Not Your Usual Teachers

I saw the new season of the TV series Boston Public last Saturday night. For months, I was an avid follower of this striking and poignant television shows about the lives of an eclectic faculty in a public high school somewhere in Boston, USA. What I liked most about the show was the depiction of each individual teacher as not the usual book toting personnel in school complete with thick rimmed glasses and armed with a ruler for slapping on student's hands. Each one was shown more than that.

Here is a sample of the interesting faculty of Boston Public. You will get to meet a high school principal, Steven Harper, who is big, stocky and tough enough to be a bouncer in a club but with a heart of gold for students and fellow teachers alike. You will fear the glare of the assistant principal, Scott Guber, who can size you up and down with his eyes and yet get calm and serene while relishing classical music alone in his room. You will be annoyed with the resident American history teacher, Harvey Lipshultz, whose bigot statements for black students and conservatism make him inappropriate to be effective in teaching today's youth, yet he is the best history teacher around the campus.

You will be shocked by Harry Senate, the teacher who handles the Dungeon (a class where the most notorious high school students in campus were seated) who fired a gun to get his student's attention, formed a Suicide Club to get to know the feelings and troubles of his students and let two rival gang members knock each other's teeth out in an attempt to settle differences. You will also like the very sexy teacher, Marylin Sudor, who may appear liberated in manners, thoughts and clothing yet has a heart of gold for her students such as Jeremy who was being physically abused by his disciplinarian mother. And a multitude of other faculty members were included to spice up the cast, some have gone (or fired for having a sexual relationship with a female senior student) and others have joined in.

Speaking of joining in, the highlight of the last Saturday's episode was when a guest lecturer, Ronnie Cooke, and friend of Harry Senate finally decided to be a teacher of the school. But the decision was not quick, she had to confront some apprehensions from her ex. Likewise, it was quite difficult for her part to drop law and be a teacher of a local public high school. The credits began to roll right after telling Steven Harper and Scott Guber about her decision, as if her statement was meant to spark long debates whether it was right for her to teach rather than continue her career in law.



Was she right to choose a career in teaching instead of law? I know, times these days have made teaching one of the poorly compensated jobs in society. Especially here in this country. While some teachers of private schools and even in international schools located here in the urban cities are being paid higher than their counterparts in the public schools, still compared to those working in private companies they earn barely enough to shoulder everyday's expenses; not to mention rear up their family in comfort and security.

And that I remember the plight of one of the female teachers in the show, Laura Davis. She had a discussion with her then boyfriend Harry Senate of how she could not get a loan for an apartment she dearly wants because she is a teacher. Seems that banks are not so confident with teachers capable of paying credits in time, if not for the fact that they earn little. She also poured out her heart in the later episodes of how her father was displeased to hear her daughter that she wants to be a teacher. That she was wasting her talent for nothing. Hmm. How's that for encouragement.

Although it is discouraging to hear that teaching as a career is not so highly compensated, I believe it is one of the noblest, if not the greatest profession. Teaching is rearing a child mentally and even emotionally, creating a breed ready to face the challenges ahead in the different fields of work. Thus teaching is also a form of parenting. It also involves molding the young minds with good values that hopefully would stay long in the hearts and minds of their student and in return pass on to future generations. Teaching is the cornerstone of all fields and careers. Without teachers there would be no doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, computer programmers, and other professionals. Based from the words of Principal Harper, their lives as teachers are not for naught. Their jobs are not valueless but are rather valued. It is them who see that these kids go through proper education and hopefully continue on to college in fulfillment of their dreams in life. Now that is something and not nothing.

Now to answer the question above: Ronnie is right to say yes to education. She wants to make a difference in her life, and now the calling within has beckoned her to make a difference to the lives of other human beings. She may not get rich in her chosen career, yet she will be rich with the memories and gratitude of all the students she had helped make it through graduation.



