RECOMMENDED: “Bless the Beasts and Children.”

MOVIE. “Bless the Beasts and Children.” A 1971 film adaptation by Stanley Kramer of the novel of the same name written by Glendon Swarthout. I first saw this movie when I was 12 or 13, and immediately inspired or motivated me to form a sort of “secret brotherhood” of high school buddies modeled after the “misfits” in the movie. 

       The central characters in “Bless the Beasts and Children” are six adolescent boys, whose preoccupied parents send them off to the Arizona Box Canyon Boys Camp for the summer. I didn’t read the book. I was simply into what the movie as it was. 

       Those years, when I felt like I was “abnormal” or a freak doing other things. Boys my age would normally savor the easy frolic of childhood abandon. I’d read and read and read, encyclopedias and books of knowledge, magazines and newspapers, experiment on a few scientific theses, zoological shenanigans (!) and quiz my grandpa about the mysteries of existence. 

       The movie was about a bunch of "discards" who are all, to varying degrees, emotionally or psychologically disturbed. Nicknamed "Bedwetters," the boys are constantly demeaned and ridiculed. So they had to bond together to seek their own peace. 

       A highlight of the film was the American buffalo. Almost predictably, the “Bedwetters” set out to free a large herd of the bison after they witnessed their perverted macho camp counselor shot the animals in a rowdy western lottery. The boys' pilgrimage to free the buffalo is also an allegorical search for their own freedom.

       A companion movie that you may want to watch with your youngsters, if they can sit through almost two hours of a feature movie without the iPhone, is 1986’s “Stand by Me.” 🎬🎭🎬

Compilation of short MORNING THOUGHTS.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Before today’s election, Billie Eilish “…issued urgent message ahead of midterms.” Trudat, pop stars are influencers. But it is flawed to bite their “views” for credibility, of course. Billie is pretty much your 20-year old daughter with messages as well, could be more sensible. Uh huh. I mean, Madonna or Whoopi or the lady comedian got thoughts as well. Cool! Yet I’d rather enjoy “True Blue” again than listen to whatever Madonna Louise Ciccone blahblahs about politics. 🤨🗣👥

News: “Comedian suspended from Twitter after mocking Musk.” Shaming, mocking, insulting. The New Cool? I am old. I commenced my journalism and activism at a dangerous time. Dictatorship years. For sure, I wrote/said what I had to and most of those are burning trajectories versus the regime. We worked around law/rules of objectivity, reprimanded colleagues who didn’t observe common civility—even as we lambasted the status quo. These days? Tell me. 🗣👥🤨

Racism? There’s also discrimination. Prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things on the grounds of race, age, or sex. Or whatever that’d up their “I’m better” quotient. Among Filipinos: Those who were born/raised in the U.S. or who are here longest annoyingly discriminate against “native” kababayans and newbies. They treat you like you are super clueless; correct you even in re history of the Philippines because they learned their stuff at U.C. Berkeley. 🤨🇵🇭🤪

President Biden weighs in on Twitter drama: “How do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake?” The issue is Social Media per se. Yet spectacular din ensued when Elon Musk bought the microblogging company. Fact is, before the takeover, Twitter has always been a tool for love vibe and hate pitch. Then Hate got louder. Promoted, pushed, politicized. Same with FB, TikTok etc etcetera. Reread Alvin Toffler’s “Future Shock” c. 1970. But I digress. 🗣👥🫂

After Phillies lost Game 4, two pairs of women fans got so upset that they had to let heat out by fighting in the bathroom. Slapping, hair pulling, wrestling on the floor. Cops weren’t called. No one was hurt as “hurt.” I remember my youth when, after a game, dudes took the ire out in the parking lot. Done. “Better” than unfriending a friend that you knew since grade school just because he/she voted this guy. Why not exhale the disagreement out in the parking lot? Or bathroom? 🤨🥊🤼‍♀️

Speak your mind vs. another faith, you are thrown into the fires of hell. Yet you are “cool” if you malign Christianity. The past is dug up to unearth Christians to shame. However, the insults are selective. For example, known devout Catholics/Christians J.R.R. Tolkien, Victor Hugo, Graham Greene, or Virginia Woolf are fine. Yet others, regardless of religion/irreligion yet sure candidates for “cancellation,” are spared. Such as Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso.✝️☮️✝️

News says Arizona GOP Kari Lake mocks Paul Pelosi as he remains in ICU. Etc. Rival politicians on murkthrow is not new. Worse, when their minions slug it out. Few years ago, zealots wished that their “most-hated” man dies of Covid when he got infected. Current journalism is obsessed with flash over info so we get more Left/Right catfight than what News gave us then. And when “news” gets to social media, boom! Insults, shaming, and all kinds of rudeness rule. Sad. 🗣👥🫂

Old Talk: Relationships and Marriage. And Stuff.

