Felicia and Todd

In a filthy corner of an old chalet lay the kingdom of Hyrull. The kingdom was filled with old boxes, smelly rubber boots, bottles, magazines dated back on the sixties and other rubbish. There is an old tire resting on top pf a box, from afar it looks like an atoll. The water in it was murky and brown. Lots of decayed insects rest on the bottom of the tire. Not a sound could be heard except for the whisper of the wind that formed ripples on the surface of the water.

There were inhabitants of the kingdom, amidst the clutter, billions of microscopic creatures and big ones too! There were crawling, wiggling, and sticky creatures some with two hind legs and tails for mobility and some without any. The kingdom is free; it has no rulers, no dictators. The inhabitants follow only one law, the law of survival of the fittest. Most of the time, they live in harmony. However, they (especially the bigger creatures) all watched out for the big and hungry toadies, the cannibals of this peaceful kingdom.

There was this one special inhabitant who was different. Since she was a larva she liked the toadies. As a little orphan “kiti-kiti” she had been taken in and raised by a family of toadies. She is known as Felicia. The toadies who raised Felicia were outsiders who migrated to Hyrull from a nearby pond called Aquato.

Felicia’s best friend was a toady named Todd. Todd was definitely bigger than Felicia but has short hind legs and is tailless, and this restricts him to hopping or walking, rather than leaping like what the frogies do, the bigger relatives of the toadies.

One gloomy afternoon, the water of Acquato seemed darker than usual. Felicia decided to drop by at his friend Todd. A gang of toadies were starving and decided to have an eating frenzy before hibernating for the winter and congregating at their sanctuary. They spotted a winged insect and cornered the hapless creature for their dining pleasure. Just then, Todd hopped by and the gang yelled out to him, “Hey, buddy! Wanna join us for dinner?” It was a treat, so he accepted the invitation, but to his horror, he saw that the meal-to-be was his friend, Felicia!

He quickly called the gang of toadies, “Hey guys! Can I have the first bite?” Todd began to act as if he hasn’t eaten for a week. Initially, the others grumbled, but seeing how hungry he looked, they agreed. Todd moved closer to Felicia who was too terrified to look at the predator. He whispered to her, “It’s me, Todd. Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here.”

In the blink of an eye, Todd extended his tongue and swallowed the fly in one big gulp and hoped away from the gang of toadies as fast as he can. Upon reaching the top of Hyrull, Todd spat out Felicia who almost got stuck from the sticky tongue of Todd, “Man, your breathe stinks like sh*t!” Felicia was gasping.

“Well thank you, and that’s what I get for saving your life?” said Todd.

“Just kidding. Thank you so much friend!”

“I’ll always be here for you when you need help coz you’re worth it, but next time take care of yourself. And stay away from toadies except from me, of course!”

The two watched the sky as the warm and bright sun began to come out. “Thanks again friend,” said Felicia. “Hey, I’ll race you down Hyrull. Last one to finish is a rotten maggot!”

A Tribute to Vader

The Saga Continues

He has a peculiar looking mask. He has a low voice. He is very dangerous.
He is half-man, half-machine and does not have a face to show for a mother to love.

But his charisma is so strong that audiences get mesmerized. In some instances the heroic Luke shrinks in His presence. Star Wars has brought a huge impact to the pop culture. All over the world, Darth Vader merchandising items alone are a sure “sold out”, decades ago. Heck! I’ll do anything to get at least a photo with Darth Vader or a replica of Darth Vader – in the metallic black costume that looks as hot as hell.

It’s easy to say that his power is fascinating which also gives me a reason to like the Dark Side. The truth is, Darth Vader may be the ultimate anti-hero: a son, then prodigal son, and finally a redeemed soul.

He is every man in that sense, but never to a woman. Darth Vader, of all the larger-than-life persona of Star Wars, is the one who closely approximates a human’s dream existence. He was a gifted child, even though disadvantaged by poverty as many are. He is a skilled Jedi warrior, my dream role; and he on a young, beautiful and intelligent queen.

George Lucas worked in a story around Anakin. I’ve been curious to know the man behind that metal mask.

One begins to trace his roots, for the young Anakin before he gets Jedi training, continues to do as the Council is uncertain of his acceptance, and as he stands up and does not fall after one dire event after another occurs in whom the Force is strong.

The death of his mother from the Sand people is a tragedy. One therefore forgives him his slaughter of the Sand people, but becomes lost as he tracked the path to the Dark Side and trades his allegiance to the Jedi for the life of his pregnant wife.

As Obi Wan discovers this, his heart was shattered into pieces. “Anakin is too heroic to be given up, yet is too sinful to be redeemed easily.”

(Fast forward) Then, his own son, Luke Skywalker now a Jedi warrior comes to his rescue from the evil clutches of the Dark Side – uncertain at first, then determined later on (?).

