Phantom of the Opera

“If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your love redeems me.”

― Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is originally a novel by a French writer named Gaston Leroux. The story is about an Opera singer Christine triumphs at the gala on the night of the old managers' retirement. Her old childhood friend, Raoul, hears her sing and recalls his love for Christine. At this time, there are rumors of a phantom living at the Opera and he makes himself known to the managers through letters and malevolent acts. Some time after the gala, the Paris Opera performs Faust, with the prima donna Carlotta playing the lead, against the Phantom's wishes. During the performance, Carlotta loses her voice and the grand chandelier plummets into the audience.

Christine is kidnapped by the phantom and is taken to his home in the cellars of the Opera where he reveals his true identity to her simply as Erik, though not his real name. He plans to keep her there for a few days, hoping she will come to love him. But she causes Erik to change his plans when she unmasks him and, to the horror of both, beholds his noseless, lipless, sunken-eyed face which resembles a skull dried up by the centuries, covered in yellowed dead flesh. Fearing that she will leave him, he decides to keep her with him forever, but when Christine requests release after two weeks, he agrees on condition that she wear his ring and be faithful to him.

               I highly recommend for people to watch this movie because I am not sure if there are still people acting this novel. It is indeed romantic in its own way and I can say that the movie really got into me. Especially whenever Christine sings magnificently, I keep on having goosebumps.

Public speaking competition

"Not to speak one's thought is slavery."

- Euripides

               Speak Sense Season 2: A Public Speaking Competition was held last November 27, 2015 at the APC Auditorium. Students from different schools came representing their respective school competed for their school’s glory. The theme of the event is “Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.” The competition was tight and every school did their best to perform their hearts out. I can see that they really practiced it long enough to master it. On the performance proper, it is now up to them how they can serve their prepared piece for us.

               The winner of the competition was a girl who told us about her broken family and how she managed to escape the suicide urges. I really can’t relate on depressed people but after she delivered her piece, I was struck by strong emotions and felt sad. I finally understood how they feel which is scary for some people especially me because I can’t imagine myself being a depressed person. The delivery of her piece was very good and I she deserves to win.

               Kudos to performers who entertained us with such beautiful pieces!

Media literacy

What is media literacy and how is it essential in a person's life?

     According to medialiteracyproject.org, "Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex messages we receive from television, radio, Internet, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, video games, music, and all other forms of media." It helps us to be aware of our modern technologies. I was struck by what Ms. Lian Buan said during her talk saying, “There are no bad stories, only bad story tellers.” It is true in so many ways because all stories are actually good, it just depends on how it is told.

     There are many advantages and disadvantages of modern technology and one of the advantages is being able to pick up knowledge in an instant. The opposite side of it is that, not all knowledge you get from the internet is all proven to be true. Some “facts” are not really facts at all. Another advantage is you can express your freedom of speech in social medias to let people know what’s on your mind, what’s your opinion about a certain incident, event, or any topic. On the other hand, the disadvantage of it is that you can disrespect, dishonour or even bully other people through the internet by saying profane words, harsh word, and other negative words.

     This seminar taught me the do’s and don’ts when using any type of media that can be seen by the public. It help me realize that we all my think before we click or pause before we post. I highly recommend this seminar to be recognized by other schools as well so they may be taught proper media literacy.

National Election

Vote wisely because every vote counts!

The elections in the Philippines have several types. The president, vice-president, and the senators are elected for a six-year term, while the members of the House of Representatives, governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board members), mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod/members of the Sangguniang Bayan (city/municipal councilors), barangay officials, and the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan (youth councilors) are elected to serve for a three-year term.

Many of us know that choosing a leader is very important because not only that he will represent our nation but also lead our country to become better. We should not be blinded by their political advertisements, infeasible projects, and plastic attitudes. Instead, we should open our eyes and realize what they have done in our country (if old time candidate) and be aware of their works (if first time candidate).

In our Halalan 2016, I am in between of voting Duterte or Miriam because I am still scrutinizing their capabilities. On the other hand, we should not be dependent on our leader too much because change starts with the people. We should also not blame them for everything. I am certain to say that the reason for unemployment for us Filipinos is that we are lazy to find a job. We always wait for the government to give us jobs instead of initiating to find one.

