something "big", or something to weigh in on the important subjects of the day or society at large. But now I cannot. It feels like lying. I can't possibly know how things really. I can only observe what's in front of me and no ordinary man has the power to peer behind to curtains.

Perhaps it's time to think smaller and shrink the world. Not that I need any help, the world seems to be shrinking fast lately. Or maybe it's time to just stop caring so much and shoot straight. 

Or maybe I should stop navel-gazing about writing and just do it.

Lockdown

Starting 10 PM today, quarantine passes issued by the Cebu City government will no longer be effective. The government was kind enough to warn the citizenry about this at 9 PM. Hope you weren't sleeping.

So what is this? Lockdown? ECQ? EECQ? What cockamamie thing are we going to call this?

What this means is that people can only travel within their barangays? Maybe. Who knows? Vagueness seems to be the defining quality of this government. It's annoying, honestly, that the government leaves the citizens to "fill in the gaps" for themselves, so to speak, and then blame the citizens when they end up doing things not to its liking. Now there's tell that the army is patrolling the streets shooing people away. Maybe they'll lock us in our homes and weld the doors shut like El Jefe's Chinese buddy did in Wuhan. 

These are very bad times for Cebu but instead of support, all we Cebuanos seem to be receiving lately is scorn. This is all on us apparently, since we're all so hardheaded. If I didn't know better, I think the government is scapegoating us. Nevertheless, I don't feel insulted. It's only natural for people to look for things to blame during crisis. The stubbornness of the Filipino is a believable excuse and the government would naturally prefer that explanation than admit any lapses or incompetence.

At this point, I'm wondering if I should just get the virus to get this damn thing over with. I'm kidding, I think. This is all getting so tiresome and to be frank, I'm starting to feel anxious. I can imagine other people reacting poorly to the latest news. But we must not lose our heads as difficult as that is.

Deep breaths, eh?

Bread - Make It with You

Extreme Rules Deluxe Community Quarantine-pounder with Cheese

Last Tuesday, Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) standards were reinstated in Cebu City given the non-stop increase of Wuhan virus cases. The government was nice enough to announce this during midnight just on the day it was to take effect for maximum disruption. Sometimes it seems the government is having way too much fun with the extraordinary powers it now has over our lives.

Non-Filipino readers may wonder what "ECQ" is. During the outbreak of the virus, the government came up with several grades of quarantine standards. The strictest is Extensive/Extreme Community Quarantine or EECQ. ECQ is a step below that but don't confuse it with Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), which is not as strict as ECQ but is still stricter than Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ). General Community Quarantine (GCQ) is considered the least strict of all. Of course, this all shouldn't be confused with a "lockdown" which is a different thing altogether. You got all that?

What's the real difference between all these forms of quarantine? Hell if I know the specifics. Go look up an infographic on google or something. Best start learning how to use the internet. All these different quarantines makes Bush-era America's color coded "terror level" look genius. Why couldn't we have added some colors to the mix? That would have been nice.

Why is the outbreak so bad here? Everyone has their own theory - people being "stubborn" is the favorite. It's only human to play the blame game. But I do wonder why Cebu is getting the harsh treatment while Manila, a city much more dense in population, gets bumped down to GCQ. 

Whatever the reason, it's just more shit to deal with.

Johnny Cash - Devil's Right Hand

Neroche - Earth Druid

Fauré Élégie in C minor Op. 24 - Jacqueline du Pré

Squarepusher - Detroit People Mover (Official Video)

The Psychedelic Furs - Heartbreak Beat (Official Video)

Hardheaded

It is surprising to hear the government join in the chorus condemning Filipinos as "hardheaded" because they fail to obey the rules of the quarantine. It is unusual to hear the government whine about the people when it's usually the other way around but I digress.

I'm sorry but Filipinos have always been lawbreakers even before the quarantine so let's not pretend that we're only noticing this now. However, I think this complaint is inaccurate. Filipinos are not "hardheaded". They know what the law is and that is precisely why they are adept at dodging them. No, it is better to say that Filipinos are "selfish". They break the rules because they are selfish.

