Nirvana

Only if life at Malcolm has been anything like this for the past four years and change, I wouldn't have suffered all that needless stress. I really think that for some sick reason, all these years, I have been blessed enough to get all the elective subjects I wanted to get - and I really mean all. I probably wouldn't be able to use half of it (just like Calculus), but I will always take useless and easy over useless and fucking difficult any day.

I have been reading all the PIL assignments, which are really reasonable considering what he-who-must-not-be-named assigned to us before, and that they come with specific instructions to read only the relevant parts. You can actually read them anytime before class. In fact, I have been reading them at work before going to Diliman at noon. Sometimes, I read them during Rem class, where you have a good four hours to finish the readings. So far, there has been no pressure at all, because all our magnificent classmates are always prepared to volunteer (Hooray for them!).

As for Rem, all the cases are assigned a priori. Which is exactly how the professor wants it. Since the start of classes, I have read a grand total of four - read them - four cases. Of course, this does not include all the ICJ cases that I have been reading during this period to prepare for the next day's class. Will I regret it someday? I don't know. But I promise to do things differently when we get to Crim Pro and Spec Pro. Those will be somewhat new for me. But I think I can relax again when we get to Evidence.

I also have two other electives with, by my humble standards, very good professors. I have not been called in either class yet, but I can say with a straight face that I have been able to participate in the discussions in one of them. In the other class, let us just say that there are not too many discussions there. However, I can say with reasonable certainty that I will be called to recite in that class someday, and I can intelligently guess, that I will be the 44th person to be called. Call it a hunch.

So Far, So Good

Initial returns show that the chances of this semester, ending up as the best semester ever, is not unlikely.

A Few Good Men

After turning over all my crappy cases to the next sorry intern last week, I only need to appear in one more preliminary conference before the MTC in Marikina this week, and summer would officially, mercifully, be done. Next week, I can go back to more mundane, and less stressful, things like cases and recits.

Admittedly, it could have been a lot worse. A blockmate was a wrong word away from being cited for contempt. Another almost became the godmother of her client's child, and almost shelled out money for the christening. The worst that happened to me was paying for a client's photocopying expenses. Everybody should be so lucky. Anyway, I am just happy that nobody got hanged because of me.

Next week, we'll be seeing our old friend PIL, and meeting new acquaintances like SLR, banking, comm'l arb and even not-so-new rem law review. We enlisted in PIL only a week or so after learning about the result of our efforts in PrIL - which would make all of us, either courageous or dumb. All these, after the college implemented a new enlistment system, in a manner that is contrary to every software engineering principle I know.

What a way to start the year. I can't wait to get this over with. Let's get it on.

A Can of Whoop Ass

I thought that a football match broke out of the Pacquiao-Hatton laugher yesterday. But, only for less than two rounds. I guess they all know when to shut up.

By the way, maybe it is a good thing to send Nanay Dionesia to Vegas everytime the Pacman has a fight. I don't know, but it seems to me that she can get less airtime only if she's abroad. And even that is too much.

You know the ads got inside your head when you're still trying to shake the image of a woman fixing a leaking roof off it, a day after. Well, it's either that or Giselle Sanchez and her husband, and tongkat ali. Take your pick.
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image courtesy of Inquirer.net.

Law of the Land

"There is a country where women freely go out unescorted and, like the beautiful roses in their public gardens, they always receive the protection of all. That country is Switzerland."

- People v. Jaurigue, 76 Phil. 174

I thought I have seen it all when, in addition to Jaurigue, quoted above, the justices of our Supreme Court introduced the concepts of "bombardment of the drawbridge," "shelling of the castle of orgasmic potency," and "strafing of the citadel of passion" to our jurisprudence. Now, the Court of Appeals have enriched our laws further with its recent ruling on the Subic Rape Case. To wit:

“When a woman is drunk, she can hardly rise, much more stand up and dance, or she would just drop. This is a common experience among Filipino girls.”

