Birthday • 1990-04-12 Gender •
Male Location • Philippines Member Since • 2003-10-18
Personal
Achievements • High School Valedictorian Anime Fan Since • the mid-to-late '90s Favorite Anime • Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X), Detective Conan (Case Closed), Knock Out! (Hajime No Ippo), Great Teacher Onizuka, and many more! Goals • To be a high school teacher, journalist, detective, nurse, TV producer, TV writer, manga artist, late-night talk show host, or a WWE Superstar Hobbies • Surfing the Net, watching TV (especially anime)
myOtaku.com: The Mask
Monday, December 31, 2007
MY TEN FINAL WORDS IN 2007
Hey there guys! Do you smell what The Mask is cookin'?
1. Time-check first. At the time that I'm posting this, it's already 4:25 PM, which I believe is around 5:00 AM in myOtaku (or US) time. Less than 8 hours from now, it's going to be 2008. This post is gonna be quite long, so I hope you'll have the patience to read everything up.
2. 2007 was a year full of surprises and shocks. Around the world, we had wildfires, landslides, mainstream media bias, writers' strike, and a state of emergency. As for my place, we had a mall explosion, bombing in Congress, scams in gameshows and TV ratings, midterm election bullcrap, hostage-taking in a school bus, overpriced lampposts and, of course, the stupid coup attempt that led to a tank being rammed inside a five-star hotel. (And I guess you people saw that unusual sight in the news, right?)
3. In 2007, we also bid goodbye to several people from different walks of life. In the world of pro-wrestling, we lost "Sensational" Sherri Martel, Fabulous Moolah, and the Benoit family (wrestler Chris, former wrestler Nancy, and son Daniel). In entertainment, we lost model Anna Nicole Smith and cartoon icon Iwao Takamoto, as well as Filipino novelty singer Yoyoy Villame. In the world of books, we lost novelist Sidney Sheldon. And in politics, we lost Boris Yeltsin of Russia and, most recently, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. May their souls and the souls of all the other people who passed away this year rest in peace.
4. Of all the deaths that happened this year, the most tragic would be the deaths of the Benoit family and of Benazir Bhutto. First, the Benoit family. I remembered the first time I heard about it; it was on the main page of the Yahoo! website. It was heartbreaking enough to see a wrestling legend die like that, but to see that his wife and son died with him was even more heartbreaking (especially the death of his son; he was still so young). When news came that Chris was the suspect in what appeared to be a case of double murder-suicide, I was shocked. I couldn't believe this was happening. Then came the sensationalism that the media did on this event, with journalists making judgments before thinking and interviewing former wrestlers that are making this tragedy even worse. It would later be learned that it was a brain injury that could have trigerred Chris to do it, and not that thing which everyone wants to blame at. I hope that their souls will be laid to rest.
5. Benazir Bhutto's death came out as a shocker to me. The first time I knew about her was last October on BBC, when she arrived in Pakistan from exile. Then, there was the assasination attempt caught on camera, which was so shocking since it was one of the first suicide bombings/assasination attempts I saw. Later, there was the state of emergency, the house arrest, and her bid to become prime minister of Pakistan. I may have spent more time updating myself on Ron Paul, but I certainly spent some time learning about what's happening in Pakistan. I even wondered a bit on how Pakistan might be different and changed for the better if she became PM. And then, I learned on BBC that she was killed. Just as the year was about to end, she was killed. It shocked me. It made me wonder how Pakistan is gonna be like already now that the one person whom many Pakistanis saw as their hope is no longer alive. On this year, I was introduced to Mrs. Bhutto; who would've thought that this was also the year that she would pass away. I'm not gonna say she was a great leader, since I don't know that much about her. Nevertheless, I hope her soul will rest in peace, and I hope Pakistan can move on for a brighter future after this tragedy.
6. This year, I saw how extremely crappy mainstream media has become. I first heard about it on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, wherein they explained how figures like Geraldo Rivera and Nancy Grace didn't seem to act like real journalists. At that time, I laughed, because the show did a good job in explaining it. But I didn't really see the bias myself. Later on, during the Benoit tragedy, I saw for myself how biased they have become. They keep on talking about steroids, they tell people that "pro-wrestling is evil", they even twist the facts up! That was just bullcrap. I know pro-wrestling is not exactly good, but they shouldn't make it look like something it isn't just for the sake of ratings. Then, the Ron Paul coverage. Minimal, biased, not so much on facts. There was even one article where Paul did well in a straw poll, but instead it focused more on how Mitt Romney was beaten by Ron Paul. Since when did losers become the top of the story? Good thing things improved a bit these days. And then, the John Cena incident, where CNN (of all networks) omitted some of his words to make him look like he takes steroids. This was just frustrating. Even in the Philippines, we had bias when the media networks make themselves look like the heroes for interfering in police matters, and making such an issue on a racial slur on Desperate Housewives but not on an ethnic slur in a local movie.Because of this, I sometimes feel that not taking up Journalism was a good choice, since I would've ended up working for these kinds of people.
7. What did 2007 give me that will never be forgotten? Well, for starters, 2007 was the year that I became Mr. COMELEC, after I became the secretary for the Commission of Elections in the Supreme Student Council of my university. Exciting? Well, if I applied for the job, why wouldn't it be exciting for me? For the first time, I saw how elections work in the university, and it was a hands-on experience. Tiring? Hell yeah. Helping manage the whole election season, having to worry about the rallies and the sizes of the election materials, and the berating from some individuals . . . all of these gave me enough reason to say "Thank goodness!" when it was all over. Despite all the crap that happened, I could proudly say that I never cheated for anyone during this period. This period in my life would eventually lead to my interest in playing political games like President 2000, Senate Seeker, NationStates, and Particracy, as well as this next event.
8. One very important event that happened to me in 2007 was when I was introduced me to Texas congressman Ron Paul. Ever since his interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I've kept track of what he is doing on his campaign for US president, despite being "on the other side of the world", as SomeGuy said. I've become witness to two major "money bombs", the first during Guy Fawkes day (which brought more than $4 million) and the second during the Boston Tea Party anniversary (which brought more than $6 million). I've seen him start to get the attention of the media, appearing in popular shows like The View, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Meet the Press. From being a nobody, he is now starting to become a phenomenon in the 2008 elections. With a good record and a good platform, plus his integrity and issue familiarity, it wasn't long before I threw my support for this guy.
9. What are my hopes for 2008? First, I hope that Ron Paul wins the Republican primaries, then the presidential elections. Next, I hope I can finally buy myself a Sherlock Holmes novel. I also hope that I can finally continue catching up with what's happening in Detective Conan. Also, I hope that I can have a clearer view of my ambitions in the future.
10. To end this post, here is the world-famous video of prison inmates in my province, Cebu, dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Enjoy!
That's all for 2007! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
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MY TEN FINAL WORDS IN 2007