An Open Letter to a Hero named Heidi Mendoza

Dear Heidi,

The educated few brew theories on the stale state of good governance of our unfortunate republic within the insulated walls of their cliques.

The uneducated many take this sorry state of the state as it is…a way of life…the Filipino culture.

Who is wiser?

You, Heidi Mendoza.

You told the unremitting truth when most of us hid them under sighs of prayer of an almost non-committal hope.


Your brother in the profession,

Bryan Stars, CPA

On Pinoy Movies

it has dawned to me a long time ago that philippine cinema is a myth while philippine showbiz is upscale 'perya'.



i don't think edith hamilton mentioned star cinema in her book and i don't dwell on legends beyond greek and nordic.

I Love Ricky Gervais

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On the issue: why can't other universities have standards like Ateneo?

my reply on the discussion:
["quality education entails not just preparing graduates to become rank and file employees but preparing graduates to become managers (bakit sa ateneo yung linkages ng schools nila magaganda? trained ka dun na maging boss..."]

different universities have different missions. ateneo (de manila) molds their students to be future leaders and become nation builders. my beloved saint louis university's mission is to transform students into high quality "competent and socially involved" human resource. evidently SLU has reached that standard. and that's SLU for us...

[my UP education is another story altogether]

but i can't say the same for other schools... it is unfortunate that most higher educational institutions are only after the $$$!

On the issue: Charice being called a Filipino on Glee has a demeaning subtext

The 'subtext' that I observed was a commentary, if not a critique on Americans' lack of understanding (if not, apathy) to cultures outside their own.

When the writers penned Rachael's line "...you are... from the Philippines where its sunny everyday..." plus the increased volume of Rachael's voice when she attempted to explain what a glee club is to her Asian-y looking schoolmate the writers were trying to stereotype Americans' condescending treatment of foreigners specially non-Caucasians.

This time I believe the writers are "on our side".

STRINGS

as my grad school days draw to an end i might need to find my way back in the industry. a few weeks back my dad came in my dream and he asked me to learn how to play the violin. i am half hoping he doesn't mean i should go to law school.

on the dilemma: WHERE YOU SHOULD BE and WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

you should always be where you will be at peace with yourself and that's only possible when you are where you want to be. i know people who are rich beyond my telling and have achieved monumental things... regretfully though their present circumstance is NOT exactly what they want. the fleeting sense of achievement and the more fleeting fun of showing off their brand new LV are their intermittent reminders that they chose to be unhappy.

it's like a grant to take the last trip of your life. as a mickey fan you've always wanted to go to disneyland 'cause you grew up watching mickey and goofy but you went to las vegas for poker games 'cause that's what you expect yourself to do or what people expect you to do. surely, vegas' bright lights are rockin' fun...but only until the neons are on.