April 22, 2004
what have i been doing this summer?
1. making visual basic programs/games. yes, it's geeky, having taken the subject in 4th year high school, but i really can't let that wonderful skill rust. it's a useful tool in most of the career choices i have in mind, and besides, it helps expand my knowledge of things.
2. internet surfing. hee. for the blog, of course. as i've said before, it pains me to think that my blog is just stagnating in cyberspace. it needs my constant care; hence, it needs to be updated on a regular basis. you might have noticed that i never let 2 days pass without updating my blog. to go beyond 2 days would be a fatal sin.
3. calculating stuff on excel. i calculate just about anything in excel. i love ranking things and making criteria for them. it excites me to see the ranks go up and down at different times. (this is the reason why i positively enjoy music hit lists, such as mtv's asia hitlist and myx's daily top ten.)
4. playing games on pc and on family computer. i'm currently playing abe's odyssey on the pc and lode runner on the nintendo family computer. no, we don't have playstation or snes or sega. we're kinda stuck in the mario era.
5. eating, sleeping, and watching tv. the bare necessities.
the five things listed here seem to suggest that i don't go out much. well, it's true, i don't go out much (unless the destination's the internet cafe, of course). i have only been out once since i arrived here. i don't know... maybe it just tires me to roam around the city, especially when you have no one around to accompany you. most of my davao friends are taking summer classes or out of the country. when they do come home, though, perhaps i'll move my lazy ass away from the computer screen and start exploring the world outside my home.
perhaps.
gmail account
April 19, 2004
gma's campaign materials
the "kalsada natin" signboard comes in two types. one appears as a billboard, similar to those that are placed beside government projects (like the construction of a road or a bridge). this type of signboard has a half-body shot of gma, her hand frozen forever in a presidential wave. the other signboard is much smaller, and are placed 500 meters away from one another on the highway shoulder. this signboard is similar to those that are placed beside pnp checkpoints on national highways. due to the signboard's size, only gma's name can fit it, sparing us her presidential face.
it is intriguing that these signboards appeared only quite recently. as recently as the start of the election campaign, perhaps? looking at it from gma's point of view, though, one can see that these signboards are really perfect campaign materials. here are two reasons why:
one, it forces gma's name down our throats. the fact that we should take care of our roads (and not our pets or walls or trees) provides an excellent venue in which gma's name can be proclaimed. how long is the national highway? answer that and you'll see the extent of gma's publicity.
two, the signboards already have a disguise. "Kalsada natin, alagaan natin." that's the disguise. it excuses gma from politicking. she is, after all, just concerned about the welfare of our roads. how motherly of her. those of us who know better, however, can see how flimsy an excuse this can be.
it is also important to note that the picture plastered on the large billboards (the half-body shot with the wave) is also the same picture that appears in her "real" campaign posters. if i recall correctly, this is the same picture used in endorsing gma as president and noli de castro as vice-president. tsk, tsk. if they were any wiser (or if they were wise at all), they would not have recycled pictures. after all, we really do know better.
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