Live. Die. Repeat.

“I wouldn’t change a thing because all my past experiences, good and bad, made me who I am today.”

Edge of tomorrow is a 2014 American science fiction film starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Doug Liman directed the film based on a screenplay adapted from the 2004 Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The film takes place in a future where Earth is invaded by an alien race. The epic action of "Edge of Tomorrow" unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. 

I enjoyed it a lot. It’s my kind of movie: sci-fi alien-blasting action with a smart plot that delivers satisfyingly on an intriguing premise. First, and most obviously, the storyline assumes that time travel is possible.

This movie made me re-think what my purpose in life is.

Ricardo M. de Ungria

Filipino poet, Ricardo M. de Ungria earned his A.B. Literature from the De La Salle University, and later obtained an M.F.A. in the Creative Arts from the Washington University in Missouri, U.S.A in 1990. He is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC) and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas (UMPIL). He is an associate professor of the U.P. Institute of Creative Writing; the incumbent Chancellor of the U.P. Mindanao; and the Head of the Committee on Literary Arts under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

His works are:

· R+A+D+I+O (1986)

·   Decimal Places (1991)

·   Passionate Patience: Ten Filipino Poets on the Writing of Their Poems (1995)

· Catfish Surviving in Little Schools (1996)

·    The Likhaan Anthology of Poetry and Fiction (1996)

·    Pidgin Levitations (2004)

·    m'mry wire (2014)

He was also awarded:

·    Academy of American Poets Prize

·    Saint Louis Poetry Annual Contest

·    Florida State University's State Street Poetry Contest

·    Manila Critics' Circle

·    Palanca Awards

·    CCP Verse-Writing Contest

·    Philippine Free Press Awards

Plagiarism

"You shall not steal"

- Ten Commandments

Plagiarism is an act of stealing someone's work without giving them any credit. This is a serious act because someone's idea, work, or anything created using his mind is considered as an intellectual property. We all know that stealing any properties are against the law including intellectual property. According to the U.S. law, "The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file)."

There are many ways to prevent plagiarism. The first way is to properly cite where you got the idea or work from. First is Modern Language Association (MLA) style which is a brief parenthetical citations in the text and An alphabetical list of works cited that corresponds to the in-text citations and appears at the end of the research paper. It is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. 

 

For example,

 "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009

(from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/)

Another example is APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. You should even be careful in selecting certain words or terms to increase clarity, avoid bias, and control how your readers will receive your information. Writing papers in APA Style is unlike writing in more creative or literary styles that draw on poetic expressions and figurative language.

For example,

Van Roon, A., Mulder, L., Althaus, M., and Mulder, G. (2004). Introducing
a baroflex model for studying cardiovascular effects of mental workload. Psychophysiology, 41, 961–981.

(from https://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/styles/)

Cheers and Chants

Cheers and Chants is one of the most memorable moments in my life because we literally cheered and chanted as one. It really gave me chills whenever I hear myself and the other members cheer our hearts out. We had our laughs, our misunderstanding, petty fights, tired bodies, tired voices, but it was all worth it. We practiced for how many days, hours, minutes, seconds for a short presentation but it was really worth it. For me, the worst problem we had was brainstorming. We had numerous ideas in mind but it is hard to put all great ideas in one piece. It was also quite hard to balance our academics and at the same time practice to put on a good show.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed every single second I spent with my blockmates. We also won the 1st runner up trophy :)

Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo, Ang Tatay Kong Kalbo!

Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo, Ang Tatay Kong Kalbo is not only somewhat a ridiculous movie because it shows nonsense and silly actions but it also gives happiness to the viewers watching this film. At first, I did not like the film because I am not a fond of Filipino films. But then, as I watched the movie, it was kind of entertaining.

This film is all about the characters' daily lives. For me, it is a funny movie because it portrays our day-to-day lives wherein we can relate almost at anything of what they do. Their actions are very natural except for the part when they act funny. It is somehow a farce-like film because their funny actions are exaggerated.

It is entitled Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo, Ang Tatay Kong Kalbo because the main characters are absent-minded. They are a couple that doesn't even know that they are married.

