On fight hype, class suit, "Hercules" and MONEY

One just came off from a successful shoulder rotator cuff tear repair. The other has issued a willingness to fight again after a year. One is reportedly peppered with class lawsuits by concealing his injury to the paying (and betting) public. The other has just been slapped with a $20M defamation suit by his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris related to Floyd's accusations in a Katie Couric interview. It's true that the Fight of the Century was dismal, anticlimactic and as others say, "underwhelming." Rounds 1 and 2 gave viewers the impression that they were sizing up each other. But Manny was obviously not his usual explosive self. And when the rounds wore on to just even the 5th then the 6th, it was almost clear that Floyd is headed toward his 48th. Floyd proved to be a master defensive fighter with an impeccable timing and fierce counter punches. Manny's shoulder injury seemed to have made Floyd look even better. Floyd used his longer reach to his advantage and was clearly fighting and sticking to a gameplan, part of which is to stay at the center of the ring and avoid the ropes. Manny, on the other hand, has come out from this fight, I believe, with more understanding of the metaphorical "ropes" of the sport... and of life. I'm sure he's more cognizant of it all now. And so, he should be wearing his tee with "Manny Knows" more often. I wonder what he might have known better nowadays... We can just offer intelligent guesses if not malicious thoughts.:-) There are other, more influential, more gargantuan players in this fight hype. And the irony is that they're so huge that they cannot be seen. But many of us would to like to stick to how we perceive all these to be because we love the feeling. This also shows how effective the publicity machine is grinding. :-) Floyd is out about his preference for money. Manny is basking on his new-found faith. Freddie said this is a battle between good and bad...and so on.... In the meantime, big business is cashing in on almost anything related to the fight. I heard that the prices of gasoline, beer, even bottled water went up considerably in Las Vegas as early as two weeks prior. That's not to mention the skyrocketing rates of hotel rooms that are even far from the strip. Fight wares (t-shirts, caps, etc.) are sold everywhere in higher-than-usual prices. At the other end, big bettors have also put in their millions. Yup, you heard it right - millions for either the llamado Floyd or the dehado Manny. Money is aplenty and the state of Nevada seemed to have wallowed on the money windfall. Remember how Senator Harry Reid (D) of Nevada interceded in the chaos about the fight tickets that have not yet been made available a week before the fight? Harry Reid is the senator whose poor performance at the polls was salvaged by Manny a few years ago. He was responsible for Manny's meeting with President Barack Obama in 2009. Let it not be forgotten, too that Las Vegas, Nevada is Floyd's home. When Floyd first agreed in principle to face Manny, the first thing that he made crystal clear is the venue - MGM Grand. When Manny came to Las Vegas for the fight, he skipped the arrival honors that's supposed to be held at the MGM, or Top Rank didn't allow it. Instead, he had a Manny Fan Day at the Mandalay Bay which Arum repeatedly praised right under the noses of a visibly irked Floyd and Showtime executives during the final press conference. These are five-star hotels here in the U.S. and the man is a multi-millionaire promoter that dates back to Muhammad Ali glory days, if you know what I mean. In tears, Buboy Fernandez reasoned to Manny that postponing the fight would mean more criticisms...and that it involves not just thousands of money but millions. At least that's what he told Coney Sison of GMA 7 in an interview. And so, Manny stepped on the ring despite his injury. It's waters under the bridge but had Manny decided to postpone the fight, I wonder if he wouldn't find himself embroiled in the same predicament that he is now....even graver and against all these "Herculeses" around him. Alex Ariza, the disgruntled coach in Pacquiao's side for 4 years or so, was once asked what's the difference between working with Manny and Floyd now that he has changed courts, so to speak. He answered it simply, "Floyd is in-charge and Manny is not confrontational so he's not in-charged." I need not say more. :-) There are reportedly four new class suits that were filed in California, Nevada, Chicago against Manny Pacquiao. One of these suits even included Floyd MW Promotions, HBO and Showtime. I saw in one internet thread how some fellow kababayans, after buying pay per view and losing some cash for betting on Manny, felt betrayed. One even said, "where's the class suit? Count me in." I just hope that no kababayan would join in. Here's why... We are all entitled to our own opinions but for me, I would be happy for a kababayan especially for Manny who has helped a lot of people in our country, to earn from this whole "fiasco" if it can be called that. Althroughout the events leading to the fight, he had proven that he has more followers, more loved and therefore, that he's a better attraction for PPV between he and Floyd. But he can never be the A side and so, has to content himself with a lower share of anything. Remember that he is handled not by kababayans who may have his best interest and welfare in mind, although it's not a guarantee. :-) It's no longer pure and simple boxing now...and like the song, he's like a shooting star who can never go back to where and what he used to be. It's already an interplay of many things complicated... from domains to culture, to powerplay and maximized profits, from here and now to the foreseen future. Manny may have spoiled us to action-packed fights that he always wins for the "Filipino," or with his big heart and boundless generosity that we're not used to seeing him trying to earn his bread, maybe in odd, insidious ways. He's no saint...he thrived from and entertained all these many facets of his life for a long time.... but I'd prefer that a Filipino, especially Manny, to have the greater piece of the Pacman that he had worked so hard for all his life. :-)

