Currently Browsing: Too Personal
Feb 8th 10
Posted by Arnold in Too Personal
A Twit from @jovefrancisco caught my attention.
I’m a big fan of the PBB franchise. Pero kailan kaya matitigil ang pag gamit ng HMs ng “i am poor card”? Just play the game well please.
That short, 140 or less character line has defined exactly what I have in mind — not just with the state of Philippine television, because I hardly watch these days, but with the Filipino mindset in general.
Politics. Take a look at Manny Villar, Erap and Jojo Binay. “I am/was poor, therefore you should vote for me”
Workplace. I have erroneously given “on top of the others” favor to some employees not because they were deserving, but because they said, and claimed at least, that they are poor. I’m sure this happens all the time in the workplace.
Game shows and Philippine TV. You see this everyday. People go on TV and proclaim that they are poor, therefore should deserve some sort of alms or privilege.
Jove called this “I am poor card”. I call this emotional ambush.
My heart goes to the poor. I was raised in a relatively poor family.
What I’m so pissed is the “I am poor, therefore…” mentality of us Filipinos. We thought that being poor is the end of it all. People dwell on it. Politicians exploit it.
If you think you are poor and has nothing on earth to help you get out of it — aside from joining TV shows, receiving financial “help” from politicians or betting on lotto, then you’ll be poor for the rest of your life.
I’m not writing this for the poor — heck, they are poor, how can they have internet access! I’m writing this for us in the middle class. Please stop exploiting this Filipino poor mentality. Let us help them get out of the curse of poverty and not wallow on it. Politicians — let not the people vote for you because you are/were poor but because you have an actual plan to help them get out of the mess and not just to temporarily relieve the pain.
But that would be a long shot, wouldn’t it?
Feb 4th 10
Posted by Arnold in Grace Place, Too Personal
For those who know me, you know that I’ve long been involved with a church called Grace Place. It’s been a great 3 years. God has been leading us all throughout, teaching us what to do and what not to do. Sometimes, we’re hard headed. But when we follow His leading and focus on what matters most, great results happen.
So, we’ve been making noise about a new church called LifeChurch Makati in Facebook and people were asking, “There’s no more Grace Place?”
The quick answer is, “Yes. There’s no more Grace Place.”
The longer and more accurate answer is to explain that technically, the people behind Grace Place are the same people that will launch LifeChurch Makati. Only, LifeChurch Makati has:
- a different approach in doing church
- a different Sunday experience
- a different location
- a different partner
LifeChurch Makati is powered by LifeChurch.tv, an innovative church in the US lead by Craig Groeschel. We’re going to have a preview service on February 21, 2010 at the new location in Glorietta 4, Cinema 4. It’s a different Sunday experience, I promise. You’ve got to see it to believe.
And if you’re a follower of Christ and wants to serve, you’re welcome to be part of the launch team. Here are the details.
Jan 5th 10
Posted by Arnold in Too Personal
First of all, goals are not the same as resolutions. New year’s resolutions are meant to be broken on the second week of the year. Goals are pursued and hoped to be reached within the year.
So, here’s my goals for 2010. I’m making it public to somehow make myself more accountable to these personal goals:
1. Spirituality – read the entire bible in Today’s New International Version.
2. Spirituality – be more consistent in my quiet time.
3. Spirituality – stretch myself to be more trusting in God by becoming more generous financially. Give more than the tithe.
4. Family – be creative in my date nights with my wife. Movies, while we both enjoy it, can be boring and redundant sometimes, you know.
5. Family – have a special 7th year anniversary celebration on July.
6. Family – spend more quality time with my kids. (Emphasis on “quality” since I do have more than enough quantity of time with them)
7. Business – release at least 2 rockin’ web application this year.
8. Business – be more aggressive in marketing
9. Personal – go back to the gym, be healthy and loose my growing belly. “Sa panahon ngayon, bawal ang magkasakit”
10. Church – be more aggressive in praying for God’s design to happen for “Grace Place” as we pursue a challenging yet God-honoring plan this year.
Jan 4th 10
Posted by Arnold in General, Too Personal
The Mayweathers
This blog, Resurgence 2.0, is subtitled “Theology. Technology. Politics. Whatever”. “Whatever” means sports, actually. So here’s my open letter to Mr. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. with regards to the recent controversy with Manny Pacquaio not giving in to his demand for random blood testing.
