Article: Married, with hobbies!

Married, with hobbies!

Now that my generation is mostly married, many people who aren’t our age – normally the younger ones – ask how it is that we can keep up with our hobbies once marriage and kids are involved. After all, hobbies involve money, and with children and house expenses to think about, hobbies are definitely way down on the list. Even more unusual is the fact that my generation seems to be one of the first to invest deeply in “geeky” hobbies – hobbies that revolve around toys, TV shows, animated shows, science fiction, or fantasy.

And yet, many married couples now challenge that notion. I contacted three of my friends, and they willingly contributed their experiences with being married hobbyists...

Read the full article at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Musings About Discrimination and Bullying

Taken from my Facebook Account:

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/131783/my-stint-as-an-sm-grocery-bagger

This article (which I've linked), the writer, his friends, and the whole immersion program in Xavier School has been ridiculed by so many people, from anonymous posters to the likes of Carlos P. Celdran and some of his friends.


I think that that is the wrong way of going about things. Why?


1) These are children. Worse, they are the children of parents who may be overprotective (and I am conservative in that statement). If you will introduce a measure of social awareness within a school like Xavier, you must balance the attitudes of the parents themselves, versus the need to be socially aware. It's a tightrope act, and it's a situation where "working the system" is very important to get *any* action done.


2) By ridiculing their efforts, naysayers may even perpetuate the very social structure they are fighting against. Why? if these teenagers realize how people are looking down on them, then it sends a negative signal. What if they decide that social awareness is useless, because no one will believe them, anyway? well, then, congratulations, you've just turned these children into the next generation of uncaring businessmen you were trying to remove from the system. Bravo, gentlemen.


3) It doesn't reflect well on the people who attack *children*. Just think about it. I can understand talking to them, perhaps even asking them nicely to try and go further in their immersion activities, I can even understand if some people will offer them the chance of *really* living a life, however temporarily, devoid of all the luxuries they surround themselves with.


But to tell them they will never know what it feels like to be poor, so stop being fake? See possible reaction in #2.


I am deeply ashamed that people near my age and older are acting like bullies, refusing to help educate the younger generation. There's an opportunity here, and it's being wasted by class-war attitudes that have no place in true education.


To all of you who thought the writer and his friends are stupid rich kids: I am sad that you have closed your minds to the possibility of change.


To the "upper class" kids whose minds are becoming aware that there is a much bigger world out there: Keep on exploring, and keep on thinking. And forgive old fogeys who think you aren't good enough, because they see you as stupid rich kids. What you have to do is make sure that you don't grow up to be like that, and to always strive to be better.

Article - The internet cafe: An obsolete business?

The internet cafe: An obsolete business?

For many here in the Philippines with the time and money to put up a business (not to mention the intent), one that seems easy to get into is to put up an Internet café.
The Internet café seems simple enough in concept: Set up an Internet connection, set up the network software, have desktop computers ready for network Internet and gaming, have the network games and productivity software, and there you have it, a business you can run. You can even be the cashier on your off-hours.

However, the truth is the Internet café business model may be a dying idea. Alternatively, if it’s not dying, then you need to get past many, many obstacles. Here are some concerns you have to think about for an Internet café.


Click here to read the full article over at The Philippine Online Chronicles

Article - Heads-up for Philippine Cosplay: Updates and opinions (part 2)

The cosplay community is still very divided, with different factions with their own agendas, and even their own interpretations on what Cosplay is really about.
- Paul, veteran cosplayer
 
It seems that the cosplay community is, like any fandom community, divided into many different groups. And from without, they struggle with misconceptions. And then, there are the battles concerning aesthetics and gender-based issues.

Ron and Red, as fans, have noted those exact things, saying that “the beautiful people are pushing out the former geek kings and queens of cosplay,” and that “respect for girls is a big problem.”

Gin, herself a costumer but not a part of the cosplay community, is also concerned. On one end, she believes that if you will cosplay as a character, then you should strive on to get two things right: the best quality for your costume and props, and that you should not break character when you’re doing the rounds.

Click here to go to the first part of the article

Read the full article at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Article - Heads-up for Philippine cosplay: Updates and opinions (part 1)

When I first came up with the idea of an article on cosplay culture in the Philippines, I had been told it would be better to do an update, given that there have been articles previously published.  To that end, I decided to contact some friends through e-mail. Among them were cosplayers, fans, retired cosplayers, people who wore costumes but who were not part of the traditional cosplay community, and, finally, people who were not fans, but didn’t hate or look down on cosplayers.

I had thought that their insights would be varied – and for some questions, they were. But they did share certain views, some of which are, truth be told, going to be controversial, no matter how it’s looked at. I’ve decided to use pseudonyms for all of them, owing to the prickly nature of some of the observations.

Click here to go to the second part of the article

Read the full article at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Article - Bahala na: The Pinoy catch-all?

Bahala na: The Pinoy catch-all?

Filipinos always have fun with concepts that are untranslatable to English. It’s always a source of amusement, probably related to how Filipinos view the mangling of meanings and words as a source of humor. One good example is how there is no definite word for “no” in Filipino, or perhaps how we’ve practically reversed the meaning of “salvage.” It’s also hard to translate “gigil,” “kilig,” and even “lihi.” I mean, yes, you could explain it as a phrase, but there is no exact translation.

But for my money, one of the most Filipino of terms remains a top pick for being untranslatable: “Bahala na.”

Multiple-choice origins
The origin of the term has never been properly pinned down, but here are some of the origins as they have been circulated online (which of course, means that grains of salt must be used, perhaps a shaker full of it).

Click here to read the full article at The Philippine Online Chronicles

Article - Not in my backyard: Red alert on office romances

Not in my backyard: Red alert on office romances

Jerry and Maria are co-workers in a company. Because of how their workloads are, they both usually end up working late into the night. It all started with the jokes to relieve boredom and stress. Then, it was the late dinners. It wasn’t long before people began to notice that they were turning into an item.

But, que horror! They are co-workers! This is an office romance. The more conservative started to gossip about them, and the more liberal thought of it as great popcorn fare to watch in the office. It wasn’t long before concerned senior officers and Human Resources got into the game. Then suddenly, one of them resigned.

Does this sound familiar? Office romances seem to be an oxymoron of sorts. It’s practically a given that you shouldn’t go out with someone from your own place of work – or, by the same token, suggest your lover for a position in the office. Unfortunately, it still happens. So, what are the real issues behind the taboo on office relationships?

Click here to read the full article at the Philippine Online Chronicles