MUSICAL AGITATION 2 (Featuring Capercaillie)

This Celtic (Gaelic) Scottish band's songs exemplify Scotland's culture, both old and new. Their sound intertwines traditional Celtic and folk music with contemporary and global styles. Despite being named after a wildfowl native to Scotland's forests, the music of Capercaillie is no mere bird call, especially those songs that have become my all-time favorites. Embodying the Celtic qualities of Scotland, they are what they are to Scotland, as Enya is to Ireland, I think. Here are some of my favorite tunes of theirs...

1. Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda ("Alexander, Son of Gallant Cholla")
"Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda" is a Capercaillie song that I have always regarded as one of the quintessential tracks of Celtic music, in my opinion. The recorded version is already ear-candy for me, with the primally rousing quality of the bodhran, mystique of the plucked strings, haunting vocals of the band members, and magical blending of flute and fiddle. It was only recently that I realized it was a song about a Scottish warrior from the 15th century. And for a long time, I've been looking for a video on Youtube featuring a live performance of this song. The more recent ones lack that "umph" that I find in the recorded version. Good thing, I found this:

 2. Rann Na Mona
I always make this song as my happy tune. Every time I hear this, I feel like I'm brought to some coast in faraway Scotland in the summertime, which is apparently the topic of this song. And I imagine there would be merrymaking and dancing. I love the flute/tinwhistle solo by Marc Duff in the middle, as well as the unison of Karen Matheson's singing, Manus Lunny's bouzouki, Charlie McKerron's fiddle, James Mackintosh's drums, and Donald Shaw's keyboard. :3


3. Coisich, A Ruin ("Come, My Love")
Creepy but intriguing intro for a song about calling to one's lover. I did not expect an upbeat tempo, until the bodhran (hand drum) started pattering. Karen Matheson's style is similar to Enya's and I love the guys' backing vocals and the bass too. And it was the first time that I saw a violin/fiddle being plucked THROUGHOUT AN ENTIRE SONG.

* * * * *

Apparently, this is my second Musical Agitation post. There will be more to come, if I find the time. In the meantime, good luck, godspeed, God bless!

Progress on R.A. 10175

Ang mga tuko, buwaya, at hunyango
...
...
...
...
...
balat-sibuyas din pala.

Because Cyber-Crime Law Gets Implemented Starting Today

The Jerks - "Rage"

A Note on Lawyers

There has always been a running joke about lawyers and it claims that honest ones are an "endangered species in heaven". The same can be said of honest lawyers here on earth. Yet, despite being "an elusive and endangered species", honest lawyers DO EXIST, as with the case of Atty. Romeo T. Capulong.

I first heard of "Ka Romy", as he was fondly called, during the cases of the Batasan 5 solons (Reps. Casiño, Ocampo, Maza, Mariano, Viray) who were put through difficult times by the Arroyo regime back in 2004. I've always had contempt for bureaucratic geezers with their pretentious formal attires and their elitist leanings, but I think that this man was neither bureaucratic, nor pretentious, nor elitist (despite his elderly and formal appearance). And I admired him as a role model for being so.

In my point of view, he was a simple man who only wanted to serve. He offered legal services pro-bono to his less fortunate clients. Nonetheless, I can tell that he was an excellent man, considering the fact that he became a member of the UN's International Criminal Court, a senior legal adviser to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), a founding chairman of the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), and an organizer of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC).

Coming from a family of tenant farmers himself, Atty. Capulong handled cases involving the marginalized sectors with whom he had an affinity for. He stood up for the rights of the “little people” – peasants, workers, urban poor, human rights workers, social justice advocates, political prisoners – who have nothing to defend themselves against the “big bullies” of society. Ka Romy even worked with the PILC’s young law practitioners who share his solidarity with the “little people” by offering their pro-bono legal services to the poor and oppressed. He was most notable for handling the high-profile case of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipina domestic worker who was executed in Singapore. He also handled the cases of the Martial Law victims, “comfort women” of World War II, Hacienda Luisita workers, and the Morong 43 health workers.

