Wednesday nostalgia...

...on break-ups et al.
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


The weather is not being good to me, not feeling well today... and a friend of mine chose this 'fantastic time' to ask me what my fave "break-up song" is - ever! Can you believe it... that I was actually asked that question... and with the added "ever", too?? So, what was my friend implying... that I was a "break-up veteran" and therefore I should have a fave break-up song? =) Oh, boy... I didn't realize I'm projecting that aura of a "serial break-up girl"! =) Hmmm... if I knew it, my friend has been sulking over the Jade-Andy break-up in "My Binondo Girl"... and I'm just unlucky to be the first single person that crossed my friend's vision. :)

But, just for the record... nope, I'm not - a break-up veteran! :) Even in my professional affiliation, I'm kinda loyal and enduring y'know. :) For how long? How does 20 years (and that's it) sound? Stay tuned! :) Anyway, if one has to have a fave break-up song (yeah, I know that sounds weird, right?), then mine would have to be this...

"It must have been love... but it's over now."

...from the early '90s and by an '80s act, of course! "It must have been love" by Roxette of the "Dressed for success" fame, among many others. Roxette was one of the reasons why Sweden was "a must" destination for me. This "break-up song" of theirs was from the soundtrack of the 1990 phenomenal box office hit, "Pretty Woman". And, just for the record, too, "Pretty Woman" is one of my all-time fave chick flicks (Academics are allowed to have a few, too, right? :)). I think that Richard Gere was really gorgeous, too, and that he made the 'salt and pepper' look truly sexy in that film - long before George Clooney decided to mesmerize and leave many of us breathless with exactly the same look. And Julia Roberts... ah, those legs... and that figure! She was indeed a pretty woman - in this film... and in that other chick flick hit in 1999, "Notting Hill", too.

Now, with all those '80s/early '90s sentiments, this post can be considered "nostalgic", right? Right! :)

Alright then... so, back to work? On a holiday? Ugh! Do I have a choice? :( Loyal and enduring - that's me. =) So, no... no choice - for now.

***
Video credit: Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

***

Somebody got their mojo back...

...Roger that! :)
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


So, what did I tell ya a few days back? The Swiss Maestro has gone out of the limelight after his US Open semi-final choke-up against Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament, and his Davis Cup stint in Australia with the Swiss National Team. He then returned with a vangeance! He mounted a "mini-comeback" in Basel, which he followed up with another win in Paris. And now, after the other three in the "Big Four" of men's tennis - Djokovic, Rafael Nadal (who was thoroughly beaten by the Maestro himself in their round-robin, 6-3, 6-0), and Andy Murray (who dropped out of the competition due to injury) - fell one by one in the O2 arena in London as the Top 8 in men's tennis clashed in the ATP World Tours Finals, Roger Federer claimed his record-breaking sixth year-ender trophy against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga! And he did it in three sets, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 that effectively engaged the thrilled audience.

The King is back! Therefore, happy days in tennis are here again, woohoo!

Uhm, ahem, of course, there are those usual RF "yeah-I-know-I'm-awesome-thanks" talk, just very mild this time though. In fact, he sounded a bit philosophical and nostalgic...

"It's one of my greatest accomplishments...
I love this game... I'm not gonna wake up suddenly one morning and say I don't like it anymore... moments like this, it's priceless."

...but, hey, the man just proved everybody wrong again - that his career was over when he turned 30 last August, especially after that Wimbledon QF exit via a wasted two-set lead against Tsonga, which got repeated in the hands of Djokovic in the semis at the US Open. Obviously, he worked so hard to get his mojo back after that, and renewed his commitment to the sport that he loves. His stamina and fitness all throughout the Finals was amazing! How did he regain all that again?? Ah, "it must be love" - for the game, indeed! So, I guess he deserves some "dang-I did-amazing" moment there... just not a la José Mourinho. =) It's one of "his things" that us, fans, have grown to accept about him - part of his love of tennis, and his amazement of what focus, a desire to win and play beautifully on court could do. He balances it with awesome sense of humor and cuteness, too, on other occasions anyway... so, I guess, it's fine. Nah, it is fine!