The best of my high school days include that of my experience in class one afternoon while our trigonometry teacher was calling us to answer some problems from a book. Our teacher was known to be the best educator in the mathematics department and proof of it would be his amazing ability to calculate long mathematical formulae in his head. Or so it seems unless he already memorized them from our old books. Anyway, it was my turn to stand up and answer a given problem from my thick book. From what I could still remember, I was in the middle of my recitation when I heard some of my classmates mumbled jokes that I seriously took for invectives. My math teacher had somehow noticed the grimace on my face as I slumped down grudgingly back to my seat after that. He approached me and patted my shoulder. He told me not to be bothered by my classmates and to take it easy. It's that simple act of showing parental concern that deeply affected me since then and up to now is still vivid in my memory. We may have treated badly our educators one way or another, but like our parents, they could not forsake their duty to protect and rear their children well.

I hope the graduates of this year would show their gratitude in return to their "parents" in school - their beloved teachers.

That Day Called March 20

The following writing has been inspired by the spontaneous speeches made at the recently concluded 75th Annual Academy Awards. Pardon by the numerous occurrence of the phrase "Oh my God" here. Seems every celebrity who walked on stage had become religious to the point of finally remembering to thank the one who is responsible to our existence. And yes, God is a property of no one. He is my God, your God, everyone's God. Now on with the show.



"Oh my God. Thank you, thank you for the wonderful birthday I have celebrated last March 20. Oh yes, I forgot to remind some of my friends about my birthday but I was too preoccupied with the events happening around, especially the ongoing war over at Iraq. I am simply not the kind of person who advertises to everyone that my birthday is coming. I would rather let my day unfold slowly and wait for anyone who would remember my birthday. I give my appreciation and gratitude to my family and to those friends

of mine who gave me their warmest greetings via instant messages and electronic post cards. I thank also those who I have never thought would greet me on that day (you know who you are) and for those who personally patted my back and greeted me in the office. Simply wow. You don't know how much these greetings have uplifted my soul on that day, even though I would remember always that my day has coincided with the attack of Iraq by the US and British forces.



Oh God. There are some interesting things I found out about March 20. Much of the information below came from a book I forgot the title and (luckily) from some websites. I'm sharing them now especially for those who were born on that day.

• March 20 is called the Day of the Labyrinth. What does this mean? I do not know. Incidentally, the next day March 21 is called the Day of Clarity. If I am going to deduce the meaning from these two, March 20 could mean a day of confusion or misunderstanding. Labyrinth does connote a puzzle, an enigma. Something that poses a challenge to the mind to the point there is no clear solution at all. Confusion in short. Confusion for what?


• This is the last day of the astronomical year. The last day of the Pisces sign. This is also considered as the last day of winter.


• This one is quite interesting for those who can't keep their eyes off from the office clock. An equinox usually occurs on this day. Equinox is the time of the year when the duration of daytime and nighttime are both equal.


• Oh my God. Those who were born on this day supposedly posses quite a handful of unusual talents, but not without any special problems. They can be the extreme types of people in that they can be considered the most highly evolved creatures of the year. On the other hand, it is so difficult for them to initiate projects and leave the past behind. They are logical, sensitive, and flexible or versatile. Meanwhile, they can also be indecisive and dreamy thus unrealistic. Talk about balancing nature here.


• March 20 people are romantic in nature. They possess imaginative minds. But it is hard for them to stick to a certain path in life. They are prone to depression and much support from family and friends are needed. Emotions can rule over these people; if unattended can be damaging to oneself and to others.


• March 20 people are inclined towards music and art, thus much of their talent come from these fields. And, take note, psychic abilities are common to this batch of people. The mental aspect of their being is favored more than the physical.
  

Oh my God. The war has started. March 20 will always be remembered as the event when US and British forces initiated the attack on Iraq.

Luckily those SCUD missiles hadn't any chance against the Patriot missiles of US. My father is in Kuwait along with other overseas Filipino workers huddled inside camps and military bases. I thank the Lord that they are safe and sound. I still pray fervently that there would be minimal casualties resulting from the conflict.

