Sunday, May 18, 2003
A HEART FOR HERALDO
The Damage Report - Broadjourn Summer - Ending Week #41/6
Background Music: Music of Matrix: Reloaded
NOTE: This is a weekly blog entry that summarizes a series of events of a finished week in and around La Salle.
"... free your mind."
IT was the last week of Summer Classes in general. English102 wrapped up with the defenses while in Philo103 we had the final two topics and our Final Exam last Friday. Here's a quick browse.
Last Monday - The Term Paper Deadline
The Term Paper we've been working on for the past few weeks was due today. My partner Ate Angge was absent for both classes just to work on finishing touches. It was on Monday that I reached another breaking point after noticing several things wrong with my presence in the Heraldo Filipino. At how I was so "in the shadows". Read about my frustration in that day's entry here.
***
Last Tuesday - Preparing for the Defensive
I spent most of Tuesday preparing for the Defense. I spent the entire afternoon and evening doing finishing touches on the presentation. You can read about my preparations by clicking here.
***
Last Wednesday - Lights Off, Music On
Wednesday was perhaps one of the busiest days this past Summer Term. I went to DLSU-D extra early to install nearly 70 images into 50 slides inside the Aguado Viewing Room. Ate Angge and I had our presentation-defense and it turned out ok. But I failed to completely master the topic so some of my answers had wholes in it if anyone noticed.
In the afternoon there was a grand staff meeting at Square Canteen for the Heraldo Filipino. Before attending the meeting, I was assigned an additional four articles to bring my total articles to work on for the next Broadsheet up to seven. I managed to interview Matron Hernandez at the dorms and seemed to have been given a "Curfew Immunity" if my job calls for it in the Heraldo Filipino.
My frustrations in the HF simmered down once it was confirmed by Ate Joyce (New Managing Ed) that the three journalours (JOU1-1) in the HF (Maycee, Eric, and myself) are included in the official list of participants in going to the CEGP in Ilocus Sur. The Year-End Seminar in Baguio was cancelled or is waiting to be revived and postponed for a later date.
At home, I watched an episode of "Star Trek Voyager" for the first time in a very very long time. Sadly though, it was the third to the last episode of the entire series. Meaning, if I watched the beginning I'm about to watch the end... and that I didn't watch the exciting stories in the middle. Damn.
You can read all about this very busy day by clicking here.
***
Last Thursday - Puyat from the Presses
Everything summed up on this day in a few words would be: Puyat. Overslept. Absent.
***
Last Friday - Shopping with my Classmates
It was the last day of studies in Philo103 for the Final Exam was on that day. In English102, I was late and I had to catch up from my absent the previous day by throwing questions at the current duos that are having their defense. This was for recitation of course.
The Philo103 exam should have been easy. My score was a 35/50 or in Absolute Grading System it would be flat 70. A flat 70 is equivalent to a 1.50. Oh man!! If I just reviewed this one table I sketched out in my lecture notes in my notebook about Phenomenology of Death I could have had 8 more points (2 pts each, 4 easy questions) plus if I didn't have a 2nd thought on my last two enumerations (answers were: Being and Seeming... I answered Social and Interpersonal) I would have had 2 more points. Bringing up my "total" to 45/50... and a 3.25 equivalent on the Absolute Grading System.
Damn. What a difference one eighth of a notebook page of lecture can make. I blew my chance at securing a 2.50 and above score overall for Philo103. I'm looking at a 2.00 more or less.
Afterwards six of us went to Robinsons Imus. Teenah, Kate, Ate Angge, Joanna, Eric, and myself. The plan was to watch X-Men 2 (although Matrix Reloaded was already showing) but ever since Meteor Garden stole the hearts of teenagers, it was like an automatic curfew to get home. Take Teenah for instance, her home was in Alfonso and she left Robinsons Imus an hour and a half before Meteor Garden. She txt'd us that she got stuck in rains and traffic in Tagaytay.
Wait, hold on. We did have a studio picture taken.
And we all ate at Burger King. The girls went shopping and of course Eric and I followed them and joined them as well. With some extra cash, I managed to by myself a new pair of dark blue and black slippers from Rusty Lopez. I also bought two new necklaces from some shop that probably scares guys from entering it. One of those pink-colored botiques with girls accessories. I would never enter one of those! But since two of my classmates entered, I walked in with them and saw that these places do have a "Men's Accessories" corner and I saw some good things.
And before we left, we passed by Sarabia Optical and like all places in the mall with the whole mall-wide sale, this place had their shades out. I'm looking for a new pair of shades, but I didn't have the patience to look for them. Until Eric started trying some on, I was tempted to try some and I couldn't decide. Ate Angge and Joanna found one for me and when I tried it on, I liked it too. So if they like it, and I like it...
I decided to wear my shades on the way out of the mall and next we were headed to Joanna's house which was just walking distance from the mall. Right before we step off the exit-road of the parking space of Robinson's Imus... a girl comes running towards me with her arms wide open. It's Ekai!
