A pre twentieth post celebration

Twenty is such a momentous number. It caries with it the same momentousness as any other multiple of ten, save perhaps powers of ten. Yeah, I know the nerdiness level of the previous sentence must have probably rocketed past the Earth's atmosphere, but let's face it, it's worth the epicness right? Right?

Moving on, so this is my nineteenth blogger post since I made this blogger account, and so far, it's been great. Not as much fans as my Multiply account, but I don't regret the transfer. It's been pretty peaceful, and far more manageable than unwieldy Multiply.

So what do I talk about in my twentieth blog post?

Why, my impending twentieth birthday of course! Your dear fifthStitch would be commemorating twenty years of walking this planet of ours in a month or so. September 19 (which interestingly coincides with the number of this blog post) marks the day I become two decades (how do you pronounce this, de-kayd or di-kayd?) old. I'm actually pretty excited, and pretty unsure at the same time, it's my first time being twenty after all (duh).

So what changes would you expect from your dear fifthStitch? Nothing! Nothing at all! I dunno what's so special about growing and becoming an adult, the adult world is incredibly boring. You have to abide by a lot of rules, the space for goofing off lessens, ugh, boring.

BORING.

So there, nothing would change perhaps for me. I would still remain the same old fifthStitch you know and love. Of course there would be tiny changes, but I'd stay as fun and as un-adult as I can be.

ADULT IS BORING.

Some updates

Life updates, literary updates and more...

First off, some updates on your dear blogger fifthStitch. We passed thesis! On the first defense! I take no responsibility for this success though, I attribute them all to God and to my hardworking thesis mates.

Yay thesismates!

This naturally leaves me bored though, not that I haven't been bored during thesis at all. I'm killing the boredom by doing a little bit more thesis (even if we passed, we're not yet off the hook, since the adviser and the panel wanted some more revisions done... yay...), watching Kamen Rider Decade and playing Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection. And speaking of Dark Resurrection, I beat Drew at least five times already, which is an achievement I think more valuable than thesis itself!

Lili is my favorite character

I also made a tumblr account, for some blogs too long for plurk but too short for blogger. Click here to visit. Don't forget to follow me if you still care :(
Anyway, for some literary updates, I really apologize for not working on any new updates for both White Wolf Riiya and Chronos Division. Said thesis is really sapping me of writing creativity. Rest assured though that those series are not yet dead. Actually, I plan on doing regular updates from now on, Thursdays for White Wolf Riiya and Fridays for Chronos Division. Not sure if I can pull off such discipline, but who knows really. Also, I intend to start a new literary project. It's more of a game really. I'd call it...


FROM AN OTHER'S EYES


What I'd do is I'd write a well-known or popular story (relatively) from the point of view of another character if it was told in first person or from the point of view of any of the characters if it was told in the third. What I plan to do is emulate and see the world from the eyes of that character. Episode 1 (yeah, I decided to call them episodes) would be about a very popular story, so much so that it had, has and continue to have a strong cult following all around the world.
Hopefully no one sues me for trying.
Anyway, that's all there is to it with this update. Gotta go back to working again... Boring...

Due Respects

Today marks the day of former president Cory Aquino's burial. While I know the entire Philippine nation is mourning for her loss, I cannot help but feel apathetic. It's not because I don't appreciate what she did for our country, or how she fought for independence from tyrannical rule. It's not because I don't appreciate how she lead the Filipino people into an unforgettable peaceful revolt resulting into the expulsion of a dictator.



No. It's not that. I appreciate all that. I idolize all that.

But to be honest, I cannot really feel the sadness that as much. It's probably because I was born only during her presidency, that's why I cannot feel the sadness other Filipinos feel with regards to her death. Don't get me wrong though, I do understand the gravity of the situation. Still, I pay my respects to the mother of our country, the ever enduring symbol of Filipino democracy.

For the powerful light of the nation, for the irreplaceable beacon of the strength of the Philippine masses, may your legacy live forever for as long as democracy is still alive in our nation

It's not history that defines a person, it's the person that defines his or her story

To be truly one

Yesterday, the first of August, marked what would be one of the most historical events of this year, and one of the saddest; one that would be remembered certainly for a very long time.

Yesterday marked the death of one of the most loved presidents of the Philippines, none other than the mother of this country, Mrs. Corazon Aquino.