What is the point of rules? For the most part, rules are there to impose order and the point of order is to make sure that things are fair for everyone. For example, traffic rules exist to make sure that everyone can move in an orderly fashion. Everyone gets their spot. Everyone gets a turn. In the broader sense, laws exist to protect the rights of people from being encroached by the government and by others. All the rules, regulations, statutes, etc., exist with the welfare of the individual or the whole of society in mind. Crimes are punished since they cause harm to people or society at large.

The problem with the Filipino is that he is selfish. He sees himself separated from the whole of the Filipino people. I wrote before that the Philippines was never one nation prior to the time it was forced on us by the colonizers. The Philippines remains a multi-ethnic hodgepodge of peoples with different cultures, languages, dialects, and religions, spread over multiple islands far apart from each other. Filipinos naturally put the narrow interests of their small circle of relations first, whether that be their family, their tribe, their religious sect, or their smallest political unit. They don't care about the greater whole of the "nation" because such a thing has never existed despite everyone pretending it does. Interest begins with the individual and radiates outwards.

Filipinos break the rules because it is in their best interest to do so. Their needs come first before the greater community. They fail to grasp, whether willfully or through ignorance, that the point of rules is to ensure fairness for others. But who cares, right? If your needs are more important than everyone else's, why wouldn't you cut in line? You're just earning a livelihood so the rules should be relaxed for you, you poor, poor, dear! Are you underprivileged (or at least feel you are)? Then go and be an asshole and count on people to take pity and give you special treatment.

It's wrong to think that people break the rules because they're stubborn. That gives way to thinking that the solution is just to be more strict or, God forbid, make even more rules. Hence, our constant flirtation with authoritarianism. The problem is deeper than that. It's soul rot caught from centuries of a dog eat dog existence - my people versus your people. No matter how many policemen you put on the streets or how many laws on the books, Filipinos will always break the law because "Filipinos" don't exist. It's only ever just "me" versus "them".

So now in a time of contagion, we see the toll of this cultural disease.

Joe Satriani - Cryin'

Esprit de Coop

No matter how much of a shut-in a person is, he will eventually get sick of confinement. However, this lock-down from the Wuhan virus shows no sign of ending. 

The situation is untenable, let's be honest. People can't stay cooped up in their homes indefinitely. People have their livelihoods to worry about. The government doesn't have infinite resources despite what too many people believe. 

Naturally, upset people will want the lock-down restrictions eased. Despite this understandable sentiment, it is remarkable to me that such talk is met with derision by the public and the many scolds of the internet. Of course, the quarantine cannot be lifted completely. No sane person would take such an extreme position. But it seems wanting things to go back to normal, even gradually, has become taboo, a sign of selfishness and a desire to see dead people litter the streets. 

Whether or not it's "right" to ease restrictions is of no importance to me. This situation cannot last forever and will end eventually. What matters to me is effect all of this has on people's morale and mindsets. In times of disaster, morale is something that should never be ignored. It is very important that we remain calm and don't lost our heads. Panic won't help anyone. 

The way I see it, the problem is a lack of inspiring leadership, which allows uncertainty and hence, fear to spread. So far, all we've had is negative talk. Think of it as being an employee in a failing company. Fist you hear disturbing rumors that the company isn't doing so well. Then you hear rumors of layoffs. Then people are getting shuffled around, etc. You'd see the writing on the wall start thinking about jumping ship. Savvy people would.

In the case of the quarantine, however, there is no jumping ship. Everyday is an endless barrage of bad news. Every time you turn on the TV or radio, there's a new plan to impose even more restrictions on the populace. There's more scolding from the vinegar drinkers about how the people are so stupid and stubborn. Worse, you get reckless talk about having the police arrest people on the spot or how we need "martial law" like conditions. It's demoralizing. What are we supposed to think?

I think there's too much eagerness to throw bile at those who dare to be optimistic. People are afraid, that's all. They want to hear that there's an actual plan to bring things back to normal. So far, all we're getting from the powers that be are blame and threats. For all his inexplicable appeal to the masses, Duterte's overbearing style is not doing him any favors this time.