It was a surprise of course, and we exchanged greetings and any tidbits. Afterwards we continued towards Joanna's house and there Ate Angge made handcrafts for her boyfriend. They're celebrating their 1st Year Anniversary. All that time, I thought it was just a monthsary. Joanna and Ate Angge had to return to Robinsons Imus to get a small pouch they left inside the Kameraworld store while Eric and I got on-board a jeep and left.
***
Last Saturday - Entering Zion from SM Cinema 5
I met with Joy and Nikki in front of the Bingo Station at SM Bacoor around 1:30pm. We ate at Burger King and then went into Cinema 5 to watch Matrix Reloaded. We sat on the front and center row of the Premiere Balcony. There were so many trailers. And almost all of them have something to do with a ship. I think this year should be known as "Year of the Pirates". How many movies with ships did we see on the screen? Some with good names, some with cheesy names, some with extremely long times... from Disney's "Sinbad and the Seven Seas" to some "The Honorable Gentlemen of the Seas" something like that... but I think the coolest one was "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise in it. With all the trailers, I suddenly felt like a loser. I have so many movies to watch on the silver screen! I already missed the Two Towers and X-Men 2 (which I might be able to catch still).
The movie came on and I enjoyed every minute of it, especially with Nikki and Joy by my side since it was a "fulfillment" to successfully watch a great movie for the first time while in each others' presence. There's only one part that I'm sure would stir the audience into confusion if they didn't quite get the story. The part when "The Architect" spoke. I know it's a very important part of the whole Trilogy... but "The Architect" was talking so fast and in english of course that even I couldn't understand some times. It wasn't really balanced.
But, I can never give any final judgement of Matrix Reloaded. It's once again the first part of one gigantic movie (Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions) so if Reloaded wasn't balanced, I'm sure it'll all be balanced in Revolutions. My favorite scene in the whole movie of course would be all the fight scenes. One of the greatest fight scenes in movie history perhaps. But to narrow it down to uniqueness, the scene with Persephone's Kiss to Neo in front of Trinity was the best. The audience reacted of course. And from my brother Paul who watched this with "the tropa" in Alabang Town Center, the audience there also reacted in humor.
The dancing part in Zion didn't quite make sense to me, but in another perspective, was it because it was the only way they can show their freedom in a world ruled by artificial intelligence? Ok. And, no wonder it was rated R in the United States. Everything was all good but everytime you'd see these plugs on their skin... it felt awkward! ^o^
After the movie we went around the mall looking for a place to eat. We crashed into Jollybee on Level 3 and afterwards we went around again. My mom was in the mall with Kuya Henry and Kuya Henry's cousin or niece or someone(?). We met with Nikki's dad downstairs at the food court just minutes into Jimboy's performance. Who's Jimboy? Well, Jimboy was singing "Livin' La Vida Loca" but he was pronouncing Livin' as Singin'... so it sounded all wrong. "Singin' La Vida Loca..." Nikki, Joy, and I laughed as we carried our drinks and their pizzas to a table.
Nikki and her two sisters and father had to go while Joy and I went to National Bookstore. She bought some supplies for her Journal due in one of her classes in UP this summer while I looked around for my mom's cousin, Kuya Henry. Joy bought some things and then we said bye. She walked out of SM into the tinted-blue window sunset outside while I descened the stairs with my Kuya Henry to look for my mom.
We went to the Supermarket and I bought some things before I headed back up to Penshoppe and to Bench to buy some new clothes. I bought a new pair of pants at Penshoppe and two pricy polos at P700 each (not as pricy as Guess... but pricy for a Penshoppe top which I'd usually buy around P300 to P400). Then at Bench I couldn't find anything. The clothes at Bench are really big. All the sizes are large, and it made me feel so smaller than what I already feel.
We ate at Kenny Rogers' and this large cup of iced tea fell over the table when I was getting my chicken from a plate. The iced tea splashed all over my lower beige polo and onto the upper part of my 3/4 length khaki pants. And to say, we were at the table nearest the entrance of the restaurant. Good thing it was already past eight in the evening and the people in the mall were going home. It was a complete disaster for me, but hunger covered it up.
We got home and that was that. The week had ended.
***
A Heart for Heraldo? I've spent the past week trying to put it into my head that "wala yan George... don't worry about it.". I'm referring to my presence in the Heraldo Filipino. I am sworn to to serve for the betterment of the University and for the student body by being a campus journalist. I will never lose that flame. It's just, for the past few weeks, I've been sensitive to simple things from the HF. My name is usually placed last on any kind of list. Maycee and Eric are always listed in the main lists while I'm always on this secondary list.
And I will not yield to any of what they say. "Inactive"? I've done my work and I'm still doing it. I think it's just mistaken perceptions of my attitude towards the HF. But if only the presses could be on slow-mo and they can look at me for just one moment while I'm doing my job... hopefully that's when they'll see I'm there in the Heraldo Filipino doing my job. I may not be as critical in news as Maycee is (she's the author of the past three Banners) or as intense in feature as Eric is (so intense, he's a Junior Staffer already)... but I'm there ready to balance everything. I'm in Feature, I love contributing to News, and I am interested and capable of contributing to Photo as well as Literary some day soon.
I'm not giving up. I'm only starting to work harder than ever before. Hats off for the past Summer Term.
Comments:
Post a Comment