life... death.... and everything in between

So it’s Nov again. At sa ating mga Pinoy, Nov 1 is always observed as the day of the departed. Although sa totoong buhay, Nov 1 is All Saints Day at Nov 2 ang All Souls Day. Naging tradisyon na lang ng mga Pinoy na pagsamahin.

Nevertheless, eto yong mga panahon that always makes me think kung ano talaga ang nangyayari pag namatay na ang isang tao. Totoo ba ang sinasabi ng mga doktrina ng ating kinamulatang relihiyon na mayroong buhay beyond our mortal existence?

Or should I be more practical and believe that death ends it all and nothing lies beyond your last breath. And neither Heaven nor Hell is nothing like what we usually painted in our minds. Or, at the risk of sounding radical and irreverent, ask something like - does it even exist?

Kasi, sa totoo lang, sino ba talaga ang makakapag-patunay na merong life after death? May namatay na ba at nakabalik sa mundong ito at nagsabing he has been to the gates of heaven? Or has seen Satan welcoming him to the depths of hell? Wala pa di ba.

So how can we believe something like that kung wala talagang proof? And all we have is our faith, base sa kinalakihan natin at pinaniwalaan natin? Faith in what we believe is true dahil yon ang tinuro sa atin. Yon kasi ang sabi ng Bible. Yon kasi ang sabi ng Pari. Yon kasi ang sabi ng mga magulang natin.

Ok, sabihin nating walang life after death and we all end up as a ghostly spirit as soon as our heart stopped beating. Then, what happens? Saan pupunta yong spirit? Sa Heaven if you did good during your lifetime or Hell if you spent it otherwise? Again, why? Dahil yon ang sabi sa atin ng Bible, ng Pari, ng matatanda at ng mga magulang natin?

But isn’t it one big blackmail? I mean, hindi ba’t parehong-pareho lang yon ng mga pang-uuto ng Nanay natin sa atin nong maliit pa tayo? “Sige anak, pag nagpakabait ka, ibibili kita ng laruan. Pag naging salbahe ka, papaluin kita.” O kaya yong sabi ng Tatay natin na “Anak, pag first honor ka, ibibili kita ng bike. Pero pag bumagsak ka, humanda ka sa sinturon ko”.

We are told to do good and be good para ibigay sa atin yong gusto natin. Otherwise, we don’t get the prize and instead, punishment ang ibibigay sa atin. Yon ang sinasabi kong parehong-pareho. May kakabit na threat yong kundisyones. Pag mabait ka, sa langit ka pupunta. Pag masama, sa impyerno ang bagsak mo.

O sige, sabihin nating nagpaka-santo ka, malaking mag-abuloy sa simbahan and was doing lots of charity works. But at the back of your mind, you’re doing it all dahil meron kang hinihintay na kapalit. In fact, you look at everything you do as an investment. Na bawat ginagawa mong kabutihan, binibilang mo na para kang naghuhulog ng coins sa piggy bank. And in the end, ang gusto mong ROI ay ang mapunta sa langit.

Do you think it’s gonna get you to where you wanna be?

Why can’t we just do good things because we know in our heart and our mind that it is the right and good thing to do? Just do good things to our family and to the community as a whole na walang selfish motive. Yong gusto lang talaga nating maging mabait na tao, matinong member ng society without fixating on what happens to us in the after life. Coz again, naron yong paniniwala ko na if you do something good na may hinihintay na kapalit para sa sarili mo, it’s just as bad as doing something bad.

And what happens if it turned out na walang langit, walang impyerno. And after you gasped your last breath, naging spirit ka na, wala na palang kasunod. Wala yong inaasahan mong welcome party ni San Pedro sa yo with matching pearly white gates and singing angels? Natunaw yong inaasahan mong ROI. So you’ll turn out to be one sour spirit? Tatambay sa mga balete at mananakot ng mga inosenteng tao?

Tapos makikita mo yong mga taong buhay na nakakakilala sa yo, pinag-uusapan ka at ang sabi “Naku, kunwari lang naman mabait yan pero sa totoo lang, kurakot yan, manloloko, rapist at gangster pa. Mabuti nga namatay na.” Well, for me, yon ang impyerno. Patay ka na nga pero wala kang iniwang mabuti kaya walang masabing mabuti yong mga kakilala mo.

