LINKIN PARK: Living Things World Tour 2013

It was an ordinary day on the month of June. I was walking along Araneta Center when my eyes caught the publicity that says, "Linkin Park: Living Things World Tour 2013, at SM Mall of Asia Arena". I did not hesitate to text my best buddy, of course my sister (Rachelle), and informed her that our childhood dream is one-step-closer. 

We are really thrilled to attend the event. The following day, we already bought our tickets and began deciding what outfit to wear during the concert. Linkin Park has been our favorite rock band since I was in high school, and I can say that this is one of the interests we both share as sisters.

Our tickets for LP Living Things World Tour 2013

August 13, 2013, we went to SM Mall of Asia around 3pm. The concert will starts at 8pm but we decided to go as early as possible so that we have time to go around, spend time with each other and eat before the arena gates' open.

As we got near the venue, I noticed the crowd from afar and they were already people waiting outside the gates. Seeing that there were many Linkin Park supporters intensified my excitement. So we decided to stay there and joined the other LP fans.

The gate opened at 7pm, we lined up and waited for our turn to enter the venue. There are some whose bags were checked and were told to deposit their baggage on the security, luckily, I was able to bring my bag with me because the personnel did not notice the food I kept on the secret pocket (evil laughs). 

The concert staffs setting the stage

The music was booming inside the venue, but the noise of the crowd was a soothing sound to me that time. We sat on our reserved seat while examining the entire place. I suddenly felt a cramp on my stomach caused by the excitement.

Finally, the clock stroke at 8pm, and the concert started. We began shouting and cheering for Linkin Park. Everybody sang with the band as they perform. Meanwhile, as we are enjoying the show, I have noticed that the audiences in the first row in the General Admission Area went down to the Upper box, and so we decided to ask the bouncer. He told us that all of the audiences in the Gen Ad were given a chance to move in the Upper box area! That was some sort of surprise, the ticket in Upper box costs 3,000Php and yes, we were asked to move there without any charge. Ultimately, we experienced the best concert ever!

The concert ended at 11pm. I hope Linkin Park will return, and when it happens, we will make sure that our tickets will be on the VIP Area. :-)

Mike Shinoda, lead vocalist of Linkin Park

Chester Bennington

The lady with eye glasses is my best buddy

The Man I Love

This poem goes to the man, who taught me that love sometimes entails sacrifices, and at some point in our lives, whether we admit it or not, we tend to become a slave of love that we turn into an altruistic and foolish person. Love is like a battlefield; a battle between the heart and the mind. Love is selflessness; for it is about considering another person's happiness more than your own.

Taken on May 3, 2013 at Hundred Islands, Alaminos Pangasinan

The Man I Love

by April Rose L. Desuyo

It was a long and sleepless nights

I have the agony of winning up the fight

I always dream of holding you so tight

As I wonder where you are tonight?

I have the fears of losing you

I don’t know what I found in you

I saw someone else’s holding you

I stayed and cried but still loving you

It was a long and sleepless night

I thought of giving up the fight

But I remember the dream

Of holding you so tight

I can’t live a day without you by my side

The man I love was in pain

Somebody left in the middle of the rain

I reassured that I’ll always stay

And we’ll be together come what may

It was a long and sleepless nights

The man I love was hurting deep inside

I can’t suffice his broken heart that hides

But I never thought of giving up the fight

I love you still and I always will

In times of distress I am always here

Forget all your sorrow and be strong my Dear

My love consistently grows to keep you near.

The Resurgence of Death Penalty

Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III

January 29, 2014, Tuesday, Inquirer.net posted its latest news about the Senate Bill 2080 by Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III. He sought the revival of Republic Act 7699 or the Death Penalty Law which shall be carried out through lethal injection, due to the influx of heinous crimes committed poses an alarming situation in the country today.

However, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima opposed the said bill. According to her, Death Penalty is not a solution against criminality. What deters criminality is faithful and diligent enforcement and due administration of criminal justice system without fear or favor. Whereas, Malacañang Palace supposed that the restoration of Death Penalty in the country needs an extensive consultation to determine public sentiments. 

Similar to Justice Secretary's argument, I consider the appropriate enforcement of criminal justice system as the cure to the aggravating crime rate in the country. Our criminal justice system has to be preventive rather than curative. Moreover, both the affluences and the commoners should be penalized regardless of their socioeconomic status.

In addition, R.A 7699 is unquestionably against the Christian doctrine. As stated in the Ten Commandments, "Thou shall not kill".  Since we are in a Christian country, Death Penalty would definitely result to opposition between the church and the government.

Hence, the resurgence of the Death Penalty Law will undertake a thorough process, an extensive deliberations and public consultations.