I just want to say that with this continuing conflict in the Middle East, it is but wise that we all take part in doing all possible means to avoid any acts of aggression towards one another. The clashes between aggressive protestors and toughened policemen across the globe are not going to make today's events look better and brighter. Many people will be just be hurt; if worse would come, death may be inevitable. We are just adding salt to our wounds. The war has already started. US would not listen anymore. It's a Rubicon decision where no turning back is possible. We stand in their way, we will just get trampled. I know, I have become ironic here as I was protesting the invasion in my past posts, but I know when to accept reality. Reality told me that everything would be ugly.

So what must we do? Let us all rather stage rallies of prayer to God or Allah or Buddha - all religions must unite this time to lay down any differences and unite for peace and understanding among nations. Let us pray as if we have never prayed deeply before. Pray that the innocent ones would be spared and the evil ones be put to justice. Pray that this war shall end soon.

Cut any hostilities out with one another. We shall never gain anything from it."

What If Today Is The Last Day

"What if today would be the last peaceful day before everything would change after the war starts?" Or that's how I paraphrase the pop question provided by the youthful hosts of Breakfast at Studio 23.

A lot of texters (callers who utilize the text messaging facility of cell phones) came out with replies from the raunchy messages such as "spending a hot evening before the d-day with his crush" to the serious tones like "making a home movie for her little brother about the peaceful times before d-day". Most of the answers were about spending the day with the family, close relatives and friends.


That reminds me of the haunting scene in Signs wherein Mel Gibson was sobbing while holding his little daughter, son and brother Joaquin Phoenix - bonding as one family for that moment in time during supper as if it would be the last time they'll ever be seeing each other. In the movie, aliens have landed on earth and were slowly invading over every living creature of this planet. Mel and his family quickly secured their house in the hopes of warding off the invaders hopefully for them to survive the night til the next day.



I guess the question was meant to bring out the best and even the worse in ourselves in the face of an imminent danger before us. Just thinking about what exactly to do on the last day of our lives is thought provoking and needs much of our attention knowing that each second passing by on that final day is but a treasure so precious like a diamond though lasting for a fraction in time. What will I do then? How should I spend my last day on earth? Who will be with me on that day? Where will I be then until the day ends? Will I finally do something good for humanity or let out my darkest desires since this is my final opportunity to do what I always wanted to do? To be a "man for others" or be a "man for myself"?

These are the questions I ponder upon and still have no definite answer for the moment. I usually scoff off such "what if" questions because these are but conditional questions that are to be answered by conditional answers. In the realm of fiction, "what if" questions can be readily answered since at the back of my mind I know the situations given would never happen. But in the realm of reality such as what is happening between Iraq and US, "what if" questions scares me with the possibility that the situations assumed might happen.



If I have to answer the question, then I shall be speaking like most of the viewers of the show. I would spend my entire day with my family, relatives and friends. We shall be outside our home, sharing jokes and enjoying each one’s company while all is serene and peaceful. It may not be the most creative answer, but I guess most of the Filipinos would be doing the same thing since by nature Filipinos have strong family bonding.

How about you? How would you like to spend the last peaceful days on this earth?



I am not predicting any doomsday scenario here nor painting a picture that we are all heading to our untimely demise. May the heavens forbid such a cataclysmic event. But we could not deny that in the event of the war, history would change, world economy would change and millions of lives would be affected and eventually change.

Rallier

It's a French world. The word rally came from this word. Online-dictionaries have defined the word as "to bind together" or "to unite for a single purpose or cause".

I have witnessed high above our building a long stretch of people rallying along Ayala Avenue at around 10 AM this morning. I came in the office and entered our development room when I heard some faint rhythmic banging of drums outside. I looked out and behold some organized set of people were marching from Buendia Avenue towards Ayala Avenue. Many were carrying red flags bearing indiscernible words or symbols, others waving Philippine flags in bright red and blue colors, while some displayed streamers bearing bold messages such as:

"Ayaw Namin Sa Giyera, Ayaw Namin Kay Gloria"

Translation: We don’t like war. We don’t like Gloria. And who else is Gloria but our president who, sad to say, has aligned herself with US and other nations in their stand to attack Iraq.