Di ba mas maganda yong maganda lang talaga ang ginawa mo nong buhay ka pa at walang ini-expect na kung ano pag namatay. You may float in the air as one happy spirit. Kung wala mang langit na naghihintay sa yo, heaven na rin ang feeling mo dahil magaganda ang naririnig mong comments sa mga taong tinulungan mo ng walang pagkukunwari. And every good word they utter about you are just like petals of flowers thrown your way. Di ba, yon ang paradise?

I know this thing has been the subject of countless debates. Marami na ang nagtalo, nag-away at siguro nagka-patayan sa argumento tungkol sa bagay na ito.

Unfortunately, kahit anong balitaktakan ang gawin natin, kahit itambak natin lahat ang documents from all the versions of the Bible, kahit gamitin natin lahat ng research papers for scientific evidence, we can not come up with anything definitive to support either sides. And in the end, it all boils down to what we believe. To what we have accepted in our hearts and in our minds as the truth.

So is there really life after death? Totoo ba ang Heaven and Hell? I’ve said my piece. And that's what I believe in. It’s up to you what you make out of it.

dipping it again

in short, makisawsaw na naman ang daliri ko sa mga isyung hindi ko maiwasang hindi mag-comment.

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Ban Ki Moon in Manila : There will be a reversal of migration due to the global financial crisis.

Ah, hello, Secretary sir, I think I have written the same thing in this blog as soon as Lehman Brothers crumbled. And I don’t think you have to be UN Secretary to figure it out. What I want to hear from you is – what are you (UN) doing, together with the other giants World Bank and International Monetary Fund to avert this global financial crisis? Maybe hang those greedy businessmen who sent the stock markets tumbling so they can’t do it again?


Katas ng VAT to fund programs for the Poor.

Aha! Piyesta na naman ang mga ganid! Hiding again under the pretense of humanitarian cause. For the poor daw! Sige nga. So what do we expect in the next few days, ang magagaling na mga pulitiko pupunta sa isang baranggay, mamimigay ng kaunting delata sa mga kawawang mahihirap tapos kung todo pictorial at tv coverage na? Stop it already. Kawawa naman kaming mahihirap. Namamatay na sa gutom ginagamit pa ninyong props sa mga propaganda ninyo.


Anabel Rama celebrates 56th birthday in Willie’s yacths.

Aba ang yaman na nga pala talaga nitong si Willie. Mantakin mo, may yate at hindi lang isa, dalawa pa! Ganon ba kalaki ang sweldo nya sa ABS-CBN? After the Ferrari scandal, eto at may dalawang bonggang-bonggang yate naman sya. Eh dream ko rin yan. Sarap kayang mag-sail from port to port with your own luxurious yacht. Sabi na nga mali ang pinili kong trabaho eh. I should have been a Tv host even to one pathetic noon time show. Milyonaryo na ako, makakapag-kunwari pa akong mabait sa mahihirap at pro-poor kahit diring-diri ako sa mga amoy araw na hampaslupa! It’s showbiz afterall.


Jocjoc, naiuwi na ng Pinas. Inaresto. Dinala sa Ospital.

One word: Drama. Ay, two words pala: Malaking Drama! Hay naku, bakit ba itong si Jocjoc lang ang pinag-pipistahan? Haleeerrrr!!! Isa lang sya pero marami pa dapat kayong arestuhin no. Mga kumag kayo. 700 million pesos lang ang pinag-uusapan dito. Peanuts. Eh ano nang nangyari sa ibang mga scandal? Nasan na ang broadband scandal? Pati yong sa textbook? Pati yong sa C5? Pati yong sa swine at kung ano-ano pa? Hirap kasi sa atin, puro expose, puro pasabog. Pagkatapos mag-expose, wala na. Naka-kuha na kasi ng milya-milyang media mileage. Hmpt!