As an opposite example, over in America, Trump is criticized for wanting to reopen the states and lift their quarantines. I don't care if people hate Trump but they ought to have caught on to his style by now. The point isn't that he's going to do it. The point is to put the issue on the table. It's a negotiator's trick: stake out the most extreme position with the mind to gradually pull to a more moderate one when the other party complains. His opponents would be foolish to let him monopolize positivity.

Over here, it seems like a never-ending downward spiral.

Squarepusher - Tommib Help Buss

Disco Elysium - OST - Whirling In Rags (Day) Music

Royal London Philarmonic Orchestra - Massanet ~ Thais Meditation

War Mindset

To entertain myself in this time of enforced isolation, I went over my collection of books about World War II. I always found the war fascinating. One of my prized possessions is a reproduction of an aerial reconnaissance map of Cebu City taken during the conflict. Another prized possession of mine is my grandfather's copy of the book, The Koga Papers.

Speaking of my grandfather, I suppose I inherited this fascination with World War II, and war in general, from him. He had his own collection which he displayed on his shelf. He lived through the war as a young man and his interest stemmed from simply being a part of one of the great turning points of history. He lived through two actually: the war and the EDSA revolution, though the latter was a more local affair. He liked to talk about the war but not to me. He probably thought me too young. When I got older, certain circumstances not of our fault made us distant. The fact that I never really got to know him is something I regret.

My knowledge of my grandfather's experiences during the war is fragmented. It's second-hand stories and anecdotes from other family members. My grandfather wanted to do his bit in the war, as hot-blooded youths would tend to, but had poor eyesight. Besides, he had other responsibilities. Perhaps there was some element of longing and frustration in his preoccupation about the war. 

I know that he almost died. One day, the Imperial Japanese Army were rounding up young men for God knows what reason. My grandfather lived with his widowed mother and sisters. He was asleep on his side wearing a red sweater. When the Japanese came, they somehow mistook him for a woman since he was wearing red and lived with a lot of other women. They overlooked him and he managed to escape what would have been a horrible fate.

Of my other relatives, there was a harrowing tale of how my grandaunts tried to evade the Japanese by riding a small banca. The boat began to take on water and they were forced to throw away a small trunk filled with their most valuable jewelries and possessions.

My great-grandmother, on my mother's maternal side of the family, had a brother who was a spy. When the Japanese found out, they looked for him. When they couldn't find him, they killed one of his sisters and one or both of his parents. The Japanese were known to punish families and entire communities if even one of their members was in the resistance. Later on, my great-grandmother testified against the Japanese in some kind of military court. We still have a copy of her testimony to this day.

The war left lasting impressions on my grandfather and you could see some of it in his habits. He was very frugal. He wasted nothing and saved everything. He had a thing for hoarding big water containers "in case the water ran out". This was probably because since he was the only man in the house, he was always the one to fetch water  for his sisters and he resented the arduous task of pumping water and hauling it home on his shoulders everyday. He lived simply. He wasn't choosy and was perfectly content to eat rice porridge with a little fish for dinner. He never wore rings because one night during the war, when the electricity was cut, a stray cinder from a fire somehow got under his ring and burned his finger. He was very wary of thieves and trespassers. He made sure every door had two deadbolts, even doors to the toilet. Every window had a metal grill. 

What habits would we develop because of the Wuhan virus? Will we be hoarders of alcohol and hand sanitizers?

I wonder what my grandfather would think about the current situation if he were still around. What would he think of the quarantine? Perhaps it wouldn't seem so bad to him. Maybe it would bring uncomfortable memories? Not to make light of the current troubles, as there are people out there who are really suffering more than they have to, but can this plague compare to a war? Probably not. The Wuhan virus is a morning stroll compared to a foreign occupation by a brutal, murderous, fascist, racist, and imperialist regime. 

Again, I'm not trying to make light of the current troubles. The point I'm trying to make is that people have lived through worse and we should take heart from that fact. Public utilities are still running. Grocery shelves can and are still being restocked. We're not in any danger of suddenly being killed or having all our possessions destroyed in an instant. The world is smarter now and more technologically advanced. The best minds on the planet are no doubt dedicating all their efforts to develop a treatment for the Wuhan virus, if not a cure.