And there were others protesting the war in Mindanao. I even saw a huge peace sign painted on a large white cloth being waved by a group of people. A rain of confetti fell from one building, making the event as colorful and festive as any historical rally that went through Ayala Avenue since the Marcos years.



Rallier. We have to unite for a purpose. Our purpose is to voice out our concerns that this war against Iraq is the not the answer to terrorism.


But I believe that this planned invasion, whatever we do to prevent it, may occur. I could feel it and sense it. To make things look gloomy, I have received a text message from my Dad in Kuwait, informing me that they have already been provided gas masks if the situation worsens there.

President "Dubya" Bush’s fingers are already itchy to pull on the gun’s trigger over at Saddam Hussein’s territory. Amidst cries of protest from his own citizens – from the regular garbage collector to the famous celebrity star – Bush couldn’t be turned from his mindset to get into full battle gear as soon as possible.

Opinion makers have suggested that America’s credibility as a powerful nation will be put into question if Bush withdraws the American troops from the borders of Iraq. Such kind of reasoning calls for a debate. You mean credibility outweighs wisdom? Punishment for an entire nation over mercy for the innocent ones?

There are stories proliferating around that the invasion is a great opportunity for businesses in America involving weaponries and expensive armaments. Just like the war in Vietnam. Facts and figures may change these stories to make the decision for war necessary and justifiable, but I believe otherwise. What’s so reasonable if innocent lives would be snuffed out when the war starts?



Uniting for a cause shouldn’t always be a noisy activity where one must carry a placard and start screaming at the top of his lungs words of aggression and contempt. We do have another choice: perform a solemn rally of prayer and reflection.

Start with lighting candles outside our homes. Say a little prayer or even chant some positive words about love, harmony and world peace. You may sound like a redundant beauty contestant here, but hey, wishing world peace is something everybody hopes for no matter how unrealistic it may be achieved. Pray for peace. Pray for the lives of the people in Middle East and even USA. For my fellow Filipino people, pray for the safety of our overseas workers and their families in Middle East; pray for our country that we may cope with the challenges that would come out of this war.

After the prayers, greet your loved ones and relatives, friends and neighbors – let them know that this world has no room for violence and we don’t need another stupid war. Let them feel that there is still hope. There is no need to burden everyone with words of despair and terror; media has done that part beforehand. It’s our task to uplift everyone’s spirit in spite of all these depressing news and reports.

Miracles do happen, don’t they? I’m hoping for that.

Of Brains

God gave us brains in order for us to function well with decisions of our own, having the will to decide whatever action we want to do in our lives. With brains, we learn a multitude of data and information everywhere in our environment. With brains, we process these tokens of raw data into absorbable facts, helping us to perceive more the beauty and danger of our environment. With brains, we learn to live fully on our own ways. As we were born to this world, we are already equipped with brains that will help us develop into functional individuals in our society. But sad to say, having a brain to begin with does not guarantee us a life full of positive values. Like a plant in a flowerpot, our brains can either be overdeveloped or underdeveloped. We can be geniuses or just plain dumb people.



It's rare for me to catch any episode of Debate very late at night at channel 7. Thankfully, I had my work shift scheduled the next day at 12PM to 9PM. Last Thursday, I caught the current debate shown in Debate. That night's topic was quite amusing: "Will you be happier with someone who's smart or someone who's beautiful?"

I'll get to the point with my answer to that one: I'll go with someone who's smart. Period.

Now I would here one of the female actress panelists in the "beautiful" group crying "Plastic! Plastic!"