Previously posted on my Facebook page. Or written years ago, unedited/not updated.

RELATIONSHIPS and marriage aren't easy. Of course, there are these sweet little daydreams like, “I found my soulmate!” “It feels like I've known him/her all my life,” “I finally found someone who knows the meaning of love,” or “He/she is my life's journey and destination!” All the honeymoon romances, courtship tenderness and dating confections... Truth is, all these simmer down or subside a bit as life turns more real than ideal, and love rails in rollercoaster rides than rolls in a hay of steamy clinches. So it's time for compromises and negotiations.

       Are we still going to hang out with the boys in the band for a $50 beer-money on a weekly gig, write manifestoes and grants for activist equals pro bono, smoke awesome herbs and rant about politics that didn't go our way for half a day, live in a house that doesn't exude co-existence anymore but a bohemian's lair, sustain madnesses that feed the “soul” than take on jobs that pay bills just because he/she supports and trusts? Etc etcetera. 

       Are we still going to be the way we were when freedom flew like an adventuring albatross as a single individual with just morning coffee, evening wine and Herbie Hancock on turntable and on-time allegiance to “House of Cards” to worry about? Are we going to insist, “This is me! You have to accept the way I am!” or “You have to be friendly with all my friends because they are my friends!” or “I don't eat hummus and kale, I don't want those in my house” or “Don't mess with the living room, I want that Chinese imitation Picasso on that wall!” No, we can't. 

WE are two sets of truths mired in a singular vessel that floats in a turbulent sea of compromises and negotiations. Trust isn't just a word that is part of a serenade's lyricism anymore. Trust is now physically proven not pronounced. Respect isn't an awesome Aretha Franklin howl anymore. It is as simple as we are not man and woman in an enlightenment seminar or gender facts in a survey board anymore. We are simply human beings under one roof. Acceptance isn't about political correctness or cultural understanding anymore. It is now about roses in a swamp or fish on land. Deal with it and work things out. 

       More than anything else, love isn't about a Schubert sonata or a warm love poem anymore. I don't have a word for it but when I see friends and family who stick together through proverbial thick and think, storms and sunshines for many years and still managed to build and sustain stuff and things to leave their children and grandchildren, and the world at large—which is their love story and life's journey—then I know, it is possible. Very possible. But hard, very hard. 

       I will be 55 years old this month... And in a long road trip to somewhere, when somewhere is always within me. Always inside of me. If I won't be able to find myself on the road, how am I supposed to co-exist with someone in a beautiful universe such as a home? If I can't accomplish that, then I will always be consigned on the road. Flying, running, searching until the sky caves in on me. 💖👫💔

About Dogs and Cats and their Buddies. And some little jokes.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

THE high-pitched squeak of a stuffed toy wakes a dog's dormant prey drive and compels him to shake, chomp, and dismantle. In the wild, the shaking serves as a way to disorient and immobilize prey. For Arrow, she’s just yielding to her surgeon self. She loves to perform surgery to a stuffed toy. Her hobby. She dismantles her toys not just because there’s a squeaky thingy in there. It’s because it’s her patient. 🐕🧸🐕

WHY do cats hide stuff? This could be a tactic for attention, play, and/or food, or sometimes your feline companion is simply following its animal instincts. In most cases, this is not a very problematic issue for pet owners; however, it is advisable to cat-proof your house if your cat has a habit of hoarding household items. Fizz has a habit of hiding her spring toys and forces me to find them and threatens to hide the TV remote if I don’t heed, pronto. 🐱😼🐱

CATS appear to enjoy engaging in a variety of mischievous behaviors, but this could be merely an attempt to attract attention rather than showing off their humorous side. And so, as far as science goes, it seems that cats are incapable of laughter and you can be comforted to know that your cat isn’t laughing at you. Though, if they did ever acquire the ability to do so, we suspect they would. Better be, your cat enjoys amusing themselves. So there you go, from the experts, who are also cats. 😺😸😹

A MIND-BLOWING 170,000 different drink combinations. How is this possible? Just for latte combos: Pumpkin Spice Latte; Caffé Latte with Oatmilk; Cinnamon Dolce Latte; Butterbeer Frappuccino; Vanilla Crème Frappuccino; Cookie Butter Chai; Cinnamon Toast Drink; Cookies and Cream Frappuccino etc etcetera. You can make yours, whatever you desire. Coffee with Vodka: Caffelichnaya; Coffee with Fanta: Lattefantaztick; Coffee with Oreos: Frapporeo Coffee; Coffee with Lettuce: Caffelettucea. ☕😋☕