January 19, 2012 - Ten days late

I happily sat at the computer today, 6:48 in the evening to be exact..this HP Touch Smart computer that's situated at the master's bedroom of this two-bedroom Vista de Lago apartment that we have been renting for nearly two years now in July 2012. I excitedly scrolled down my posts that seem new to me..and I can imagine my posts to consider me a stranger, too (personification blues) having lost the "muse" to write in the midst of a lot of things that went on in my life for that solid one year.

And I noticed that I last published on January 9, 2011 and said I would reasses my life after a year on January 9, 2012. Well, I'm ten days late.. Anyway, the whole article talked about working on that elusive happiness.. So what were going on in my life that time? Hmmmm not much. I didn't have practically everything that could help me distract my attention from those sad focuses then - I didn't have a job. I was missing my friends back in Manila. I still don't have a driver's license here in the U.S. then... plus a lot of other things that could be considered hmmm "unmentionable."

One thing worth noting is that I wanted to work on my happiness in 2011. I guess I did. I had a nursing job in March, I tried and failed my practical driving test here, Jasm resumed his education at Saddleback and on the material side, we acquired a brand-new Honda Pilot. And so we took off to NorCal, saw my first cousin Gani and his kids for the first time in many years. Recently, we travelled to Vegas again, visited the Grand Canyon, drove to Flagstaff and Phoenix AZ. Before the year ended, we had this grand reunion with my auntie Jessie (mama's oldest sis) and her kids Ate Mel (who came all the way from the phils.), Ate Jo and Ate Pam who are all based in Maryland. They flew in from the East Coast to here in Orange county, CA for that. We were at Knott's Scary Farm and each birthday in our extended family was an eating celebration. Before the year ended, Patrick came and that's enough to make me happy.

Looking back, the many things that made me happy weren't material but those that concern relationships. Material things served as avenues to achieve happiness..which is how things should be in the first place. I have always vented about the kind of work that I do and the people in it. They say we should count our blessings and I swear I do but counting blessings doesn't transform into being mum and numb about what's going on. I am just being honest.

I think God gave me more days to be happy last year and yes, I no longer felt that excruciating sadness. At some times I am so restless to move on. Other times, I just want to maintain the status quo...

But yes... I am happier than I was 375 days ago and I plan to achieve more peace and contentment and joy in whatever I do.

Cheers!

January 9, 2011 - January 9, 2012

It's January 2011 and I had this inkling to sneek in my three-year-old blogspot. I wandered through 2007 - what I was thinking, what were my concerns.... I smiled in recollection. I was sad by not having Tab and Don around for the first time in years at christmas but I was anxious and eager, too to try doing things on my own. Then, 2008 ushered in. I was very active in my blogspot as I talked about my feelings, my academic experiences and almost anything under the sun, so-to-speak. 2008 was a challenging year for me..... as well as 2009. There are things in 2008 though that I wished I continued to do to cope with the problems that I encountered. 2009 should have left me all alone . . .

Fast forward to January 9, 2011 11:30 p.m. in Mission Viejo, California. I squirm on my seat with the harsh 65 degree F room temperature and 47 degree F outside temp. When I was in the Philippines, with some close friends readily available and in a place that I could call "my own", I thought I've been bitten by the pangs of loneliness... I remember being lonely then snapping back to "just OK" easily...

This afternoon, I bask at the sun as it shone hoping to get some energy and some heat. As I sat there, I saw a group of people across our apartment building who were having a good time. They were teasing, laughing loudly and playing with a toss ball and how they laughed as it gravitates toward them. I said to myself: why does happiness seem to be a puzzle to me now? Why does it seem elusive? Why, in the world, have I forgotten how it is to be happy?

When I welcomed the new year with my family, I promised to work on my happiness this year. I don't want to walk through this whole year feeling this emptiness and this vacuum... I don't want to stay lonely. At the mass this afternoon, I found myself praying for my happiness that I'm sure only GOD could give me.

I hope and PRAY that when I sneak in this blogspot on January 9, 2012, I would wear a faint smile and deep sigh of thanks for breaking free from this oh so punishing sadness that I'm feeling right now.

It's been a while. . .

Haaayyyy.. it's been a while talaga. February was a whirlwind . . . a pendulum of happy and sad.