I would be annoyed to ends of my wits when I hear the most hated president of the Philippines capitalizing on her death by messages of unity and the like. The hypocrite would most certainly do so anyway, knowing her insatiable desire for a publicity op. Knowing her, she would deliver a very "heart-warming" and "reconciliatory" message to each and every Filipino, advocating "unity" and "peace" both politically and otherwise. She has already taken the first steps; she declared August 5 a non-working holiday to honor the burial of Cory. On that day, I hope I would never turn on the TV to see our dear president delivering her laughable message. The TV better be equipped with 5 inches of protective lead and fiberglass for it's own good.

Call me stingy or whatever, but we should all face the truth. I read a newspaper article today claiming that the death of Cory brought the Philippines together. It claimed that due to her death, the Philippines became united. But the fact of the matter is, this unity is only very temporary. This unity would only last for until the death of Mrs. Aquino still has an effect; very soon it would fade away and we would all be back in disarray.

It's painful to admit, but the so called unity of the Philippines depend so much on temporary and passing things. Remember when Manny Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton? A lot of people also claimed that during that one day, rebels and soldiers alike took a break from fighting to watch his match and celebrate his victory. We saw a lot of enemy politicians congratulating the triumph of our "hero". The Philippines was united, but only for so long. The following day (figuratively and literally), the trapos, soldiers and rebels were back to their old routines. The "unity" we enjoyed was really short and temporary.

Our country needs to find and hold on to a lasting source or inspiration of unity. If there's one thing Cory Aquino taught us, it's the fact that no matter how small we are individually, united we can stand against any form of tyranny or oppression. We are weak, sure, but together, no tank or soldier or ill-meaning politician or leader can stand in our way. I'm not advocating for another people power or another massive rally in Mendiola or EDSA, but we should really learn to be united and cling to a relatively more permanent inspiration.

After a month or so, once the uniting effect of the death of Cory wears off, we would be back to our old routines. Trapos would be once again trapos and our dear president would once again be our dear president. But if we would all learn to be united not for the sake of a Pacquiao victory or a death of a noble leader, how much more beautiful would the Philippines be?

Do we really need Pacquiao to win 365 matches a year or to kill 365 noble leaders just to ensure a year of peace and unity?

My journey through the Decade

So I guess I'm addicted to the newest installment to the long running tokusatsu drama "Kamen Rider", the new installment being "Kamen Rider Decade".

Now, I'm not normally into metal heroes; well, not since Power Rangers (which I vehemently despise right now when I found out it was basterda- I mean Americanized) and Kamen Rider Black. It's probably not due to the rider that shares the name of the series, nor is it because of Kanna Mori (but darn isn't she pretty?).

Kanna Mori as Natsumi

Nor is it because of the theme song sung by Gackt (which was surprisingly good, not because of Gackt but because of the fact that it's a Kamen Rider theme song). No.

I fell in love with the series because of the bad ass epic-ness.

I told a few close friends about this little factoid about me, and now you would know as well. fifthStitch likes alternate versions of things. In songs, movies and television shows, I really like covers, cross-overs or alternate realities. So what's this got to do with Decade you ask?

Simple. Kamen Rider Decade is an epic cross-over of all the Heisei era Kamen Riders, from (in the tone of the DecaDriver) Kuuga, Agito, Ryuuki, Faiz, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O and Kiva. Decade is the tenth of the Heisei era Kamen Riders, and as part of his growing retinue of abilities, he can transform into any of the nine riders before him. Now, I have just begun to watch this series, and even though I already know more about Decade, I dare not spoil you my dear beloved reader or myself by rudely exposing all of Decade's other abilities. Suffice to say though, due to these other abilities, Decade received it's own tvtrope page.

Decade Final Form whooping those bad asses

Well, there you go. I wish to say more about Decade but I'd watch the series first before I make a review. So far I think 27 out of 30 episodes have been completed and I'm at around the 4th. Tomorrow I continue watching the series, as they dive into the vampire music world of Kiva.

Till then, may you have your own journey through the decade.

Up on the fourth floor

Is where I am right now.

I should be doing something for thesis, but my fingers feel frozen due to the cold. I'm typing this with my frigid fingers, warming them up for a day of typing ahead.

Yes, I did mean a day of typing. Looks like I'm going home at ten again.