Turn Left, Turn Right

Turn Left, Turn Right is a movie about soulmates who are destined for each other from the beginning. It's not a typical romantic comedy movie because the twist here is that there are numerous times that they are a few steps away from each other. For me, the movie is entitled Turn Left, Turn right because they are able to meet by literally just turning left or right. The ending was very overwhelming when they saw each other. It is a great movie especially for the hopeless romantic people.

The moral of this movie is that you need to be patient if you want the right love to come. It may take years and years but it will be surely worth it. If you are not patient enough, you might end up with the wrong person on the right time. On the other hand, if you are willing to wait twice than your willingness to wait, chances are you might end with the right person on the right time. How will you know if the person you are currently with is the right person? You won't. You'll just feel it.

"Life is full of surprises. Even two parallel lines may one day meet."

Heneral Luna

      To be honest, when I first heard about this movie I was not really interested in it. Why? Because who would pay almost 200php to watch a boring historical movie? But as soon as I watched the trailer, my heart was beating so fast with excitement especially when I saw it was 50% off for students. This movie made me think twice about my purpose for my country. What can I contribute in my community?

        Heneral Luna is a story about the experiences of one of our heroes Antonio Luna. It has become one of my favorite movies after watching it. The main point of this movie is that we should realize what is more important, business or freedom? country or ourselves? In the movie, it shows that the real enemy was not the Americans, but it was our fellow Filipinos. We are our own enemies for we ourselves killed one another, and challenged one another because of our pride. I think that was the ultimate mistake the Filipinos did and the reason why they lost the war. They were conquered because there was no unity among the Filipinos.

        I highly recommend for people especially the youth to watch this film because it is not only funny, modern, and brutal, it is also a film that can open our eyes of what happened to our country. This film trended nationwide in social media. For me, if this movie trended and triggered our patriotism, we should produce more because it is quite saddening to think that most Filipinos are ignorant about our country. For example, the posts on social medias questioning why Apolinario Mabini was sitting the entire movie was just really stupid.

To know more about the characters in Heneral Luna you can visit my other blog by clicking HERE.

Experiences in life

      What is surfing? According to Wikipedia it is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as the surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer towards the shore. Well for me surfing is simply dancing with the ocean's wave.
     
       The happiest time of my life is when I'm surfing. The water rushing my feet, the wind blowing my hair, the sun shining on me feels so great. For me it is an escape in reality which everyone needs. The excitement of surfing relieves my stress and makes me forget all my problems. Surfing is one of the most fun activities that I ever did in my life. I may have slipped on my board and fell, drank or even inhaled some water, but I still love to surf. 

         I usually go surfing with my sister and her friends in Zambales. Until now I am still active in surfing. It is not quite difficult once you get the hang of it. At first, I really felt scared and nervous because I do not even know how to balance a board. The though of slipping on my board and drowning makes me cringe and want to back out; nevertheless, the adrenaline felt great when I was surfing. All the nervousness and cowardice was drowned by the water. It was one of the best feeling I had.

         To sum it all up, I highly recommend you to try surfing. Yes, it is scary, difficult, and dangerous, yet it is all worth the fun. You just have to enjoy and really try to learn how it works. Trust me, you will always want to go more after you try it.

        

The beauty of food

"Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." 

- Mark Twain

         Food is basically the thing that sustains our life. It is very important because without it, we will not have the strength or energy to function. I am pretty sure that each and everyone of us has our own favorite food, what's yours?

         Based on my understanding, the quote said by Mark Twain means that in order for us to be successful in life, we have to eat what we like. It is important to eat what we like because we will feel good inside and it makes us feel more successful. Eating food is a good thing especially when it is tasty. It can also inspire us sometimes when we eat quality food. 

About Me.

Waddup waddup!! 


I'm Mark Vincent P. Aquino, 21 years old. I love travelling,eating and dogs, well I'm just a average guy! They may know me as "Mac" that's my nickname, son of Mr and Mrs. Aquino. Having a good family and friends around, makes me comfortable always. 


Unfortunately I have so many question about myself, who I'm really is. Mark is derived form Latin "Marcus": Mars (Roman god of war) Well definitely I don't like war only love, because it gives us joy and happiness to all.