Parasyte

I will talk about the movie Parasyte thus the spelling. The movie Parasyte is based on the manga and the animation series of the same name with little or no difference to the story. The movie is about an alien who takes over his right hand. they are like fused together with a separate mind set. The movie goes on as these two take on other aliens who takes over other bodies by taking over their minds killing them in the process.

This is a Japanese Science Fiction movie with a really good plot. Very original in terms in its characters that is why it was made into a movie. Not really my type of thing though. The movie was enjoyable in some parts but it some parts are overly hyped by putting on some Interstellar kind of background music which lead me to think that it was the climax for about 3 times in the movie. 

I would rate the Movie Parasyte a 3.5/5 stars. It was enjoyable in terms of the plot, setting and characters but it fell off a little bit by overextending too far on what kind of movie it is and how the production team tried to portray it scenes. For short, it tried to be a Hollywood movie.

Rizal

Since I forgot on which Filipino authors I have to research, I will just blog about our National Hero, Jose P. Rizal. ( I hope you can forgive me Maam Eliz. :D)

Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, Jose Rizal for short is the Philippines unofficial National Hero. We all know his story, from his childhood up to his last days when he was shot by a firing squad in Bagumbayan. So I am going to talk about his two famous novels entitled Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Rizal's Noli and El Fili are the main reasons why he was accused of being the one who started the Katipunan which led to his demise. Having lived in the time in which the Philippines is colonized by the Spaniards, Noli and El Fili contained depictions on what is really happening in the Philippines that time in which the Spaniards find really offensive since they are depicted as the bad guys. Rizal had some doubts in writing these two novels and struggled to publish these two novels mainly because of lack of money. These happenings are well documented and represented in the 1998 movie entitled Rizal.

The plot of Noli is mainly about the love story of Juan Chrisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara and the second part, El Fili is about the revenge of Ibarra to all of those who plotted against him during the events of Noli. What is beautiful about these two novels in not only because it represented what is happening in the Philippines during that time, but also because of the message it contained. These two novels portrayed that even when push to the limit, violence is not the answer. That the Philippines during that time is not ready and should not aim for a violent revolution since it will not solve anything. The pen is always mightier than the sword they say and that is what Rizal want to portray and he did achieve it when he wrote this two novels.

Rizal lived a life similarly on how Chrisostomo Ibarra lived his. They did not see the fruits of all there efforts come into blossom but they became the main foundation for a better tomorrow. It is like he wrote his autobiography when Noli came out.

PEPEPEPEPEPEPERO!

So What is a Pepero Day? Pepero Day is an event in South Korea that is very similar to Valentines Day. Pepero then came to the Philippines and approached Campuses around the Metro to promote its brand and to make it viral to us Filipinos.

Pepero Day was celebrated on APC last November 11. I have never experienced Pepero Day before so it was a new experience for me. Being an unofficial apprentice of APJMA, I was able to help in setting up and handling some game booths. I really enjoyed the whole experience since I rarely take part in a School wide event. The only thing that I did not like is that the event only lasted for a day. It should be a week long celebration for us to enjoy but that takes away the sole purpose of it being a special day for Pepero and Korea as a whole.

As I have said, it was really a joyful and unforgettable experience for me and I think the same goes to my friends and all those who participated. and I am looking forward for this years Pepero Day to come. But it is still January isn't it? I guess I'll have to find myself a partner for Valentines first. :D

2015 SoM English Term Contest

Before I celebrated Christmas, APC sent us SoM students off to our Christmas break with its term ending English competitions. These are the Public Speaking Competition, Ignite Speech Competition, and the Speech Choir Competition. I technically participated in all of these competitions but was only officially listed in two. Even though I/we did not win any of these competitions, we did bag all second places so its still a win/win/win scenario for us.

Let me talk about the Public Speaking part first. I was chosen as 1 of the 6 in our class to participate in the said contest. I did not make it past the elimination round but since this is my blog and I can pretty much say what I wanted to say in here, let me brag a little. I think, wait, since I am bragging, let me rephrase it, I KNOW that I have a shot at least in the top 3 in the final round if I have memorized my speech, but sadly due to being overly excited for the Christmas break, ( and for the fact that I took this competition for granted by making my speech only the day before the competition). I read my speech which I KNOW cost me the spot in the final round. I did regret after but what you reap is what you sow I guess. Shoutout to my adorable classmate Eno Mejico for placing second.