Anyways, today had been a fun day thus far. I beat my old Plants vs. Zombies I, Zombie record of 7 with a whopping 9. Yay.

It's not without help though, I got some small tips from my thesis mates. And yes, right now I just confirmed all of my thesis mates play or had once played Plants vs. Zombies. Can't blame them, it's a really fun game. To quote a review site I visited which I already forgot, the game keeps on giving and giving. And yes, it does. I suppose a hardcore player can breeze through the game in perhaps 15 to 20 hours, but realistically, it takes a little longer. And with the Zen Garden game mode, Plants vs. Zombies can keep you entertained, well, indefinitely I suppose.

As my previous post mentioned (indirectly though), I've been watching this mindfucking anime entitled Serial Experiments Lain, or Lain for short. Lain is a really complex complex anime, interpretable in more than one layer. Incidentally the episodes are called Layers, but I think that's more of due to the fact that it discusses lots of computer network concepts, and computer networks topics really like to use the term layer. Back to Lain, Lain is a truly difficult anime to watch, each short moment might bear some significance that takes a while to process. It's really just that mindfucking.

It's very nice though, shows like those really stimulate the way I think and challenges my thought process and my concepts of what is standard or real. Suppose it's just fantasy, yes it is, but it still does not take away the fact that it has some more than real issues being tackled. And those issues are sometimes so compelling that no matter how fictional the work is, it still is worth some second thought.

There, my fingers feel quite nimble again. Guess it's time for more thesis, up in the fourth floor.

Duality

The Internet is beautiful isn't it?

You can be who you want to be in the Internet. You can be a girl if you're a boy, or a boy if you're a girl. You can be a legendary hero, or a devious villain. You can be a magician, a swordsman, a warrior, even a dark lord. You can be who you want to be.

You can be wild and outgoing. You can be meek as a sheep. You can be sassy, aloof, conceited.

You can be anonymous.

The Internet makes this duality very possible. In the Internet, you can be who you want to be, even be the complete opposite of who you truly are. If you're shy in the real world, in the Internet you can be wild and outgoing. If you're ugly in the real world, you can be as sexy and alluring in the Internet. If you're a loser in the real world, you can change that in the Internet.

The Internet is beautiful isn't it?

The anonymity associated with the Internet makes all these possible. In the real world, you can only be born once, and once you become a physical entity in the real world, you assume a set of traits, and other people begin associating those traits to you. You gain an identity, and that identity will stick with you. It's not to say you cannot begin anew; the physical world permits this. It's just that, you cannot really begin anew, the old you would continue to haunt you.

This is not true in the Internet.

In the Internet, you can create as many identities as you want. You can assume any characteristic, any trait, any personality. And you can do it as many times as you want. You can assume any number of virtual entities, any number of virtual identities.

In short, you can be anybody.

A friend of mine wrote about freedom and reality. For him, reality is a "concentric", with multiple "realities" existing inside each other. It need not be a complete reality, sometimes sub-realities exist. For instance, a slave lives in his or her own reality, in which he or she is limited by his or her master. Slavery then is a sub-reality of the "real" physical reality. The difference between full realities and sub-realities is also ill-defined, what could be held as a sub-reality can be a reality all on it's own. In this light, freedom then is defined as being in the most external of reality, and questing for freedom is defined as finding your way out of your inner reality and embracing an outer reality.

How do you find out if you are still in an inner reality?

For him, an indicator would be repressive force. If something represses you in your reality, then you are not truly free. There exists a more external reality than where you believe you are in, and it's up to you if you want to pursue this more external reality. A slave would feel repressed by the limits set upon him or her by his or her master. This would indicate that there is a more external reality to the reality the slave is accustomed to, since he is not totally free yet due to the repressive force.

What then is the most external reality?

Is it the physical world? Then why do people escape to the Internet? In the physical world, you cannot assume more than who you are. It's difficult to be more than who you are already; unlike in the virtual world.

Is this repressive force? Is this then enough to say that the physical world is not the most external reality, but is an inner reality to something else? Say, the virtual world?

So which is it? Which is more real? The seventeen year-old boy sitting in front of his computer, or KittyMaster<3<3 his laser saber of kitty-cuteness, cutting a swath across the magic flower field? Isn't he more free as KittyMaster<3<3 than as a boring seventeen year-old bound by the rules of society?

Who then is who?