Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Searching for Warmth

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Searching for Warmth
Genre - Friendship/Hurt/Comfort
Rating - T
Characters - Alfons Heiderich and Edward Elric

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Unwelcome and Unwanted

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Unwelcome and Unwanted
Genre - Hurt/Comfort/Angst
Rating - T
Characters - Noah, Edward Elric and Alfons Heiderich

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Follow the Fishes

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Follow the Fishes
Genre - Angst/Hurt/Comfort
Rating - T
Characters - Alphonse Elric and Edward Elric

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Waiting for the Darkness to Come

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Waiting for the Darkness to Come
Genre - Hurt/Comfort/Supernatural
Rating - T
Characters - Alfons Heiderich and Edward Elric

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction - Black Snow of the Airspace

Black Snow of the Airspace - A Fanfiction by Yujinli
Genre - Angst/Tragedy
Rating - T
Character - Edward Elric

Evanescence - Sick (Lyrics Video)

An unreleased track from Evanescence's self-titled album. Enjoy!

Evanescence - The Other Side (Lyrics Video)

This is the second single off Evanescence's self-titled album. Enjoy!

Evanescence's Made of Stone

Nothing's gonna stop me from uploading a lyrics video of the new track from Evanescence's self-titled album, "Made of Stone." Rocks harder than "What You Want," actually. :D

Mideo Cruz's Politeismo

“I wanted to provoke people into thinking. I titled my work ‘Politeismo’ which loosely translates into ‘many beliefs’ or ‘many deities.’ Throughout history, humanity has grown to create new gods and these are not always religious figures but concepts and objects. Some have taken to worshiping money; some see politicians as godsend. People create idols and these idols whether or not they’re deserving of idolatry or worship affect our lives and how we function and see the world,” -- Mideo Cruz


Everybody's angry with Mideo Cruz. And who the fuck is he anyway?

Here's the guy with his controversial work, "Politeismo."

This guy's the one who did the installation art, "Politeismo," which showcased different religious and pop culture icons "bastardized" to a certain level. In what level? There's that crucifix with a penis and there's that Jesus's image with a penis protruding from it. And you can just look at this picture...

Where's the penis? And where's Jesus?

And because of that penis-on-Jesus-face-and-crucifix, the religious and the Catholic Church is churning out words like "blasphemous" and "sacrilegious" like it's the 12th century.

His work suddenly aroused the debate whether the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) should take the installation art down or let it stay and whether should there be boundaries on freedom of expression and morality.

The artwork has long been removed and since then, I haven't heard anything anymore.

"Politeismo" was made ten years ago and was exhibited across the country (if not internationally) and nobody made so much noise about it. It's rather ironic that the creator was branded and tagged as immoral by his own countrymen.

Basically, I don't care whether the Church cries foul or if it was taken down by the CCP. But CCP should have left the fuckin' artwork alone in its place. If the Church felt hurt, then they should feel hurt, but they should not condemn the artist based on their interpretation of the work. They proclaim that they are Catholics and yet the way and speed in which they label the man as "immoral" and "evil" does not really show how a Christian must behave. I thought religion is supposed to make one civilized. If they really want Cruz to feel sorry for what they think is his "sin," then they could have tried a conciliatory approach and not pulling the big guns against him. They should not have pressured the CCP to put the artwork down (again, the soft State, hard Church drama) since it's CCP's mandate to showcase Filipino talents. With the warring approach that they did, they basically just inspired the artist to piss them off all the more in his next project.

As for those people who wonder what could have happened should Mideo Cruz "bastardized" Islamic icons, well, I have this to say: Sure, he'll be beheaded. But apparently, Islam forbids the use of icons or any religious images of anybody, be it Allah, Mohammed, or Jesus. So, there really is no point of analogy. It's only the Christian who like to use "representations" of their God.

Anyway, who dictates what is moral? When do we say that something is immoral? Could we believe these bishops who are as sinful as we are? I think not.

Even if Mideo Cruz intended to piss the Catholic Church off with his 10-year old work, still, it acquires a life of its own. And my interpretation of his work would be as good as the interpretation of those who are throwing tantrums. Apparently, these same people have taken the disrespectful route to tackle the artwork.

Bottomline. Respect.

Evanescence's "The Other Side", "The Change" and "Oceans"

"What You Want," the first single of Evanescence was just released weeks ago and I basically do not know what to feel.

I have so many feelings...

The track is heavy but it's poppy at the same time. I was expecting something heavier, but no, I was greeted with a mixture of drums and Amy's vocals (I'm not complaining) and I could barely hear the guitars. But still, the song has its saving grace like the orchestra in the bridge and the bridge itself.

Anyway, it's just the first single, and knowing Evanescence, their first single is always the poppiest, so I can forgive them for that. I am still so excited for the release of the album. It's already September, you see.

On with the other singles!

Forward, march!

Of course, with the advent of Youtube and people who, instead of uploading the live clip on their heads, would rather record it on their digicams, it's difficult not to stumble upon the other singles off their upcoming album. And based on what I heard, the third album would definitely be interesting.

The Change - This is difficult to sing live for sure (Amy's fucking up in some places), but still, I love the heaviness in it. The chorus is epic. The song is monumental.

Oceans -  If you think "What You Want" is already poppy, then brace yourself for this one.

The Other Side - This should have been the first single. Among the four songs that's circulating in Youtube, this one's the heaviest. 

Now that I have my own money to burn, I am so going to buy all their albums. I'm going to get the 16-track deluxe edition.

So hyped up for October!

Simple Joys of the Profession

A student sent me a message through Facebook this week telling me that her class won in the speech choir competition in celebration of the National Language Month.

And snore while doing it.

She told me that the class thought that I would have been proud if I was there when they won. She added that the class was more cooperative and they attribute this success to me during our own theater presentation practices last year. She ended with thanking me for being a part of their success now.

Oh my god, a fuckin' student remembers me... *hysteria*

Upon reading this, I was elated that even if a year has already passed, these students from the only pilot class I handled last year still appreciate and thank me for their success. But upon reading and rereading the message, I became sadder and sadder.

And was in denial.

It was because I hoped that they became champion when they were still my students last year, I hope that I was their teacher who won with them, I hoped that their success could directly be attributed to me. But no, I was only one of their many pit stops before they reach their finish line this year under another subject; another teacher.

But still, I comfort myself to the fact that they thought of me during their time of success, and one, one actually found the time to thank me not only for their success, but for the improvement of the whole class.