Next is the Ignite Speech part. This is the part which I technically participated in since I did my own Ignite speech as my finals for Public Speaking 1. Out of the many that can be considered to be our class representative for the contest, it was my homie Jelee "Bean" Llarenas who got chosen. To be honest, if I was the one who gets to decide who will represent MA151, I wont choose her since I believe it was her topic, not her presentation that got her the spot for the contest. But she proved me wrong when she got on stage for the said competition. Our professors did a good job choosing her and in my eyes, I believe, wait, I KNOW that she should have won that damn contest. Again, Congratulations to you Jelee ACE aka The Soldier's daughter!

Last is the Speech Choir Contest. This is the culmination of MA151's hardwork and dedication into becoming as one and united class. We did have our ups and downs leading to this event but I can say that it was all worth it in the end. Even though we did not win it outright, you, yes you MA151 are the real winners in my heart!

As I move to a new block next term, I want to thank all of my classmates in MA151 for giving me a wonderful first term in APC. I love you all guys!

Inter High School Public Speaking Competition

"The Best of Times or The Worst of Times, It's the only Time we've got" that is the theme for the second season of APC's Speak Sense Public Speaking competition. The contestants are composed of high school students from different schools around the Metro. As expected from the theme, the speeches delivered are quite emotional. But to be fair, even though they are still high school students, they composed and delivered speeches far better that I did in my public speaking classes.

Out of all the contestants, there is this one girl whom I forgot the name that caught my attention. Not only because I cant believe that she is still a high school student despite looking more matured than most of my classmates, (peace) but primarily because of her very touching speech. For her to experience such a traumatic past and to be able to share it infront of other people whom she mostly just first saw that day is what made her very appealing to me. I cant do that if I was in her situation, actually I wont do it because it is a very big part of me that I dont want people to know about.

In the end, that girl won so I guess credit is given to where it is due in the end. so congratz to her for taking home the bacon.

Media Literacy

There is this one Wednesday in which we have to go to a seminar entitled "Mobilizing the Millenials as Socially Responsible Prosumers". I was happy since we dont have to attend class that day but sad at the same time since I thought it was just going to be a boring seminar since the title immediately translated in my brain as "Another Boring Seminar Students are Required to Attend". I am actually glad that it the seminar did not live up to its translated meaning since it mainly focused about the media, how it is portrayed, and their own opinions about it.

The Seminar have three speakers, all of which are a part of a television segment in GMA called "The State of the Nation with Jessica Soho". They are also authors of the site SubSelfie.com. What interest me the most in the seminar is their opinions about the media and how it works. Yes, they represent the show they are working with so they did hold back on there opinions but generally speaking, their views about the media here in the Philippines really explains how the media prioritize what the public wants to see than what they need to see. That it even comes to the point that the news itself is overshadowed those make believe news just because it provides higher ratings.

To conclude this post, I just want to say that whatever the media is feeding us, put your own grain of salt unto it. In the end, it is what we believe in that matters.

Plagiarism

The internet is vast and infinite. 

My previous statement will be an act of Plagiarism if I did not site the source of that quote. (Ghost in The Shell) So what is Plagiarism? I think that most in my generation has done it before, whether it is done in good faith (indirectly or not knowing it is bad) or intentionally. This is mostly because we have the internet. Plagiarism is the copying of the works of others and making it as your own. It is a form of stealing in some way and it is also considered illegal by any means. And like what I have said earlier, most of us have done it before. But dont worry, I believe that it is mostly done in good faith, and there is nothing wrong with that. 

I would to keep this blog post short and simple since I might commit plagiarism if I try to expand it further. (HAHAHA) I think most of us right now really know what plagiarism is. We have the internet to blame and thank for that. If ever there comes a situation in which you are really tempted to plagiarize, work around it. If you have no other choice then paraphrase, quote, site, reference. Just do not take it as your own. It is the passing of knowledge and ideas that counts.