* * *
Dear Mr. Floyd Mayweather,
Greetings from here in the Philippines.
The moment I heard about your dad’s accusations last September of Manny Paquiao using Performance Enhancement Drugs (PEDs) or steroids, I laughed because I know he’s missing the main reason behind Manny’s great strength. Then you followed through, and your uncle, the Golden Boy and then the rest of the sports media. You are all making me laugh really hard!
You’re all amazed. You thought it’s not natural to have extra human strength as this. So, as what a typical American will conclude, it must be some type of drug that does this.
Floyd, it’s not the PED, it’s the RICE!
You have to understand this. You see, I grew up in a province north of Manila, Nueva Ecija, considered as the rice capital of the Philippines. I have a first-hand knowledge of this. When I was a kid, I have some classmates who have extra-human strength. They run faster, jump higher. They would always win track and field events, or win huge amount of money bets on street basketball. Our elders would ask, “Anong bigas ba ang kinakain ng batang ‘yan?!” (What kind of rice does that kid eat?!) So you see, there’s different kinds of rice, and there are some types of rice that makes one acquire extra-human abilities. It is well known in our town that the darker the rice is, the better it is to provide strength. Floyd, it’s in the rice.
If only you’ll see the workers we call “kargador” or “pahinante”. These people, at an average height of 5″3′ to 5″5′ can carry 2 to 3 sacks of rice on their backs all at the same time. The meanest can carry 4 sacks! That’s around 150 to 200 kilos — super human strength. What you do not know is that the same rice that they carry gives them super strength!
We also have here in Los Banos, Laguna, in a university south of Manila, a laboratory that invents different kinds of rice breeds. You know what, they keep improving our rice! It makes our people stronger by the day.
So I can’t understand why you keep on accusing Manny Pacquiao of using PED when it’s actually the RICE that makes him strong. Stronger than fighters, including you sir, who are bigger than himself. In fact, it is typical here in the Philippines for smaller guys to beat up bigger guy. Anyone who’s well trained in the farms and eat plenty of our rice can beat up any bigger guys in school.
Instead of pointing to PEDs, I suggest you ask GBP to include in the contract a way to test our rice. Maybe the kind of breeding process our rice undergo is not normal, or against international practices and standards. Because it’s in the rice, sir! It’s in the rice.
Or better yet, start eating rice — FILIPINO RICE, so you and Manny can have a level field if ever you guys will still meet in the ring.
Oh, by the way, aside from FILIPINO RICE, it’s the FILIPINO PRIDE that makes Manny stick to what he believes is right. In my opinion, our pride as a nation is bigger than $40M. Some sports columnists couldn’t believe why Manny would let go of the biggest paycheck for that silly little blood test. You don’t get it — because you’re not a Filipino. For you it’s just all about the money.
Please read these 2 great articles written by an American writer married to a Filipina about Manny Pacquiao and the Filipino Pride — here and here.
I hope this letter reaches you. I know you guys won’t anymore meet come March 13. In any case, I hope you’ll try our RICE for your next fight.
Sincerely,
Arnold “The Sinandomeng Eater” Gamboa
Nov 24th 09
Posted by Arnold in Too Personal
Thank you for visiting, I know any blog with the word “scandal” wins.
And talking about how to be a hero, let me switch channels and talk about how to become a responsible “miron”.
“Miron”, in our street lingo means a by-stander, a watcher, somebody who are not actually part of the action although he may feel he is.
Much has been said about Manny Pacquiao, our boxing hero, and his rumored affair with a sexy star. I’m not going to join the fray.
What I’m alarmed of is our natural tendency to over analyze things at the expense of the people involved. We’re good commentators. We blog about anything. We tweet and facebook things as if we know the people involved. Who knows who were hurt by those comments?
FACT: things that we know are based on what the media feed us. The media feed us of what we want. The juicier, the merrier. None of us know the context behind the supposed pictures, or the supposed videos on YouTube. None of us know any personal knowledge about the lives of these public personalities. So unless you are Jinky or Krista or Aling Dionisia or Kris Aquino, stop over analyzing and stop the blogging, will you all? You’re not helping. You’re in fact destroying the lives of the people involved. Gossiping is a sin.
Watch their lives — their public personalities anyway. But be a responsible “miron”.
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