And so, to celebrate RF's ATP year-ender victory, I rummaged through my fave RF-related YouTube videos, and found one that contained two of my biggest faves in the whole universe - RF and chocolate!

"Swiss... tennis player."

Well, actually, this is so much better...

:D Yowzer!

***

Alright, work, work, work... work!

***
Video credits: Thanks, YouTube, for the videolinks.

Saturday photo...

Prof. Syed S. H. Rizvi - tough... and topnotch!

There are days when I just feel like slacking off a bit and just go through the motion at work... sometimes out of extreme exhaustion, sometimes out of comatose work-related inspiration... most of the time, out of frustration - a precipitate of mediocre and poorly-functioning outdated work systems (if there were "working" systems at all, that is). When the temptation to slack off creeps in, I close my eyes and pray... and then images of the wonderful learnings I have been so lucky to have experienced over the years and the endearing way by which the faces of my students light up as they learned something new in the classroom or in the lab play like a slide show in my head... and that swats away the temptation to slack off.

In the "slide show" are mentors, who have been good influences in my teaching career... if you could call what I do now as that. One of them is Prof. Syed S. H. Rizvi. If there was anyone who has pushed me to my limits... and a few inches farther from breaking point, it would have to be him (and he alone, actually) - my daunting professor at the Institute of Food Science in Cornell University! At many points, my corner in his lab became a "valley of tears", as I tried to comply to the demands of the Program he's drawn for me, which was extremely TOUGH... but TOPNOTCH! Many times, I was on the verge of giving up, almost believing that, really, there was such a thing as "unconquerable, impossible, insurmountable"... and a PhD Program in an Engineering discipline - in an Ivy League institution - was it, and that I was unworthy to even just step in it, much less worthy to conquer it! But the challenge of overcoming the impossible was so strong - he made it so, too - it kept the fire of courage burning in me. I wanted it - unconquerable though it may seemed! His daring strengthened my resolve.

In the beginning, when he challenged me to a duel of intellectual substance, I cowered... like an unworthy good-for-nothing that I thought I was. He didn't stop. He kept pushing, challenging, taunting, hurting - reducing me to nothingness. I think I have called all saints and angels to come to my aid everytime I stepped into his office for yet another "duel". :) Until, one day, I discovered strengths I never thought I possessed... and they all came out as products of extreme and brutal hardwork and perserverance! He pushed, I found the strength to push back! He reasoned, I found the wisdom to reason back. He challenged, I found the courage to engage him in a fiery discussion of hard science and engineering - and I wasn't the first to blink either! Until one day, from some kind of divine intervention, I won the battle... and he himself handed me the prize! :)

Finally, he accepted me as an "equal", of the same level of capabilities as him - and that is a lot for me. I pushed through the boundaries, and I got through! In many respects, he helped me through, too. And the rest of my time in Cornell was an enjoyable learning and glorious days of fascinating discoveries in the scientific realms. And my little corner in his lab became a reservoir of joyful learning. And that made me finally understand what he once said, "your best mentor is also your worst tormentor." Needless to say, he was both to me! :)

Today, it feels truly wonderful to look back, to have been under his supervision... he, the scientist and engineer - professor par excellence - highly accomplished, but remains focused in maximizing his intellectual gifts, these days, for bringing greater global understanding through science and technology... and I would be extremely happy to try and be able to accomplish a little fraction of what he has accomplished, and still accomplishing to this day. Therefore, maybe it is time to move on and follow that path.

***

The World's Call Center Capital...