SCIENTISTS report that a dog's sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than a human's. Hmmmm. One of the reasons a dog has a much better smelling ability than we do has to do with the number of scent receptors: For every scent receptor a human has, a dog has about 50. Reason why Arrow smells or sniff-sniff everything when we walk or when she is outside. Then whatever she smells as suspicious or strange, she’ll report those to Fizz who then enters them in a databank for further analysis. 🐕👃🐕

MANY factors play into dog intelligence—such as sociability and problem-solving skills—and as a result different breeds have different capabilities. But as a general guide, the average dog has the mental abilities of a 2-year-old child, according to Live Science. But in case the dog lives with a cat, whose average IQ is 228, expect the dog to be smarter than the owner. A lot smarter, though most dogs (and cats) fake it. 🐕🥸🐕

LAZINESS, the quality of being unwilling to work or use energy; idleness. A “correct” rationale for laziness or not going to work (there’s unemployment benefit): “I have long covid since 2007.” Or “I am so depressed after I watched Zelensky weeping on TV.” No apologies for my wicked pragmatism or cruel sarcasm. 😔🥱😴

WHY do dogs chase squirrels? While some dogs may just want to play with a squirrel, there are others who see a critter as their prey, and their predatory drive kicks in. Dogs who are predatory chasers are attempting to catch their prey — and eat or extinguish it. It could be that dogs simply want to be friendly and chat with the critters. Arrow does that. She barks and seems “aggressive.” But she’s not going to bite. She simply wants to say “Hi! There!” and ask, “Are we Facebook friends?” 🐕🐇🐩

WHY are cats obsessed with fridge? It is likely that your cat has been very observant and recognizes that the refrigerator is the source of food. Their sense of smell is much stronger than that of a human. It may be that your cat smells something tasty when the door is open. And so the cat informs the dog. 🐈🛍🐕

SOME experts believe excessive use of the Internet, cellphones and other technologies can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic. Those experts are cats and dogs. 😕💻😡

About Dogs and Cats and their Buddies. And some little jokes.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page. 

DOGS dream. Scientific research demonstrates comparable brain wave patterns in humans and dogs which validates this assumption. The conclusion is that dreams are part of the normal sleep cycle, and dogs do indeed have them! Arrow, in fact, talks in her dreams. A lot. Fizz takes note, analyzes them and texts those interesting findings to Arrow afterwards. 🐕🐕‍🦺😴

THERAPIST, a person who treats mental conditions by verbal communication and interaction; a psychotherapist. In these cellphone/texting times, we should double/triple-check what we text before the auto(in)correct (in)corrects us. For example, when you respond to a text question, “Where are you going?” Elaborate and (re)check. Don’t just type “...to therapist.” It may be sent as “...to the rapist.” It happens. 📱🥹📲

DO dogs like baths? Like most answers to grooming questions, it depends on the dog. Some dogs get anxiety when it's bath time, and others are just as happy to jump in a bath of water as they are in a pond or pool. But you should know. You don’t need to visit a dog behaviorist for that query and spend $150. Save the money for another fancy toy for your dog, okay? 🦮🛁🐕‍🦺

ONE thing common to all drama queen dogs (and hoomans) is that they want you to buy into their drama. So if you start yelling or panicking or getting all worked up when your dog is overreacting, then you will just be fanning the flames. So you two might as well make a Netflix series drama series. Why don’t you stay calm, no matter what. So the cat won’t ridicule you again on Facebook for all the silly drama that you and your dog do, 24/7. You dig? 🐕🥵🐩

WHY is a bank teller called “teller.” The term “teller” is from the Olde English, meaning “to count.” Okay, that makes sense. The person behind the counter “counts” the money that is being exchanged. While customers still call them “tellers,” most financial institutions have moved away from using the term. Fizz The Wiz told me bank tellers are also tellers of tales on Facebook when they are on a coffee break. I guess. 👩‍💻🧑‍💻🧑‍💼

DOGS read more into our tone and body language than our actual words. They focus on us and observe our physical clues to determine what we want them to do or not do. They watch our facial expressions, posture, and body movements. They listen to the tone of our voice. Reason why, lately, there’s been a 75.9 percent spike in depression among dogs. But not with cats. 🐕🥴🐕‍🦺