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Sunflower Cracker Blueberry – melamine positive... not

Shucks!! Eh peyborit ko pa naman ang Sunflower Crackers. Madalas akong bumili nyan sa Kadiwa. Tested positive daw for melamine sa Hongkong. O sige, yong Blueberry flavor lang daw. Pero bakit pagdating ng Pinas, hindi naman daw at clear daw lahat ng crackers manufactured by Croley? Ano’ng nangyari? Iba ang testing process ng HK at Pinas? O iba ang lagay, este samples na na-test? Whatever, hindi na muna ako bibili ng Sunflower. Moonflower na lang kung meron.

dante's first... yeeeyyy!

I must admit I’m one boring webbie. I don’t surf the net mad like some people do. I tend to stay on familiar grounds that kept my internet activities limited to reading on-line newspapers, downloading mp3s and checking my e-mails. Ho-hum!

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Sometimes i go streaming but my 128 (can't afford faster connection, darn!) makes it more frustrating than interesting. I sometimes go webcamming too but silly people i meet online just makes me puke rather than get hooked on it. So I chose to stick to what I do best - being a boring surfer! Hehehe....

But when some of my friends started babbling about Friendster, Facebook, Flicker and anything F, I decided to end my ignorance. Afterall, I can’t go on nodding my head whenever they talk about those social networking sites, pretending to get what they’re saying when in fact I haven’t got the slightest clue as to what these things are. What a moron huh.

First, I tried Friendster. But even before I started posting my pix, I felt it wasn’t my thing. Besides, I can’t find a pic of mine worthy of posting and getting cutesy comments. Cute. But mushy. I needed something more challenging.

Then Matt invited me to his blog. And, boy was I thankful for that invite coz it introduced me to something that I was unconsciously looking for – blogging.

And so with Blogger.com providing a one-button blog creator for morons like me, Dante Speaks was born. A name that was instantaneous, never took longer than two seconds for me to come up with it. I know it sounds pretty close to one Hollywood film about one vicious volcano. But it wasn’t my intention to capitalize on that film’s fame. It was just the perfect blog name for me coz it carries my name and the one thing that I love doing – speaking (or in this case, writing) my mind out.

My first posting was exactly a year ago. Since then, I never looked back. I was posting new materials as well as old ones resurrected from my vaults - some jurassic floppies, cd’s and flash disks. Writings that I used to share with friends via e-mail.

So after 365 days, 6,200++ visits, 170 posts, countless template changes and one cool banner courtesy of DennisQ later, Dante Speaks is celebrating it’s first year on the blogging world. Yeyyy!

And whatever I wrote and posted – be it trivial, mundane, serious, hilarious or simply crazy, I’ve now reached into a wider audience (okay, I’m over reacting here… haha). But hey, my visitor’s locator says Dante Speaks is now globe-trotting. That is, if this cluster map’s accurate!

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Anyways, I’d like to thank you guys for being a part of this blog. I may not know most of you personally but it was a pleasure sharing figments of my sometimes hyper-active grey cells with you. Don’t know your names so let me just thank you by location (though I can only approximate on the areas):

Canada – Edmonton

USA – Hawaii, California, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia (probably my cousins though I don’t exactly know their areas)

The Carribean – Turks and Caicos

African Continent – Libya (I bet it’s Mario), South Africa and Egypt

Europe – Italy, Turkey, Spain, Belgium (Erick?), Germany, France, Ireland, England, Romania, Finland and Norway

Asia – India, Thailand, China, Singapore, Jakarta and Surabaya (my friend Chayadi, is it you?) in Indonesia and Hiroshima and Osaka (I’m sure it’s my niece Minette) in Japan

KSA – a whole lot from Riyadh, Jeddah (my friend Cesar and my cousins in that area) and Dammam/Jubail area (my entire addicque friends led by Raoul, Ega and JunC )

And of course from Mindanao, Visayas and the Luzon area of the Philippines where my niece Myles and Jun C’s dear Linds frequent this site too.

Once again, a big THANKS to all of you. Keep visiting coz I’ll be posting more. Heck, I just got warmed up in this blogging thing. Haha!

antibacterial soaps

saw this one somewhere on the net and thought it's worth sharing. a little info that can save you from the dangers brought about by health/sanitary soaps posing as antibacterial. i'm not saying we take it as the bible truth but at least let's start investigating the soap we're using.

i only have one problem with health/medical bulletins like this - it always says this or that is found to be dangerous then goes endorsing something in the end. can't help it but it makes me suspicious. at any rate, here's the article - it's up to you to discern.