....will try to get back and tell you why. :)

(Tor)mentor ? 1

I am now deep into oral defenses in my Technical Writing classes and in my Writing in the Discipline classes. Unfortunately, I, as most of my co faculty, am handling two writing classes this semester. I dread any writing class 'cause of many reasons. First, writing class sizes at NORSU is one that is "impossible" with some 45 to 55 students per class. Second, writing is the most sophisticated language skill and as such, language theories have it that we should first do a lot of listening and reading for good writing to emerge. Naturally, our efforts to do some reading and to engage in purposive listening should be doubled when we have to write in a second language. A second language is that which is acquired when a first language is already present. "Exerting effort" is a lonely concept among our students. Need I say more? Third, the rigid conventions of writing is not compatible with nor present in our students. I don't know if this is the norm even in private schools but in ours, most students could not even write a sensible sentence to swerve me back to my sanity. More often than not, their writings zap me of my energies in trying to figure out what they mean or is trying to say but could not due to an impoverished English language vocabulary and grammar. Maka SAPOT gyud!

I have taught these subjects many times in the past. The first time I taught Writing in the discipline was in 1998. Fast forward to 2009 and it's the same needs analyses that I had almost 11 years ago - that students need to read good English models in books, journals, English magazines, at the Internet, etc. ALso, students need to hear good English models in English newscasts. Semester after semester, students at NORSU never change. Yes, there's a handful that could cope with the demands of college life but the great majority are in school not to learn but to meet and look for the future partner, to receive "balon," to participate in the different extra curricular activities in the school... in that order. Their being there is not ACADEMIC... but for other reasons.

I will substantiate my claims soon as I've put them together... I will explain my title (Tor)mentor?? in (Tor)mentor 2. I have always wanted to come up with a compilation of all my experiences (especially the funny ones) as a teacher. I would love to share that here in this blog and in my other blogs. In the meantime, I need to check (or wrong) more technical papers and prepare the questions for the defense.. So let's leave this for a while....

Hanging Amihan

It's the sound of the cool January breeze that woke me up this morning. I tied all curtains in the master's bedroom the night before to let it in, anyway. The past days, the air from the electric fan is aircon-like and I usually turn off the two electric fans at dawn.

Hanging amihan is how weatherpersons call it. Metaphorically it could also be the will of the wind, or as the song goes. A deep-set, partly cloudy sky that doesn't give out "some" sunlight completes the "gloomy" scene. This combination could result in many things - suicide, overeating, oversleeping, etc. Consequently, it could mean absenteeism (from work or school), unfinished projects, brisk business for laundry shops that dries up clothes in washers, etc.

But for whatever it's worth I'm sure most of us are also excited to wear coats, jackets, shawls, etc. that have long been kept in our Pandora's boxes. It could mean a respite from wearing sunglasses, or an opportunity to tie our hair up again. If you're the type who thinks that taking a bath is a chore, then this weather is a perfect excuse.

Frankly, I can't afford to yield to this kind of weather. I try to function as normally as I could. In fact, I'm washing a few pieces of clothes today, brave the cold with faucet water bath later, wash up my car on top of other indoor chores.

I love tropical cold weather. I just don't know the chilly winter cold in other parts of the world like America.

....will cross the bridge when I've physically gotten there.

In the meantime . . . CHILL!

WAR

As war rages between Israel and the dissident Hamas Palestine movement, a different kind of war boils within me as some "changes" took place at the start of 2009. A friend's father was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer and seeing her too devastated with the news is a sight to reckon with. Seeing her tread back and forth through the spectrum of denial to bargaining to anger, etc. only brings back the fresh pain of seeing my own father succumb to the same big C many years ago.

Then, there's another dear friend in the academe who walked in the Faculty room for the last time yesterday to pursue teacher trainorship as an NGO volunteer in Erithea, Africa after spending 9 years with us. A fellow faculty member offered prayers for him and she mentioned about His blessings to his apostolate...and invoked the Almighty's guidance for him to discern God's plan for his life..

Next, I sit in front of a sea of students who are all waiting for pointers (that point) for the Midterm exam. Funny but I no longer see relevance in what I do. Here is a group of students who are beyond help..because they dont want to help themselves.

There are encouraging news from America though... in that place where my heart is for two reasons - hubby and son. Yet America is embroiled in a recession that threatens to lurk for some years... and "good" news is also engaged in a war with the "bad"...and the mere anticipation of who will win is a war-like tug between feeling okay and being anxious.

But life is war and war is life. It's been that way since time immemmorial ... and as long as we have that breath in our mouths.

It's not surprising how war-like 2009 could be. It's been that way year in and year out.

May we wage the wars in 2009 with an arsenal of hope and faith to the goodness of a Spiritual Being.