This saga has been a father-and-son conflict and eventual reconciliation with some political issues and romantic affairs in it. When the evil Emperor tried to kill Luke, Darth Vader fought against him and brought him to his death. Unfortunately, his rescue to Luke gave him fatal injuries in the process. We see ourselves in Darth Vader and are pleased that he returns to the Jedi as a Force ghost with Obi Wan and Yoda in the final episode.

Yes, we fear the Dark and Darth; and we can win if we can face him with bravery, faith and a little amusement.

It's Just a Video Game

Violence = Entertainment.

Violent games have been taking a lot of heat recently, especially in the States and in Europe, where they have been linked to the increase in youth violence. As it was shown in Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine,” the school “shootings” at Littleton, Massachusetts, involved high school shooters who were habitual players of violent video games. Fortunately, I haven’t heard any news similar to this happening in our country.

Not so long ago, the only violence we could see was on platform games that has become pop icons such as Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, and Pac man. I can remember my first console it was a weird looking black box with a long cord attached to a controller with a joystick and a single button. I have a video game where a plumber jumps over rolling barrels, climbs up ladders at each floor of a building and rescue a princess from a brute, King Kong. Now, technology has developed and video game developers have brought entertainment to a new level. The whole experience in video games today is so amazing that everything a well as the violence involved is depicted in such graphic detail. And when I meant violence, I don’t mean Mario jumping up and down on a turtle or Pac man devouring a ghost.

Aside from the gruesome gore, there appears to be violence directed on issues such as rape, women beatings, police brutality, racism and corruption. These games are guilty of promoting such subjectivity, and to mention that in these games, the player is rewarded for his behavior- more aggressive, more points.

I am not entirely against these games, 'coz I play some of them once in awhile. It is only disturbing to know that people, mostly the youth, are crazily hooked and influenced by it. We can’t directly blame them, for the human behavior is complex. Could it be society?

In the past, Rock music had also this treatment. It was also sighted as the cause of the increase in psychological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. I guess it is not that a big issue now. Video games or music marked with “For Mature Audience Only,” can still be accessed by kids pretty easily. I’ve seen grade school boys who play Counter-Strike but don’t even know how to operate the MS Word. It is up to the parents to give more boundaries, to monitor their children’s actions – in video games, music or other stuff.

Sometimes it makes me wonder, is it really violence that the market demands? Game developers should have widened their target of buyers to include the rest of society who want non-violent games, the good-clean-fun games.

Now, will you please excuse me while I finish the battle with the Dark Side? I’m going to take the Empire down!!!

Entrada Uno

Big Blog Theory

The way I see it, “blog” have become the latest craze of today’s modern society. And aside from that, other leaps of information technology includes - IMs, YMs, e-mail and chatrooms – where young and old rev up their dusty PCs for a round of no holds barred chat-a-thon, which usually lasts about three hours or even more! It makes me wonder why do people get so hooked up on these things?

But this blog, it is a term I have only recently come across- perhaps I have been ignoring it just the same as I did when the Friendster had its burgeoning popularity. For those who don’t know, it refers to personal and on-line “diaries” that people with access to the Web can maintain to keep in touch with their friends or to keep friends side by side of their lives, also as to broadcast one’s presence in the universe. And these are the reasons why people (most of them) are fascinated with blogs? It should be, after all humans are social beings. And this technology has given us an advantage in communication and information. It's amazing where they get the time to do these things. Rambling then pouring themeselves out ; narrating the minute after minute, the second by second event in their lives or so it seems, and eventually unfolding a mystery. It's nice to talk, open up and share experiences, that's why I'm here too, also it's because of a friend who insisted me to make an account.

What do we write on our blog? And are there any limitations? I have a grade school Little Bedan adviser, to thank for the familiar advice that has served me well all these years in both my personal life and in my life as a student. It goes something like this (music please maestro), “Never write down what you don’t want to read in the broadsheet (music fades out).”

What she’s trying to say is we should observe discretion when putting anything down in writing, as it is a letter to a love one, or a slyly spiteful remark about your classmate or teacher to be passed around the class, bearing the obvious mark of your penmanship.

I think this sort of rule should also be followed when using e-mail, chat, web sites and blog. And are they not supposed to be read only by the person to whom we sent them? Not necessarily. Anything written can be read by anyone, and often, the more secretive and sensitive the contents, the greater are the chances that they might be read by the wrong people (believe me). Love letters and diary entries (the written ones) can be read by your own parents or the parents and friends of the person whom you sent. Notes, written just for fun and as a joke can be read by strangers and may result in hurt feelings, or even worst law suits. If the personal written letters can be exposed to the public, think about it, what if it happens to our e-mail, web site, and blog? What should we do? I think we should take care and take steps to protect ourselves. Also, not all our thoughts, experiences and fantasies are deserving of venting.

If you think you would be embarrassed by something, then don’t put it in writing. It is better to have a face-to-face, man-to-man conversation or better, preserve it in the deep abyss of your mind, or your memory.