*Photo credits to Google
*News article credits to www.inquirer.net

Cat: Touches the Heart

"I have felt cats rubbing their faces against mine and touching my cheek with claws carefully sheathed. This things, to me, are expressions of love". -James Herriot

My babies: Pinyin, Legend, Tiger and Morning

           

I was five years old back then, when my father brought home a stray kitten he picked on the street. I named him "Morlac", he used to be my playmate, he sleeps besides me at night and I just find him so sweet. He stayed with us a year or two, and then one day he suddenly disappeared. I tried to look for him but he did not return. Morlac is my first pet.

I already adopted fifteen cats since I was a kid; unhappily, some of them were lost out of nowhere just like Morlac, but most of them died because of accidents, disease and old age. People would think it is pathetic to cry over a dying cat, but for me it is just the same feeling when one of your family members got ill and died.

I remember when one of my cats "Tuti" died in front me. He got stricken by a car that caused his death. I don’t know what to feel at that very moment. I saw my pet bled and  strived for breath for a seconds, and all of a sudden he died. My eyes went wet and my heart was torn into pieces. It was such a tragic and gloomy day. 

My newly adopted cat "Morning"

My childhood life could have been boring without my pet cats and even today, these little creatures give color and meaning to my life. Every time I arrives at home and they are running toward me, I actually feels that I am loved and appreciated. Certainly, cats could touch the heart. 

News Writing: The Basics

(From the lectures of Mr. Michael Frialde, PhilStar)

Anyone can tell or write news. In reality, people tend to spread news everyday with the little details they have in mind, whether it’s about a national issue, a celebrity controversy, or just some neighborhood incident that brought out an interesting story. However, journalism offers a way of writing news that will result in brevity, yet complete and comprehensive. For the nutshell to keep; News is a latest issue or event that interests the public. 

The first step in news writing, of course, is to gather the necessary information about the event or issue you aim to write about. Let’s take a fire incident as a sample news story. Journalists/reporters in the field use some ways to collect information and they are as follows: 

Field investigation – ask the people involved; victims, families of victims, possible eyewitnesses. 

Authority interview – ask the people authorized to give information about the news. For a fire incident, you may interview firemen, arson investigator, policemen, doctor, etc. 

Collecting information from documents – scan reliable documents for details that support the news. 

Before the actual writing of the news story, one must assess himself if he has this important skill to be able to write an average news story, which is the ability to select the essential details and dispose what are not. The inverted pyramid structure is usually advised. Giving much priority to the essential details, it occupies the uppermost large part of the polygon, whereas, the least important details occupies the lowermost small part of the polygon.

Compose a title. A news title is not long, but also not short. It may be in a catchy tone, but the purpose is to give the reader a complete thought of what the news is all about. For example; Blazing fire in Cavite, makes thousand families homeless.

Create a lead. The lead is the opening paragraph of a news story. It must contain the most important details of the news, usually called as the five W’s and one H; what, who, where, when, why and how. For example; Hundred families become homeless as a blazing fire burns their houses down this dawn in Tanza, Cavite, allegedly caused by foul electric circuit. 

Support the lead. Supply details that will elaborate the lead paragraph. One of the families involve is the Cruz family whose house is found having illegal electric connections which spread the fire among hundred other houses made up of light materials.

Give further details. You may use statements that you acquired from the field investigation. Aling Nena, 54, a resident in the neighborhood, reports that she was preparing for breakfast when she heard unknown noise then in less than a minute all the fire started.

Write more. Add details about the fire such as alarm level and investigation results. The fire department received the alarm around 5am and was raised to task force alpha around 6am. It was declared fire out around 9 in the morning. Declaring 10 million damage to structures and properties.

Conclude. Write your concluding statement. Incident is still under further investigation, according to the fire bureau. No reports of injuries and fatalities, the affected families stays in the evacuation area in the municipal hall of Tanza, Cavite. 

Blazing fire in Cavite, makes thousand families homeless.

---

Hundred families become homeless as a blazing fire burns their houses down this dawn in Tanza, Cavite, allegedly caused by foul electric circuit. 

One of the families involve is the Cruz family whose house is found having illegal electric connections which spread the fire among hundred other houses made up of light materials.

Aling Nena, 54, a resident in the neighborhood, reports that she was preparing for breakfast when she heard unknown noise then in less than a minute all the fire started.

The fire department received the alarm around 5am and was raised to task force alpha around 6am.

It was declared fire out around 9 in the morning. Declaring 10 million damage to structures and properties.

Incident is still under further investigation, according to the fire bureau. No reports of injuries and fatalities, the affected families stay in the evacuation area in the municipal hall of Tanza, Cavite. 