Um, wait. Where in that question did somebody say where would one be attracted at first: with someone who's smart or someone who's beautiful? There is none. Personally, the question from the debate was meant like an interview question after giving a person time enough to get to know two people, one who is smart and the other who is beautiful or handsome. After that, given the pros and cons, you'll end up saying you'll go for the brains instead. Also, the question points out to happiness in the long run. If you ask the question in a different way, I would be hearing this: "Will you be more content and have a blissful heart living with someone who is beautiful or someone who is intelligent?" Still I would go with intelligence. I would definitely sound so "plastic" or "insincere" to many. True, we can't deny we still look at the beauty of the person outside. We feel attracted and lured by the svelte bodies of beautiful people. But that is not being asked in the first place. Maybe the question should have been "Will you be attracted first to a person who is beautiful or to somebody who is smart?" if the "beautiful" crowd would want to win this debate. Undeniably, beauty is nature's way to get the attention of the opposite sex. You can't deny this because it's a fact. We all fall for that.

The male species would generally go out with women having characteristics that catches his full attention - pretty face, foxy body, sizable pair of breasts. That's why men's magazines like FHM sell like hotcakes.

It's only after a number of dates and conversations that a woman shall be undressed of her outer beauty, revealing the inner beauty that is a true treasure for any man. If it turns out that a woman is all nothing but good for display and in bed, then I believe the man would slowly lose interest with the woman. Unless otherwise; I know many who would.

A relationship takes more than just beauty to strengthen it. One of the few factors for a strong relationship is true understanding between the man and the woman. And which among the two does the understanding part? Beauty or brains? It's a no-brainer, but it shows brains is the winner here.

I am not woman, so I don't know what aspect of men do women feel attracted at first sight. I theorized that women like men would be attracted at first to chiseled faces, buffed bodies and other manly traits. But I observed that women don't fall easily to such characteristics in determining her partner for life. Her future happiness lies with someone who she can converse intelligently and make her feel special and secure as the relationship blossoms into a family. Admittedly, women have become "smarter" in choosing their mates. Way smarter than men that we may think so.

I am not saying that beauty should be forgotten as one of the criteria in finding a potential partner. I am saying that beauty must not be the only criteria there is in this game of love.

Besides, I like what one panelist in the "brains" group has said that intelligence is the one that perceives beauty. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder indeed. Amen to that. To each his own. Kung saan ka masaya te suportahan ta ka. Humanap ka ng pangit at ibigin mong tunay. Duh?

If it so happens that you got somebody who is both "beautiful" and "intelligent" then good for you. You got a prized catch. Congratulations!



Let us all pray for those who lost their lives in the recent mindless bombing incident in Davao City. So many lives spent for a cause that is wrong to begin with. Whoever done this is truly a brainless organism in this world we live in.

He has no brains who has no consideration for the innocent people around him!

Review: The Devil Of Justice

Breaking The Stereotype

Here’s one person that breaks the stereotype of lawyers who are nothing perceived but great liars in the courtroom: a blind lawyer by day, a mysterious vigilante by night. He dons a tight-skin type red suit with a mask looking like a devil. He has a priest for a spiritual guide. He has a billionaire girlfriend with both looks and moves that could kill. He knows his way around by just scanning the air waves, sound waves, and even scents. And his name is Daredevil.

The film adaptation has hit quite an impressive mark in introducing a different breed of hero unlike the past heroes introduced before by the other Marvel Comics adapted movies such as Spiderman and X-men. We are used to watching superheroes having near god-like capabilities, but none of the handicap such as that of Daredevil. Think about it, we picture superheroes as flawless beings. Indeed, it’s refreshing to watch a movie about a blind superhero for a change.

Radar Sense

Commonly, radioactive materials supply most of the superpowers in the Marvel universe. This time, a chemical accident left young Matt Murdoch blinded and scarred for life. In return, he gained heightened senses of hearing and scent. Both of these create another form of extraordinary sense: the “radar sense”. He uses sounds to show the outlines and shapes of the objects around him. The movie utilized excellent special effects to render his radar sense, making him literally “see” his environment. One wonderful scene depicted him tapping against the subway railings to help him catch the whereabouts of his opponent. The sound waves spread out before him, forming outlines of everything from the platform to the subway columns and the shape of his opponent’s body.

Lost Loved One

Like Peter Parker of Spiderman fame, Matt Murdoch lost a dear loved one – his boxer father, after the latter refused to sell out his fight in exchange for honor and dedication for his son. The killer later turned out to be the big and brutal businessman Kingpin who was notorious in the Marvel universe for having several enemies including Spiderman. Hey, business is business. As he retorted, “Nobody is innocent”. Such a statement is a magnet for trouble.