It was my grandfather's birthday yesterday. He would have been 96. We couldn't go to the cemetery.

We will visit him when this is over.

Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster (Official Video)

Everybody Was Kung Flu Fighting

My gym closed down today due to the virus. For once, I have a legitimate excuse not to go.

It feels so strange, like I'm in a Stephen King novel or something. Manila is under lockdown. I don't think that's ever happened before. There's an electricity in the air - a restless energy. I believe that if enough people think of the same thing, you can actually feel a change.

To be honest, I'm a little scatter-brained. So I'll just fire away in no order.

Well, work has been reduced to once a week. If I'm not working, I'm not earning. I can't imagine how hard it is for others. No, wait, I don't have to. There's no shortage of secular moralists on social media telling me how this is all the fault of greedy companies, the government, the "chinks", etc. Never let a crisis go to waste and pass up soap-boxing. I don't got the mood and stomach for that right now. It's just a major turnoff.

I don't care if I get the virus. I do care if my loved ones do.

I find it amusing that they're calling it a "community quarantine" in Manila. Not making light of the seriousness of the situation, but do people realize how overpopulated Manila is? I just find calling it a "community" as quaint.

"Social distancing" sounds like a plot point in a telenovela. I can see it now: "Oh Mark, I love you but we have to sit on opposite sides of this park bench. Our love cannot be." "Christina, noooo!"

On the local front, things are slowing down here in Cebu. There's a curfew, though, I doubt if it can be enforced. I think people will quarantine themselves well enough.

With people staying in, they're trying to find things to do. Read a book? Play video games? Watch shows? I've been training all my life for this moment, it seems. Hell, maybe I can start posting on this blog regularly for all my three readers.

Why toilet paper? Haven't people heard of bidets? Maybe they anticipate a collapse and toilet paper becomes the world currency. Imagine buying a piece of bread with five "squares".

If there's any benefit to this whole situation, it's that its a moment to pause and take stock. It's a time to reorient ourselves and think about who we care about and what matters most to us. Ironic that this respiratory virus is giving us a moment to breath.

Stay safe.

Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine

Quiet Dramas

In my workplace, I have the displeasure of regularly encountering prison inmates in the hallways. They smell of stale sweat and feces.

I feel bad for the newly arrested detainees, I really do. These thugs and hoodlums act all tough but all that bluster can't hide their palpable dread. You can see the fear in their eyes and the tension underneath the skin. Nobody likes prison, especially Philippine prison. Acting tough is laughable. I'll spare the reader the details regarding the situation of our jails but it truly is hell on earth. Conditions there are inhumane, it's where the dregs of society are dumped to be forgotten. They're the justice system's problem now. With luck, they might find some cog in the machine who really cares.

These new offenders need only take a good look at the older detainees passing by to see their future. Those that have been in the pen for too long carry an air of quiet, fatalistic acceptance. They're shuffling automatons who have either lost too much of their lives and are desperate to make up for it, or have accepted that death will probably take them before they get out.

It's not all so bleak. The inmates are brought to the courts en masse in the morning even if they're trial is in the afternoon. Their families use this opportunity to visit them outside the court in between office hours. Now, I think that prisoners interacting with the public is prohibited (or ought to be), but the prison guards just let it slide. They do this not out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather the fact that there's too few of them to do crowd control. The families often bring with them food and other little comforts. It's not uncommon to see wives and children using this time to be like a family for a while. The inmates relish this opportunity to get some "fresh" air and use toilets (that even flush!).

Come to think of it, this moment of laxity by the prison guards is the perfect opportunity to sneak in contraband. Maybe this is why the wardens of our jails can't seem to get a grip on drugs. Ah, well.

Even through the worst moments of these people's lives, their families are there for them. It's admirable. It's depressing. It's very human. Most of these people are dirt poor and have nothing but  each other. Some of these people are scum but somehow, there's still someone who loves them.

Hmm...

The Witcher 2 Soundtrack - Dwarven Stone upon Dwarven Stone

Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone

Swan Lee - Tomorrow Never Dies