I do not know the last time the good lady justices went out to have a good time, but I think it is rather safe to assume that not one of them has ever been to Embassy, or to any college party, recently, where they would have seen enough drunk women - yes, drunk Filipino girls - who can not only rise and stand up, but actually dance a lot better than when they were sober. When was the last time you ladies went out anyway? 1945?

“Resistance by words of mouth [sic] does not suffice to establish that she indeed did not give her consent to the sexual intercourse.”

I guess this means that when a woman wants to say "No," it is not enough that she screams "No, I definitely do NOT want to have sex with you!" She also has to put it in writing, or maybe she has to express it in sign language, or perhaps via Morse Code. So, what would suffice? The problem is that the decision does not say what else a woman is supposed to do in order to deny her consent to sexual intercourse. If it is to be in writing, it also does not say whether or not it has to be in a public instrument. (Hello, I am being raped, can you notarize my statement of resistance to this unlawful aggression?)

Quote of the Day

"So this is what a courtroom looks like."

- Kaffee, A Few Good Men

Scarlett was Never This Hot in the 80s

Yo Joe!

Seven

Being the practicing Catholic that I am, I was able to make my very first visita iglesia last week. I knew you are supposed to go visit churches (you don't even have to know rudimentary Spanish to figure that out), but I wouldn't even have known its basis or history had it not been for a mini-debate at work about how many churches one is supposed to visit. Other than that, and that you are supposed to pray, I pretty much have no more idea on what else you are supposed to do.

I mapped out the churches in my head, and figured out how we can get from one point to another. Weng took care of the liturgy. I guess you can say that she is my saving grace. We were able to complete the whole thing in about two hours without leaving Makati.

We started at St. Andrew's in Bel-Air, where we usually go every Sunday, then we went to Sts. Peter and Paul along Burgos. Mass was being held by the time we got there, and the place was already packed.

From Poblacion, we went to Guadalupe. I was surprised to find that the Guadalupe Church (Nuestra Señora de Gracia Church) is so small when you're inside it. It is a beautiful church, and it still is a favorite for weddings and baptisms. Guadalupe and Sts. Peter and Paul are supposed to be two of the earliest churches established in the country. I suggest that you go there from JP Rizal, instead of from EDSA. Let's just say that you will feel safer, coming from JP Rizal.

From Guadalupe, we went to Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park. The driving distance between the two churches is nothing compared to the evident disparity between their respective communities and parishioners.

We then proceeded to Greenbelt, and that was the first time I ever saw Makati CBD at its most empty and boring. The only people in the area are the ones going to the church. We next went to Don Bosco, and lastly to the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in San Antonio. The short trip from Pasay Road to Dao was marked only by the heavy traffic along Kamagong. It became evident once we reached Dao that everybody was going to the same place.

I Know Evidence

. . . and I am NOT taking the goddam course again!

I rock.

MJ, HOF'er

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MJ's old college team, North Carolina, won its 5th NCAA title earlier today against Magic's alma mater Michigan State.

Magic-Bird, 30 Years Later

Greetings to All Alsallites!

It's your day, today!

/dev/null

I just realized that it is rather difficult to think of anything to write, the day after you tried, and failed, to recall and write down fifteen different conflict rules. Verbatim.

The Final Set Outtakes

The last time I saw a clueless entertainer get booed off his ass was when Carlos Agassi tried to rap during halftime of an Ateneo-La Salle game. So, I was not really surprised when a good number of the over 100,000 people at the MOA concert grounds let MTV VJs have it. Moreso after Anne Curtis confessed to being excited to hear "Tindahan ni Aling Nene." WTF.

Posers come in all shapes and sizes. Tim Yap, the self-proclaimed eventologist, exposed himself as a total poser when Ely Buendia put him on the spot at the end of the show and he promptly showed everybody that he has absolutely no idea how to sing Toyang correctly.