Love Pursuit

The love angle of the movie was tastefully done, not so cheesy but not that bland either. I believe he got to bed women not only through his handsomeness and intelligence, but also with his way of getting to know them via his “blindness” charm. One interesting scene that proves this point is how Matt pursued relentlessly Elektra Natchios that ended with a martial arts fight in a playground. Though Matt lost, he won over Elektra’s heart. A few minutes, Elektra became more interested with Matt as he showed surprising alertness amidst his surroundings.


Religion

Interesting to note is how religion was infused in the movie. As mentioned before, Daredevil has a priest friend. Matt confesses to him, and sometimes seeks advices about “moral questions”. The priest is not keen about Matt’s donning a devil suit and his brand of dark justice; still he helps him spiritually and physically, as during the final battle in the church.

Characterizations

Ben Affleck, in my opinion, portrayed Matt Murdoch more humanely than what was characterized in the comic book version of the hero. In Marvel Universe, he acts more silent and stealthier, and quips witty one line statements when he is Daredevil at night. But most of the time, Ben made Matt more charming. There is though that same signature smirk on his face that won over Kate Beckinsale in Pearl Harbor when Ben tried to get the attention of Jennifer Garner, Elektra, in the playground.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Garner exuded beauty, strength and sexiness during the entire lifespan of her character. I have read that she used to dance ballet. That’s why she was very graceful in movement both in friendly and fighting mode. I find her more beautiful here than when she appeared in her award-winning series Alias. And oh yes, I got to hear her finally blurt out English words, unlike when I watch her in Alias. Sad to say, that show is dubbed in “Filipino”. It’s quite disappointing that she slipped away too early in the movie, having to die violently in the hands of Bullseye, portrayed by Colin Farrell.

Now Colin Farrell made an impressive acting job here. You can’t deny his Irish accent here, but still he manages to hoot out liners menacing enough to not ignore his bloodthirsty desire to kill. As an assassin, he is definitely an effective killing machine – making anything he throws a weapon of destruction. My brother told me that in the comics he once threw a baby’s rattle. Talk about a deadly tool disguised as an innocent toy. I chuckled in the way he choked the talkative old lady with a peanut. I marveled at how he utilized the broken church glasses as shurikens. And I laughed everytime he retorted wittingly and sneered at questions asked by Kingpin, played by Michael Clarke Duncan, “How did you get pass my security?”. Colin answered, “You mean that?”, while pointing at a security guard having a bloodied neck with three pencils jutting out.

The biggest surprise of all the characters was Michael Duncan who portrayed Kingpin or a.k.a. Wilson Fisk. For your information, Kingpin in Marvel Universe is a white Caucasian. But somehow, the director of the movie felt Michael fit Kingpin well in prowess, built and strength, but not skin color. Anyway, Michael did not disappoint me in the way he played Kingpin since he did well in providing the character a face of evil business. He could give other WWF wrestlers a run for their money for trashing around Daredevil like a rag doll.

Movie Rating

Overall, I would rate the movie at par with the Spiderman movie. A seven out of ten. The special effects are toned down than in Spiderman, but you could barely notice the computer “magic” effects in the movie since most of the scenes happen in dark places. As such, events happen so naturally even if we watch Daredevil swinging around Hell’s Kitchen.

On a note: I just find this too incredible. If you watched the film already, you wouldn’t forget that wonderful scene when Matt had a glimpse of Elektra for the first time under a canopy of heavy rain. If you noticed carefully, you could see a total outline of Elektra’s face – hair, cheekbones and her eyes. And you could see her pupils and irises. But I think it’s impossible for Matt to see those pupils and irises since his radar sense displays outlines of the outer surface of objects. Think about the outline of Kevin Bacon in Hallow Man while drenched in rain water.

Nobody’s perfect anyway.

Here’s a more comprehensive detail about the man without fear.