CATS are typically very stoic animals, so if your cat suddenly seems to be in distress–howling, crying, tossing the TV remote around–it is a cause for concern. Ching and Fizz aren’t whiner cats though. When Ching wants a backrub, she just cooly walks to the mat, no word, and we take heed. When Fizz wants to play with her spring toy, she calls us out for 3 seconds. Then she quiets down. When both ask how to find a new bird video/show on Netflix or YouTube TV, they send me a text or IM. 😸😼🙀

INTERROGATION, the action of interrogating or the process of being interrogated. In the very near future, police interrogation will be done by an AI that is programmed by a cat. Imagine that! 🗣👤🤖

DOGS read our body language and listen to our tone as we speak to them, which helps them decipher what we are telling them. This indicates that they also use both sides of their brain to understand human words. So yes, dogs are capable of knowing their name and nicknames. Cats though are a lot smarter. They know our names, nicknames, passport names, bitch names, TikTok names, 17 Facebook names, and passwords. 🗣🐕🐈

HIGH MAINTENANCE, of a person or relationship, or dog and cat, demanding a lot of attention and financial/luxury needs. Arrow: “I need 7 more minutes of sniff-sniff time every 30 minute interval on a day’s time. That’d be apart from morning bathroom and afternoon walk and evening bathroom. Ching: “My backrubs should be at 10:30 PM, to the dot. Not a minute late! And I want a larger TV screen for my bird video watch.” Fizz: “Don’t argue, that’s what our AI told us! Just do it!” 🐈👑🐕

Politics. Life. And Stuff.

Previously posted on my Facebook page.

I REMEMBER an 18-year old daughter of a friend in Long Beach CA who went to Haiti for “fun and adventure” to help earthquake victims and came home totally a new human being. Now she questions dishwashers and washer-dryers (“Can we do these with our bare hands?”) cars and SUVs (“Walking is exercise”), cellphones (“There were 5 public phones in an entire village of 1500) video games (“We played soccer in the mud! Awesome!”) and television (“TV was like a moviehouse, scheduled for 35 villagers to watch one movie each week”) etc etcetera.    

       Come to think of it, that's how I grew up. I may have gone old still a crazy dude, but I am proud to say that all my kids—although they use the internet and got cellphones—are still relatively old-school. Still, there are issues to deal other than a wireless abode, right? I'd rather worry about those... 

       When a child responds to, “Hey, did you check your Facebook today?” with, “I will for few minutes, I just need to finish this watercolor painting and I need to sleep early today for the volleyball game tomorrow,” then there is hope. No need to hire an “internet safety” tutor. Believe me, they know what “safe” is if their minds are working as natural reflex than brains that is so quick at electronic response. 🗽🏦🗽

IF we dig deeper and try to get off the Hitler horror cloud a bit and figure out how come the dude was able to convince minions to gather on his beck and call, we can see a parallel in current times. People are disgruntled and frustrated mainly by virtue of the One Percent's (eg Corporate World) machinations in complicity with governments. That is the kind of sociopolitical environment that a quintessential demagogue thrives. A demagogue is a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument. That is why elections are about winning and the best (or worst?) demagogues win. Many times strategists play around a certain effective rah-rah slogan that goes with charismatic leaders—and that spell victory. 

       In the US, I believe that the ruckus that ensued between camps of polar extremes (Trump against Sanders mainly) reflect a painful truth. Americans are pissed. As per a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, voter discontent has reached a fever pitch: 72 percent say their elected officials can’t be trusted, and two-thirds believe the nation’s political system is dysfunctional. Some 21 percent of people want the eventual president-elect to employ drastic makeover of government structures and start over from scratch. Such utter disillusionment mutates into two polar extremes that howl, “We need complete redress of the system!” which makes Republican frontrunner Mr Trump's “Bring back America to Americans!” battlecry and Democrat Bernie Sanders' “Power to the people!” chant seem very alluring and palpable—at least to the heart that bleeds. 🗽🏦🗽

       

MANY compare Donald Trump with The Fuhrer. True, The Donald's politics could be a bit blurry, uncontrollably assymmetrical mostly. He claims to run on a platform of populism, nativism, protectionism and authoritarianism—with strong opposition to immigration, free trade and military interventionism. Meantime, many detractors find his fiery espousals as white supremacist/racist and misogynistic—sending shivers of a Hitlerian blueprint. 

       But then, remember, the Adolf fella gained popular support in 1924 by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory. He denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France. The kicker was his first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression. Hence, he lured back ethnic Germans to return to nativeland. Germany back to the Germans. And then he got really fucked up. Rest of horrible history.

       Trump's glib albeit straight-through rhetoric infers that the ills of current America is ushered by an immigrant community in connivance with giant corporations. And when we talk about the American who lost a factory job to overseas outsourcing and then sees Chinese products flooding retail shelves then comes home to an injured soldier kin languishing in alcohol, what do we see? Then Trump promises, “I will give your life back.”

