Black Out Call

I just changed my profile pic to black. This means something.

===================================================================

Today, October 2, the Supreme Court sitting en banc is set to hear several petitions for prohibition against the Cybercrime Prevention Law.

If the high court junks these petitions and disapproves the request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), the Cybercrime Prevention Law will take effect the following day, forever changing the Internet landscape in the Philippines -- possibly even killing Internet freedom.

As a sign of protest, please take down your profile pictures and cover photos and change it to a simple black image.

We also call on website administrators in the Philippines to take down/blacken their websites starting 12 midnight in protest of the looming implementation of the draconian law. There are several plugins available in the net to do so (GIYF).

With enough websites participating, we can be a formidable force that can compel the government to think twice.

==================================

Our dear Filipino netizens, the government is taking the Internet away from us. It is but just to reclaim it in all ways possible.

NETIZENS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!

 

****Credits to the one who first posted this.

Anti-Cybercrime Prevention Law (Philippines)

This is crazy!

Article III Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution states that "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

This is violating Article III Section 4. Where is our freedom of speech/expression now, when they can arrest now arrest us for doing such? As far as I know, the equipment is meant to be used to track down hackers of government websites and such, and where is it used? To track down people expressing their opinions. What is happening to our country?

Please support us, especially Filipinos. This might lead to another Martial Law. I haven't experiences the first, but many say it is horrible.

 http://www.change.org/petitions/junk-the-cybercrime-prevention-law

New School, New Beginning

It's been a week since I first entered my new school. I am still adjusting to my new schedule and the different facilities. Classes start earlier and have a longer time. The break time is very long. No one is to keep me company because I did not start as a block section but as a transferee. They have uniform. Despite these, I will do better than my performance last term. My goal now is to excel and to top the board exam. I want to show that the school is not the only basis for job hunters but the students themselves are the basis. I miss my blockmates, my teammates and my friends in my previous school. I plan to visit them whenever I have the time. A Thursday is the perfect day since we don't have classes on Friday.

Pump Up the Animo 4

Six teams go for the gold this year. The venue is full of audience. We are all confident to win the gold.

I felt so different this year. Before we even start our routine, I felt like I want to cry already. I'm not even sure why. Maybe because of so much happiness that tears of joy want to leak out already.

I know our routine is not perfectly executed because we rushed on the last three days of training. I enjoyed the routine a lot. Replacing the tired looks with enjoying smiles really helps a lot!

We won the 1st runner-up but it's okay. At least we showed the audience that in spite of our stressing studies, we have other talents. Yes, we are engineering students.

A little part of me is hurt. It's my fifth competition in my whole cheering life and it's my fifth 1st runner-up. i am just wondering when this streak is gonna end.

Maybe next year, but no one will ever know until it happens.

Why Are You on the Team?

Yesterday, as I was preparing my training gear, I found my high school cheer shirt. Written there are these words, "We live to cheer that's why were here." This is the motto of the team of our batch.

This is the reason why I'm still joining cheering squads even though the team is different. I'm living it! I remember the times when our teachers would always say  that we should just enjoy what we are doing. This year, I heard these words again and this made me think how far I've been through since my first cheering competition.

My cheering career will go on!

Change in Competition Date

Last night, we were informed about the date of the competition. The competition will be, most probably, on the 28th of March which is a Wednesday. We are all against this.

In our school, not many students have classes on Wednesdays. Their classes fall mostly on Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Friday schedules. In my opinion, not many students would want to go to school just to watch. There will be less audience which, in our opinion, would result in less audience impact. We are also worried because we have classes on the next day especially those who have 8 a.m. classes.

The first scheduled date of the competition is on the 23rd of March which is a Friday. This would have been better. There would be more audience and they, including us, wouldn't have to worry about the next day.

The only positive effect I've seen on the change of date is, I don't have to worry about the conflicting schedules of the competition and a departmental exam.

Behind the Video Recordings

Lately I've been taking videos of our training. I'm recording the liftings, tosses, and others. My team is wondering why I'm doing this.

A teammate asked me if I'm doing this for documentation. Well, I'm doing this for something more than just documentation. No, I'm not turning these videos to the other teams. Why in the right mind would I do that?

I'm doing this because I'm planning to make a music video for our team. I missed making one. The last time I made one is a year ago and the song is Go On Girl by Ne-yo. I hope my teammates would like the video I'm making.

SJCS Fun Run 2012

Another fun run, another medal!

This year's fun run is a joke! This took place inside Malacanang Complex. Last year, the fun run took place in SM Mall of Asia. The time of running is not right. We're running right under the sun! I easily got tired because of the sun's heat. Water stations are set around the area of running. The problem is that the water won't be thirst quenching because the water is not cold.

The medals are a joke. There are two 1k events. There are 250 medals to be given out in each event. For the 3k, there are 100 medals to be given out. For the 5k, there are also 100 medals to be given out. Isn't it supposed to be more medals to be given out when the distance is longer and less medals for the events with less distance?