Say no to antibacterial soaps
By Lori Bongiorno Posted Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:01pm PDT

Global Handwashing Day, held earlier this week, was established to promote a simple message: Wash your hands with soap and water to prevent disease. It's also the perfect time to visit the topic of what kind of soap you're lathering up with. This is an important decision that many of us don't think twice about.

The main ingredient in most liquid soaps lining store shelves is triclosan, a pesticide that kills bacteria. Turns out you just need to banish germs from your hands, not kill them. Studies show that antibacterial soaps aren't more effective at preventing illness or removing germs than good old-fashioned soap and water.

In fact, antibacterial soaps may do more harm than good.

There are concerns that triclosan may contribute to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It's also present in human bodies and breast milk, as well as in streams. The Environmental Working Group says triclosan has been linked to developmental defects, liver toxicity, and cancer in lab studies. It also may affect thyroid and other hormones that are crucial to normal development.

The best thing you can do is avoid soaps that claim to be "antibacterial" while we wait for more research to be done. A quick read of the label will tell you if triclosan or triclocarban (a similar compound that's found more commonly in bar soaps) are active ingredients. If so, move onto another product.

Here's a small sampling of triclosan-free liquid hand soaps to get you started:
· Trader Joe's Lavender & Chamomile Hand Soap
· Method Hand Wash (Pink Grapefruit)
· Softsoap Soothing Aloe Vera Moisturizing Hand Soap
· Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 Pure-Castile Soap (Hemp-Peppermint)
· Terraessentials Organic Real Soap for Hands
· Desert Essence Castile Liquid Soap with Organic Tea Tree Oil

For more suggestions, visit the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.

it's jun's day

second birthday boy po for the month of october si jun c, isang original addicque na obvious naman sa mga pix. kita nyo na lang ang mga ka-kengkoyan. nayanig ang pancitan dahil sa mga tawanan ng grupo. bumaha talaga ng food. kaya linds, wala daw munang pambili ng pako at semento para sa inyong mansion! hahahaha!!!

smile! hheheheee... pigil na pigil kasi baka ma-censor!

mag-blow ng birthday cake na naka-dila! sya lang ang makakagawa nyan!

ito po ang buong tropang addicque na pumiranha sa mga fud!

gift ng isang nagkukunwaring sosyal - guess ang lalagyan pero ang laman, cheap! hahaha

and from now on, magpapakabait na si jorge dahil sa gift ni tserman!

HAPPY HAPPY BDAY JUNC!

more pix in http://addicquotes.blogspot.com

happy bday raoul

Oct 17 po ang birthday ng kaibigan naming tserman. And today, he held a dinner party sa bago nilang condo ni ricky. Yummy ang food and, as usual, halakhakan dahil halos in full force ang mga adik. Absent lang si Orlee who's somewhere else pati sina Matt and Neil who are both on holidays (though pabalik na si Matt in a few hours).

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Here's a few pix of the party. Mas marami pong pix ang ipo-post ko sa http://addicquotes.blogspot.com/ at doon ko rin ilalagay yong poem na ginawa ko, my very first attempt in doing such a thing. First attempt ding magpaka-comedy, buti naman natawa ang mga adik.

Jun, Rommel, Ricky and Ega - pektyur muna!

Ariel, Ren and Irwin - tawanan muna!

james, tito bong and ren - part of the citrus gang!

ang gift po ni ega na dinamay na kaming lahat ng adik

isang framed poster ng aming birthday greetings

eto naman ang gift ni james na personalized pa ang wrapper!

sarrraapppp!!!!!

name-the-yummy cake courtesy of james

to tserman, Happy Happy --th birthday! May the good Lord continually guide and bless you and your family.

no. 11: my faves

for whatever reason, a song from the sound of music keeps playin on my mind this afternoon. it goes something like 'these are but few of my favorite things' (i'm not even sure if i got it right). then i said, yeah, why dont i come up with a collage of my favorite stuff - people, food and whatever.

well, this is how it turned out...