       I refuse to sweepingly judge those who gravitate to Trump as idiots or morons. These are disenfranchised citizenry relegated to the background of a largely elitist, politically-correct and educated social enclave. Their woes and hopes accentuate “popular desires and prejudices rather than rational arguments.” Bottomline, the people want change. And Trump minces no words in saying, yes he can. Do I like him? No. I am just pointing some factors why he seems so popular. 

       We have to take note as well—elections aren't really about who is the most deserving, or right, or just candidate—it is all about winning, no matter what. It's all about numbers. Hence, the most popular ones, with the most formidable One Percent backer, win. How do the people conter that? Advocate to non-believers instead of pushing them away. 🗽🏦🗽

About Dogs and Cats and their Buddies. And some little jokes.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page. 

DOGS dream. Scientific research demonstrates comparable brain wave patterns in humans and dogs which validates this assumption. The conclusion is that dreams are part of the normal sleep cycle, and dogs do indeed have them! Arrow, in fact, talks in her dreams. A lot. Fizz takes note, analyzes them and texts those interesting findings to Arrow afterwards. 🐕🐕‍🦺😴

THERAPIST, a person who treats mental conditions by verbal communication and interaction; a psychotherapist. In these cellphone/texting times, we should double/triple-check what we text before the auto(in)correct (in)corrects us. For example, when you respond to a text question, “Where are you going?” Elaborate and (re)check. Don’t just type “...to therapist.” It may be sent as “...to the rapist.” It happens. 📱🥹📲

DO dogs like baths? Like most answers to grooming questions, it depends on the dog. Some dogs get anxiety when it's bath time, and others are just as happy to jump in a bath of water as they are in a pond or pool. But you should know. You don’t need to visit a dog behaviorist for that query and spend $150. Save the money for another fancy toy for your dog, okay? 🦮🛁🐕‍🦺

ONE thing common to all drama queen dogs (and hoomans) is that they want you to buy into their drama. So if you start yelling or panicking or getting all worked up when your dog is overreacting, then you will just be fanning the flames. So you two might as well make a Netflix series drama series. Why don’t you stay calm, no matter what. So the cat won’t ridicule you again on Facebook for all the silly drama that you and your dog do, 24/7. You dig? 🐕🥵🐩

WHY is a bank teller called “teller.” The term “teller” is from the Olde English, meaning “to count.” Okay, that makes sense. The person behind the counter “counts” the money that is being exchanged. While customers still call them “tellers,” most financial institutions have moved away from using the term. Fizz The Wiz told me bank tellers are also tellers of tales on Facebook when they are on a coffee break. I guess. 👩‍💻🧑‍💻🧑‍💼

DOGS read more into our tone and body language than our actual words. They focus on us and observe our physical clues to determine what we want them to do or not do. They watch our facial expressions, posture, and body movements. They listen to the tone of our voice. Reason why, lately, there’s been a 75.9 percent spike in depression among dogs. But not with cats. 🐕🥴🐕‍🦺

CATS are typically very stoic animals, so if your cat suddenly seems to be in distress–howling, crying, tossing the TV remote around–it is a cause for concern. Ching and Fizz aren’t whiner cats though. When Ching wants a backrub, she just cooly walks to the mat, no word, and we take heed. When Fizz wants to play with her spring toy, she calls us out for 3 seconds. Then she quiets down. When both ask how to find a new bird video/show on Netflix or YouTube TV, they send me a text or IM. 😸😼🙀

INTERROGATION, the action of interrogating or the process of being interrogated. In the very near future, police interrogation will be done by an AI that is programmed by a cat. Imagine that! 🗣👤🤖

DOGS read our body language and listen to our tone as we speak to them, which helps them decipher what we are telling them. This indicates that they also use both sides of their brain to understand human words. So yes, dogs are capable of knowing their name and nicknames. Cats though are a lot smarter. They know our names, nicknames, passport names, bitch names, TikTok names, 17 Facebook names, and passwords. 🗣🐕🐈

HIGH MAINTENANCE, of a person or relationship, or dog and cat, demanding a lot of attention and financial/luxury needs. Arrow: “I need 7 more minutes of sniff-sniff time every 30 minute interval on a day’s time. That’d be apart from morning bathroom and afternoon walk and evening bathroom. Ching: “My backrubs should be at 10:30 PM, to the dot. Not a minute late! And I want a larger TV screen for my bird video watch.” Fizz: “Don’t argue, that’s what our AI told us! Just do it!” 🐈👑🐕