His passing away is definitely a great loss to those who uphold social change, true justice and peace, and genuine democracy. Even so, his life of service, integrity and solidarity to the people is already a noble legacy that has set an example of excellence for the current and coming generations of real defenders of the people, changers of society, and champions of social justice.

Even though he is now gone at age 77, his ideals will live on. With this, I raise my fist in a protester’s fashion to salute the great and late attorney. Indeed, honest lawyers are an endangered species on earth, with their population diminished by one. Perhaps Heaven just added Ka Romy to its small quantity of honest lawyers up there.

I [HAD TO] QUIT... -_-

Yes. I resigned from our student publication.

To summarize the content of my resignation letter: I quit because nowadays I'm not doing well with my journalistic writing, my academics, my relationships with other people (including my family), and other areas of my life, as well as keeping my health well. I'm quitting because I don't think that I'm doing well in my duties as a campus journalist and as a student. I quit because I've failed the publication more than once in small, but important matters (that could have led to bigger, more critical problems). I give up because I think that I can no longer give my best for the publication.

Resigning from an editorial board position and from the publication altogether... Just one of the rare instances where I just outright give up. And I am not attributing to other people the reasons why I am giving up. I am quitting because of me. (And I mean this in a productive, positive manner of self-criticism)

I have to quit in order to get myself some time for self-recovery, self-redemption, self-rebuilding, or whatever  this process is called. I have to quit because I need to quit for my own good and for the good of the student publication I've served.

But it does not mean that I'll just forget everything I've been through with the publication. Until this instance of my resignation, I've stayed in it for more than two and a half years. I've been through good things and bad things, but my experiences in this publication have tempered me to become an improved person with a sense of humanity.

I owe a lot to the student publication I've served. It was because of the student publication that I knew myself better. I made new friends, reconnected with old ones, and even expanded further my social consciousness and critical perspective through the various gatherings and competitions I've attended with the publication staff. It was because of the publication that I practiced my writing, seeking ways to improve my literary style. I even earned my first award in campus journalistic writing because I was part of it. And for many other good things that I have difficulty recalling,  I am very much grateful for the publication.

However, I admit that I never wanted to be a journalist in the first place due to its rigid conventions. It was poetry that stimulated my writing. And for a long time, I have been out of touch with that literary craft. I need time and space to breathe, to roam, to ponder, to grow. And that, based from my own experience, is something I cannot gain from being contained within the walls and corners of a student publication office.

Yes, I quit being in the student publication, but it does not mean that I will quit writing. I just needed a paradigm shift, a change of pathway... Even if it means saying "goodbye to the yellow brick road"...

Wait a minute, that kind of reminds me of an Elton John classic...

Not just waterproof...

 The Filipino spirit is waterproof,

but it is not just waterproof.

It is also fireproof,
windproof,
earthquake-proof.

It is shockproof too,
like a tibak's body being struck
by the truncheons and shields
of the riot police
amid a rally at Mendiola.

Heck, it is bulletproof as well
no matter how many Filipinos
die in this great nation
by gunshot or at gunpoint,
aside from other causes.

Most of all, being dominated
by the corrupt, the megalomaniac,
the greedy, the bloodthirsty
and all other sorts of dangerous,
but albeit outright fools...

the Filipino spirit
is FOOLPROOF.

LIFE JUST PLAYED A MIND-F**K ON ME...

Today is the birthday of two buddies of mine...

\

Hannix from UP Tacloban

"Nang" Miloy from UNO-R HS (now in USLS)

Both are taking up Psychology. Both were born on the same date (Aug. 17, 1994).  Both are girls. Both are "unique" (misinterpreted by other people as  "bangag"/"weirdo") due to their somewhat similar character, interests and hobbies. And both became my best buddies just last year.

Coincidence? I think not! >_<