11-11-11

Today is a special day for the superstitious. It so happens that today is November 11, 2011 or 11-11-11. 

As I write this post, I received a text message that reads like this:

"Today is 11-11-11. I wish you 11 things: love, smile, health, wealth, success, beauty, luck, dream, dream come true, lover, and happiness. Please forward this to 11 people and you will have these eleven wishes forever. Hurry up! You only have 11 minutes to send."

People can be so obsessed with whatever symbolism peculiar dates have if there is any. Why can they wish me those things in any given day? And if I break the chain I will receive bad luck for the rest of my life? Isn't that cruel?

I don't know what the six number 1s will bring me before the day ends but I do hope it is something good.

Oh, and I will break the chain like what I always do. I think I have broken a hundred already and yet I am here, living happy.

Miss Universe 2011 Final Questions and Answers

Miss Universe 2011, Miss Angola Lelia Lopes.

Congratulations to Miss Philippines for bagging the Miss Universe 2011 Third Runner-Up title! And congratulations to all the winners!

Here are the nerve wracking final questions and the top 5 candidates' answers.

MISS UKRAINE

Amelia Vega: If you could trade lives with anyone in history, who whould it be and why?

Miss Ukraine: I simply live my life and I’m very satisfied with it. But if I did have the chance to trade positions with someone I think I would choose Cleopatra. I think she is a very powerful and strong woman who is very much worthy of respect. And I think a woman could also be a leader like Cleopatra.

MISS PHILIPPINES

Vivica Fox: Would you change your religious beliefs to marry the person you love? Why and why not?

Miss Philippines: If I had to change my religious beliefs, I will not marry the person that I love because the first person that I love is God, who created me. And I have my faith, my principles, and this is what makes me who I am. And if that person loves me, he should love my God too.

MISS CHINA

Isabel Fontana: Nude beaches are common in some parts of the world. Is public nudity appropriate or inappropriate and why?

Miss China: Every country has its rules and regulations and every country has their own habits as well. We should respect them and be more understanding.

MISS BRAZIL

Helio Castrovenes: What would you do to avoid a war that you did not agree with?

Miss Brazil: First of all, I would explain to people that the premiere quality of human being is respect. And more war is not based on respect. It's always based on misunderstanding, it's always based on a lack of education. So I would tell this person that we should respect each other as human beings.

MISS ANGOLA

Lea Salonga: If you could change one of your physical characteristics, which one would it be and why?

Miss Angola: Thank God I'm very well satisfied with the way that God created me and I wouldn't change a thing. I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty, I have my principles, I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I plan to follow these through the rest of my life and now I want to give you all a piece of advice: Respect one another.

I will be biased here because, for one, I am a Filipino and second, she's the only finalist to answer without an interpreter. Miss Philippines deserves the crown because she has the best answer and she delivered her answer straight without having the chance to pause and think for her next words. And Oprah agrees with me. They all answered respect--which is for me the most used and abused word in any beauty competition. Miss Philippines, on the other hand, answered with conviction the foremost characteristic of Filipinos--valuing one's faith and religion.

I think it is about time that organizers of Miss Universe change their rules in Q & A. I think, a candidate who needs an interpreter should answer straight, without having to pause, while the interpreters record the answer and translate it afterward. It will take some time but at least we know that the candidate answered it without the privilege of seconds to pause and re-think of better words.

Pacquiao beat Mosley via unanimous decision

From Reuters.

It's still Pacquiao! But, I have to say that it was the most boring fight ever of Pacman. I thought he had Mosley at round 3 but he relaxed a bit (so much) that they ended in round 12. And the referee called a knock down on Pacman on round 10 when it wasn't really the case when they played a replay. I was nervous at that point, but, still I wasn't fully impressed of the outcome of the fight.

What's next for Pacman? Mayweather?

Congrats Pacman for making the Filipinos proud again!

Side comments:

Charice Pempengco made the National Historical Commission proud for singing the Philippine National Anthem right. That's how we should do it fellow Filipinos.

Jamie Foxx should have sang the US National Anthem. Who's that guy who did that?

LL Cool J made Shane Mosley's entrance cool enough to make me nervous for Pacman. He made the crowd go wild.

Jimmy Jamison, on the other hand, made the crowd be quiet by singing Eye of the Tiger. It was as if I was attending a mass. It was the most unimpressive entrance of Pacman. It was sort of predictable. I wish they chose the Black Eyed Peas.

Random Thoughts: Pacquiao vs. Mosley

When is the right time to surrender?

It is the right time to surrender when more than half of the world's population is telling you to do so.

It is the right time to surrender when all you have is your hands, while your enemy still has bombs.

Surrendering is not an act of cowardice, rather, it is a courageous way of saving lives.

Surrendering is not an admission of weakness, rather, strength. Because surrendering takes a lot of courage.

Whatever is happening now in Libya and the rest of the Middle East, is a test. A test of courage, humility and acceptance.

Libya's flag only has one color--green. It means life and yet many lives were taken away because of violent demonstrations.

Pray. Whether you believe in God, in Allah or Buddha and even if you do not believe in gods at all, pray... it is more powerful than we all can imagine.

When was the last time... you looked for a number in yellow pages?

Photo from here.

When was the last time you referred to a directory such as Bell's or Yellow Pages?  I could not remember either.  Printing old school directories is a dying business now that every one refers to the internet to search for people, addresses, numbers and all other things.  Printing humongous directories such as these that end up in either the attic or garbage is a waste of resources.  

