Quest for the Best

SOON ON THIS BLOG.
The best may not always be bought at the cost of great price.

Are We a Nation of Dancers?

Since Youtube offered its services to the world, videos from our country proliferated. Youtube has provided international careers to relatively unknown, as in the case of Arnel Pineda and Charice Pempengco (soon, CouchPatatas, haha).


But another type of posting generating millions of hits are videos about dancing. The Cebu Inmates started it all with their Michael Jackson dance routines. It hit millions of views.

Since then, many followed suit.


One of my favorite so far is this video (hope I get a freebie from them).





I want to join them one of these days.


But going back to the topic, why are we Filipinos so fond of dancing? In every festivities, like weddings, birthdays, funerals (yes, it's true), part of the merry making is hiring, in the early days cumbancheros, or a whole orchestra for those well-endowed, and in present days, sound mobiles complete with lights and lasers.


Every town and city has its own version of festivals (chami, saging, litson, longanisa, kwekkwek(?)), and part of these festivals is the street dancing competition. Participants donning the city or towns produce dancing to the pulsating beats in retro, hiphop and at times trance.


I remember in my elementary and high school days, part of our PE requirement was performing field demonstrations, dancing, again, to the current hits at that time.
I've danced to the tune of In the Navy, Christmas Polka, and the like.


So, is dancing part of being a Filipino?


We, Filipinos, love fun and merry making. Even in crisis, we find time to celebrate. I remember an incident when a fluvial parade turned to tragedy killing dozens of devotees (and even churning a movie out of it). The succeeding year, they downsized the parade, but the mass dancing continued.


We, Filipinos, also dance as part of age-old traditions. We dance to the Virgin of Turumba, to Santa Clara, and the likes. Sometimes, faith can be expressed in dance.


We, Filipinos, join dance contests in all scales and sizes. From barangay, city/town, to nationwide dance contests, our youths express their angst, their hopes, their ambitions, through dancing.


Perhaps, one of the Greek muses, Terpsichore, ruled over us, playing her lyre to her delight, as she watched the mass of human bodies gyrating to the beat of one nation.


Dancing is our way of expression, our way of life, our way to fame.

Before I go, a word from my sponsor.

One word, ha ha, I hope the passengers remember the safety instructions.

My Theory of Inverse Proportion

Inverse proportion is defined by myself as, when one value increases, the other value decreases. Used mostly in mathematics (algebra in particular, let me recall, it is the correlation between one value affecting the results of another when they work together). In the cartesian plane, it is the effect of the X and Y axis in hyberbolic ...ZZZZZZZZZZ.



In my life, the theory has been hounding me for the past 43 years. And sometimes, I stop and think that this theory should be sacked altogether, coz it's not giving me any good. Here are samples of how the theory of Inverse Proportion is ruining my existence:


1. There is inverse proportion with the cash on my wallet and the bills due.
2. There is inverse proportion with the length of travel and my need to piss.
3. There is inverse proportion with the chance of rain and carrying my umbrella.
4. There is inverse proportion with the number of days till laundry and looking for a good pair of pants.
5. There is inverse proportion with the time spent waiting for a ride and the time left for catching a meeting.
6. There is inverse proportion with the need to take a bath immediately and the availablity of a soap.
7. There is inverse proportion with the need to take a dump and the distance to the nearest toilet.
8. There is inverse proportion with the demand for my products and the supplies for the materials.
9. There is inverse proportion with the cellphone load and the need to call or text anyone immediately.
10. There is inverse proportion with the need to load your cell and the availability of loads.
11. There is inverse proportion with the decision to close shop early and have a long sleep, and the sudden rush of customers near closing time.
12. There is inverse proportion with the plan to wake up early and finding your bed so irresistible to leave.
13. There is inverse proportion with deciding to buy something for yourself and the need to repair your equipments.
14. There is inverse proportion with decision to ride non-aircon bus and only aircon buses plying the streets.
15. There is inverse proportion with your need to buy bottled water on a bus and availability of the vendor.


to be continued....

Let the Battle Begin!

So, yesterday, SM City San Pablo opened its doors to eager, enthusiastic, rabid (?) fans of the franchise. Traffic was horrendous! It took me five long hours to reach my destination, five precious hours which could have been spent doing more productive things than cursing the stupid traffic alternating with the confusion of ideas whether to walk back to my shop.


The same fanfare and traffic I experienced when Puregold opened its doors two years ago.


Now the battle has began between two retail giants. The question in my mind is: who will eventually come out a victor. Only time can tell.


But like all other battles, there will be victors and collateral damages involved. The victors from this battle is the consumers who now have a choice. Specially when Christmas season comes.


I am more worried about the collateral damage this battle will produce. Personally I don't go to big supermarkets like SM, RObinsons and Puregold. I don't feel like giving my money to someone who is so rich they can probably buy my soul along with my future descendants without suffering a dent in their cashflow.


I usually go to my neighborhood grocery store, where I feel more at home, where service is more personalized and we are acquainted on a first name basis. I only go to these big malls when the product I am seeking is not available in my favorite grocery store.


For me, these are the collateral damages. Small businessmen who barely earn from their business what with small margin as markup. They will suffer the consequence.
Many will fold up eventually, eaten alive by the giants without having any means to
protect their turf, defending their business to its last breath.


Large supermarket chains are nothing but bullies. Encroaching the market share and forcing small players to fold up.


That's the sad truth about consumerism.