I don't know if I really ran three kilometers because I couldn't believe the time. My time this year is 13 minutes and 35 seconds. Last year, my time is 17 minutes and 53 seconds. I'm not sure if it really is three kilometers, or I am faster.

What really is wrong is how the sequence of events is. The 1k events started first. We have to wait for the event to finish before the next event will start. It should be, like everyone knows, the long distance race should start first, then in a few minutes, the shorter distance can start already. This way, the race would have finished earlier.

How It Feels to be Drunk

Last night I had a drink with my teammates. This is to celebrate my teammate's birthday.

We had a deal that whoever finishes last in a game of pusoydos will drink a glass of G.S.M. Blue. I wouldn't accept this kind of deal because I still don't know how much my body can take before getting drunk. I had support from my crush so I accepted.

I can't afford to lose the next game but the three players cheated. I'm a little dizzy at this moment but I can tell that they have been laying down more cards. I tried to stop them but it's no use. Because of this I finished last. If no one cheated, I wouldn't have finished last.

At first, the deal is no chaser, but they gave me a glass just in case. I took the gin slowly, followed by chasers. When I reached half, my crush tried to stop me. I told her that a deal is a deal so I finished it.

This is where I started to not know what happened. I remember being escorted into the bathroom in case I vomit. I remember calling a name and asking this person to be at my side. I felt like I'm Budoy as I shouted. My body feels numb like I've been injected with anesthesia. I remember vomiting. I remember someone telling me, "Umayos ka!"

The next thing I know, I heard my dad talking to some of my teammates, I don't know who exactly. Someone helped me into the car, and I got a sermon on the way home.

This is my experience of being drunk. Everything has limits. I found my limits. Next time, I will be more careful. I feel like I don't want to drink anymore. Being drunk once is enough.

I should've listened to my crush. I should've stopped when she told me to. Regrets filled my mind.

I just hope those three players realized what they have done. This reminds me of the line my teacher in high school always says, "Cheating is very very very very very........ bad."

The Closing of Monster Fusion

There's a game in Facebook which is called Monster Fusion. You raise monsters, do quests, battle other players, and fuse monsters to increase their stats. There are a lot of things to do here.

I've been enjoying this game for almost two weeks. I've been playing this with some of my classmates. I also used my other Facebook accounts just to keep up with the item requirements only accessible through requests.

I got disappointed when I found out that Monster Fusion is going to close permanently on March 15. Why does this have to happen to a great game? I stopped playing this game because my time will only be wasted. Why would I still play this if the game will close down in the end?

A Swift Message

This message was made last December 2011. The message is composed of lines from the songs of Taylor Swift and nothing else.

            How’s life? You’ve been good, busier than ever. Last night I heard my own heart beating, I’m still reaching even though I know you’re not there. Misty morning come again and I can’t help but wish I could see your face. I’d tell you I miss you but I don’t know how.

            Will you take a moment? So many things that I wish you knew. All those other girls, well they’re beautiful but my choice is you. Cause every time you smile, I smile and every time you shine, I shine for you. I like the way I can’t keep my focus. I like the way you’re everything I ever wanted. Every time I look at you, I feel perfectly fine. Take away the pain with your face and the beautiful eyes. So good to me, so right, and I don’t know how it gets better than this. You smile the beautiful smile and I knew when I saw your face, I’d be counting down the ways to see you cause I’ve seen sparks fly whenever you smile. I never knew I could feel that much.

            I could stand up and sing you a song. I just want to show you I’m no one special and I could wait patiently. My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again cause my heart is yours. You’ve got places to be and I’ll be okay.

Feb. 15, 2012 - Belated Valentine's Day!

We, the boys of team COE have plans for today's training. Since yesterday is Valentine's Day, one of us thought of giving the girls roses because he knows that not all of the girls will receive something. I thought of giving something additional to my crush because roses are too mainstream. I made a Valentine's Day card for her. I even brought my guitar so I could sing her a song.

Things didn't turn out well. I got the chords mixed up because I'm very nervous. The song is "Closer You and I" by Gino Padilla. Another thing is the sound that the guitar produced is very soft. The guitar belonged to my sister but I used it because she already have two. I just gave the guitar a lefty flip on the strings. I really need a new guitar. It won;t matter if it's a classical guitar or acoustic guitar as long as I could play well with it.

At first, my crush is very shy to accept the rose. After I gave her the rose, I gave her my homemade Valentine's Day card. She liked the cover page a lot. The cover page is made of Paperclay art.

This day ended well. Everybody is happy.

Feb. 14, 2012 - LEAP

My LEAP is Harry Potter Adventure. It's like a Harry Potter themed obstacle course. It's a race between six teams.

I could've enjoyed this years LEAP but I didn't because of some teammates. Three of us are eager to win the race. We are the ones who rush to the next area, not caring much about getting tired. We sprint from one station to another. The other three teammates only walk. They don't care about winning.

Though the three of us arrived at the next station, we can't start the next activity because we are a team. We need to wait for the other three who are very slow. We only finished third. The winning team received Starbucks gift certificates. I could only enjoy them once in a blue moon because these are expensive.

I hope those three slow teammates learned about the essence of teamwork.