So there, an average sample news story. From the little details and some common sense, we were able to come up with a brief, yet, complete and comprehensive fire incident news story. But news writing is more than that; there are lots of other issues and considerations that need more discussion.

WITNESS HISTORY: The LEBRON JAMES Experience

My ticket

I heard from news programs of different TV channels that LeBron James will be arriving at Manila on July 23 at Mall of Asia Arena. This is sponsored by Nike and the way to get free tickets is to go to the Nike’s branch in Bonifacio Global City on July 17 starting at 12:00nn. They're giving away 2 tickets per person.

I am not that die-hard fan of basketball but because of my boyfriend’s, call him Mr. UnSub, enthusiast in basketball, he convinced me to watch Lebron James exhibition plays since it is a once in a lifetime event. Well, I asked, who is LeBron James anyway? Mr. UnSub told me that he is the King, the greatest basketball player in the universe since Michael Jordan. Alright, we will watch.

The night before the distribution day, I found out from the TV news and reports that there were already people lining up at the Nike Store in Bonifacio Global City. Most of the fanatics will sleep there and wait until the next day, when the store opens at 12nn. 

At 4am of July 17, Mr. UnSub called and woke me up. He fetched me at my residence at around 5am. Then we proceed to Global City. We arrived at the venue and parked our vehicle. 

Taken on July 17 at 8:20am, 
thousands of people line up for the stubs

When we arrived at the Nike Store, I asked one of the personnel on where is the end of the line. He replied that it was at the side of the Nike Store. We went there but later found out that we need to fall in line at the vacant lot at the side of Two Parkade to get a stub with number, and to my surprise I saw thousands of people in the line. 

The clock stroke at 12noon and until 2:30pm there's no information from the organizer or the execs of the shoe brand on when they are going to start giving those stubs.

4pm, Marshalls and some people already announced that they start to give away stubs by batch of 20 as they will have to go to the shoe brand's branch to claim the ticket once they already had the stub. From that time ‘til night, it was a slow process.

The picture below was taken after we claimed our tickets around 11pm of July 17.

Taken at Nike Store after a long day

On July 23, 2013 12:30pm we came at MOA Arena to finally witness the history. People were rushing to find a perfect spot to see the King LeBron James, and obviously, some guys worn their best outfit that matches their Nike shoes!

LeBron James with the PBA Players

When the show started rolling, the crowd began shouting the name of the King and taking pictures of him while performing. There are also PBA players invited to play with the NBA star. The noise of the audience echoes around the big dome, thus, it proves that LeBron James is such a legendary. This experience is another new to me. Though, the free tickets are only for General Admission, I can say that the satisfaction was gained; to be a part of this event is an achievement.

The audience at the Lower box Area of MOA Arena

Who Do You Believe? (Vhong Navarro-Deniece Cornejo Case)

“Were you ever a victim of date rape? Everyone's talking about the Vhong Navarro-Deniece Cornejo issue. Who do you believe? Did she just set him up? Did he really attempt rape? Why are some people victim-blaming? Was he just a victim of extortion?”

-(Cosmopolitan Philippines, www.facebook.Cosmopolitan.ph)

There are lots of speculations and hearsays about this controversial issue of It’s Showtime co-host Vhong Navarro who was allegedly accused of attempted rape and was beaten up in a high-end condominium in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, January 22, 2014.

The general public uses the social media as an outlet of their views, judgments and assumptions about the said issue. I have read some discussions of the supporters who sympathized and pitied the actor, while others detested and condemned Navarro with the toughest issue his into right now. Undoubtedly, these contrasting reactions from the viewers triggered me to spend time writing this paper and put my ideas into words.

Who do you believe? It is the typical question people ask when they are talking about Navarro's case. However, this question is quite hard for me to answer and basically, something that "I will not answer". Why? None of us have witness the incident; similarly, none of us know the real score of the story. We only based our judgments and presumptions from the things we heard in the news reports, from a friend, and from someone else's opinion on a Facebook post which I find undependable. Someone's version of a story may be altered or could sometimes be exaggerated at some point. Even the statements of the accused person and the complainant undertake a thorough scrutiny that takes time before someone is proven guilty. Thus, to conclude upon something you are not clear about is not a wise move; you might misjudge the persons involved, clash with other people's interpretation and end up being grilled. 

Consequently, it is evident that this prevailing scandal attests how we ponder about the information we received and how careful we are in making judgments. Now, would you mind answering the question? "Who do you believe? Did she just set him up? Did he really attempt rape?" The decision is in your hands.

*Photo credits to Google