In One Sky So High

Come and take a sip from the cup as the drink makes you think
Don't blink cuz you'll be taken out by the pen and ink
Superproxy, why don't you just talk to me
My rhyme be stickin to ya head like epoxy
The Mouth'll be blabbin, never be backstabbin
Hangin w/the E-heads and I'm just plain havin
FUN, no time for gats and guns,
I use my m.i.c. like a gun I get the job done
I play video games all day
Zipadee-dooda Zipadee-day Hiphop Hooray!
Menage one, Menage Trois, Menage Three
If songs were pets then I'd have a menagerie
Chimney-chimney Humpty Dumpty
Grab on the m.i.c. start gettin funky
Funky with the flavor that you savor, imitator
I'm the flavor of the hour other MC's I devour
I'll be with Raymund, Buddy, Marcus, and Ely
I'm on their case just like Petrocelli
Ultraelectromagnetic Hiphop and ya don't
Stop and ya don't quit WORD-UP!
Lap it up like a pussy sippin on milk
Rock hard to my style that's smooth as silk
Superproxy why don't ya just talk to me....tooot...static

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+ RIP FrancisM

Ministerial Duty

“The President just exercised her authority, and for that matter, you might call it ministerial authority, to grant executive clemency. So I don’t think there’s anything else to explain.”

- legal genius Eduardo Ermita, Executive Secretary, Banana Republic

I guess this means that convicts who comply with "the criteria" can now file petitions for mandamus to compel the President to grant them executive clemency. What a nublet.

Amnesia

Last night, I listened to, most probably, the most sensible statement Kris Aquino has ever made in her life. I don't really pay attention to what she is saying most of the time, but given the significance of the events that transpired yesterday, I thought the country needed to hear from Kris - the daughter - what most of us wanted to say.


"Pinatay nila si Ninoy Aquino."

Heroes Super Bowl Ad

23 Years Ago

Say you want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street

- John Lennon, Power to the People

Sloth

But taken from me was this drowsiness
Suddenly by a people, that behind
Our backs already had come round to us.

And as, of old, Ismenus and Asopus
Beside them saw at night the rush and throng,
If but the Thebans were in need of Bacchus,

So they along that circle curve their step,
From what I saw of those approaching us,
Who by good-will and righteous love are ridden.

Full soon they were upon us, because running
Moved onward all that mighty multitude,
And two in the advance cried out, lamenting,

"Mary in haste unto the mountain ran,
And Caesar, that he might subdue Ilerda,
Thrust at Marseilles, and then ran into Spain."

- Dante, Purgatorio, Canto XVIII

Last Saturday, after the last "t" was crossed and the last "i" was dotted (oh, that is so overused), after the last presumption of good faith was written down, I submitted my blue book and immediately stopped thinking about the Rules of Court. (Can you believe it?) In my own worst-case scenario, it won't be until June when I have to reread them all over again. I went home, picked Weng up, had Korean food at Rockwell, and watched the best film that I have ever seen in years. (I suggest that you all go watch Gran Torino. Now.)

(The new blue book is very much thicker than the old one. I have no idea why they had to do that, since for four years and for more than 30 courses, my answers have managed to exceed the number of pages of the old blue book only once. ONCE. In that one time, I wrote on a grand total of two pages of the second blue book. By the way, did I mention that we only write on one side of the blue book?)

The school holiday today couldn't have been more perfectly timed. After that already very delayed exam last Saturday, I had absolutely no intention of reading anything involving a petitioner anytime soon. So, I watched the Jazz beat the Hornets yesterday morning and played Madden 09 all afternoon. Last night, I watched Warrick Brown get shot and Jack Bauer get arrested. All guilt-free. Having no more Nego for all remaining Tuesdays of the semester doesn't hurt either. Of course, I am totally sticking my head in the sand, and disregarding that big stack of paper on the floor for Wednesday and Thursday. If you're familiar with SC rates and you're good at math, that stack of paper is worth about Php300 from Blessings Copy Center. Come on, go figure.

I brought with me a couple of those cases to work today, but I have already realized that I was just kidding myself when I picked them up from the floor this morning. Maybe Juris and Prudence would have better luck tonight.