Save the trees people.

Stars Who Never Seem To Grow Up

What do Lindsay and Paris have in common?

Aside from the fact that they earn millions, they both seem to never grow up.  I am actually sick and tired of the news that once again Lindsay failed her drug test and that Paris was again busted for drugs.  I mean, how many more trials will they have to attend for them to learn from their mistakes?  

The two desperately need professional help and they both need to be locked up in a room without their worldly possessions.

The two are proofs that all the money in the world can't buy happiness and contentment.  

I remember Barbara Walter's interview with Paris years ago and she said that someday she wants to have her own family.  I wonder when will that happen.     Lindsay used to be a straight A student and now she's turned into a straight A train wreck.  

I just hope that these two will return to their sanity, it is a shame because teenagers idolize them.  And idolizing a frequent law breaker is not at all a good thing.

Miss Universe's Final Questions

Miss Philippines, Venus Raj, was an early favorite during the Miss Universe 2010 pageant so it's not surprising that most people got disappointed at how the pageant ended--she landed 4th place.  Many said that if only she had answered William Baldwin's question in a more concrete and confident manner, she could have been the winner.  Nevertheless, Filipinos are still happy that at least a Filipina made her way to the top 5 because  it has been 11 years since Miriam Quiambao got the 2nd runner-up title during the 1999 Miss Universe.

Do you still remember the final question during the 1999 Miss Universe?

"If a Miss Universe were to become pregnant, should she be allowed to continue her reign?"

It was a nerve racking moment, I could still remember Miriam Quiambao taking a deep breath before answering the question.  When she finally had all the words organized in her thoughts, she answered:

"That's a difficult situation to be into... if she has pursued her goals, she should continue."

Just a thought... if William Baldwin will ask the same question to Venus Raj right now, I bet she'd say that her biggest mistake in life is not giving the most convincing answer during the pageant.

Although I wasn't born yet when Margie Moran won the 1973 Miss Universe, her answer is my most favorite of all.  She was asked:

"What is the difference between being Miss Universe and being a Filipina?"

She answered:

"Being Miss Universe is like having a birthstone, you may lose it.  Being a Filipina is like having a birthmark, it is forever."

Bravo!

Of all the Miss Universe pageants that I have watched, it is the 1994 final question that I can very well remember:

"What is the essence of being a woman?"

Miss India, Sushmita Sen, answered:

"Just being a woman is God's gift.  The origin of a child is a mother, a woman.  Woman is sharing, she shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about.  That is the essence of a woman."

It is a candidate's looks that will get her to the finals but it is her brains that will earn her the crown.

The State of the Nation

I was not able to watch President Noy's SONA yesterday and if you were not able to watch too, you can read the SONA's English translation in this blog. 

Of course I will not let the day pass by without commenting about the current buzz.  So, please bear with me as I address the state of our nation according to me that most government officials don't see or have seen it but did not do anything about it.

I do not frequent Manila but each time I would go there, I notice new buildings being built and new attractions to see and more people in their tattered clothes knock on car windows for alms.  I live in the province and beggars are not a common sight in streets when I was younger.  Looking back to the years when there were few subdivisions and fewer commercial establishments, children still roam the streets, not begging but walking with their friends to go to their favorite hangout to play.  Now, I don't need to go to Manila to see beggars.  It has become a common sight in our province that once you give alms to one, like pigeons, others will flock towards you like you are showering seeds of grace to them.  I couldn't help but ask why.

Last night in the news, a young boy drowned and his body was retrieved after four hours.  A news reporter asked why it took that long for the rescuers to find the body, they said it was because of garbage.  I don't know what made me cringe... the boy's dead body or the sight of the creek full of garbage on national television.  How can we not address this problem with garbage?  Should we wait for another Payatas or Smoky Mountain tragedy before we address the stinking issue?

One Congressman was held in prison for drug charges in Hong Kong.  This Congressman was very vocal about the nation's worst enemy (yet)--drugs.  His being vocal about his condemnation to illegal drugs led him to filing a bill against it.  Funny isn't it?  There is no greater irony than this.  I said "yet" on the previous sentence because what we should look out for and be afraid of are the people who said they will protect us, yet, they are the ones who lure us to plunge into the pits of hell.

A family of nine who lives in a 50 square meter house struggles to make ends meet with their 200-peso daily allowance.  You don't need to be a grocer or be an expert in math to know that this will no way give the family a decent meal.  I am not at all surprised why more and more children perform poorly in school because of malnutrition.  And the Church is still against unnatural family planning methods.

The government offers low cost houses, the mass bit the bait.  But how can they pay for their mortgages if they do not have a job or they have lost their jobs because of poor company performance?  Agricultural lands are being made into subdivisions... but who will live in them?  If those houses were built for the homeless... why are they still sleeping on cartons on the streets or on lands they do not own?

This is the state of the nation in our eyes that only a few take time to see.  These are the issues that are desperately begging for attention and yet they are buried in the depths of the government offices that are elaborately designed for the incumbent to function effectively and efficiently.  

 This is the state of the nation and yet the uppers are eating on a plate that is worth a month's salary of a common Filipino.  Bite after bite, chew after chew... our hopes for a better life are being swallowed and our future being digested by hungry vultures while crocodiles are fighting over a pork barrel.  

This is the state of the nation... would you still dare to see?