...the Philippines is. But at what price to some?
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


I've been thinking about students who work part-time in Call Centers here in Metro-Manila. They work at night and then attend lectures and lab classes during the day - some of them, attend tough Programs, such as Chemical Engineering even! And as I watch some of them zombie their way to school, it makes me wonder... when do they get to sleep? When the going gets tough and they're confronted with a choice between a College degree and keeping their lucrative jobs in the Call Center that feed them and their usually financially struggling families, the choice is usually painful for us, educators - they drop out of school. There are some who brave the towering task and continue attending school... and they usually get hammered by the tough demands of their Academic Programs, too. And how can they hope to survive when even full-time students struggle to meet the tough demands of their Programs? And "softening" those demands will weaken the value of the education, the very same "prize", that they are working so hard for, and therefore, that is not even an option - shouldn't be an option.

I was almost ready to curse that "lure of the big money" in those Call Centers that, I usually think, rob the Philippines's Science and Technology sector with would-be talents. And then I found this article on New York Times....

Hmmm... so, those kids, as they struggled to juggle their Call Center jobs and the tough demands of school in the hope of reaping the promise of a better life for themselves and their family, are actually contributing significantly to the Philippine economy? And yet, there's not much help out there for them to ensure their success in getting a college degree. Is that fair?

***

My suggestion... if I could be allowed to suggest something, how about scrapping the old-fashioned "block sectioning" that is still adopted in many universities? Block sections, especially in the majoring/specialization years, leave the students very little options - it's either they take the morning session or the afternoon session... and that's just about it. Therefore, students who work part-time have very little hope of taking courses required in their Academic Program that match their work schedule, too. This situation is mostly true in private Universities where students try to go to, despite the higher tuition fees, to avail the top-notch education that they seek. And yet, the "unfriendly" block section system makes it hard - close to impossibility - for them to juggle work and school. And when they're not able to enroll the full load of a "regular" student in a block section, they are tagged "irregular" - a stigma that doesn't help their plight - and they are destined to spend longer time in the University, mostly joining "petitioned classes", which are more expensive for them... and most of them are the ones who struggle financially, too!

Is it hard to remedy this? I don't think so... in fact, I think that this is the whole point of having on-line enrollment - let the computers sort out the schedule puzzle for the students. It's just a matter of making them, computers, do their job that way... otherwise, what's the point of computerization when the enrollment system is still as limited as manual enrollment? Then "computerized" would just be some fancy term, and their operation an added expense - with very little added benefits - for the students! "Modenization" and "progress" are empty words unless they actually worked, y'see!

***

Champions League cardiac duel...

...between Italy's best... and, uhm, Europe's best! Oy!
==========================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo


"Friday (work) madness" is brewing, so let's make this quick! Therefore, let me say, first of all, that the AC Milan vs. FC Barcelona UEFA Champions League fixture in San Siro earlier this morning (Thursday, Manila time) was a monster of a match - in terms of excitement! It got me spewing early morning coffee at many points as a torrent of yellow cards swept the Italian pitch - defining the mood, speed and INTENSITY of the duel between Zlatan Ibrahimovic's current Club and immediate former Club!

Let me say, second of all, that the Barça away kit was, uhm, so
Four from Barça's three generations of superstars
celebrating Xavi's Messi-assisted goal - such an
awesome sight to behold!pretty (hehe... y'know I need to say that, don't ya?)... uhm, even on Sergio Busquets who usually wears the Barça color with very neutral effect even when his ballhandling, er, ballfooting (huh? hehe...) in Barça's midfield can be extra-ordinary, and especially on Lionel Messi who made the minty cotton candy-ish shirt a total "pop hit" in a classic only-for-the-"big-boys" tumultuous affair of footieful brilliance! Aaawww! :) The kit in question also made Cesc Fàbregas worthy of some pause-and-stare in the midst of all that testosteronic intensity despite Cesc's painful (for us, fans) "hair confusion" phase ( I sure wish that it's just a phase). *sigh* :)

The scoreline, AC Milan 2-3 FC Barcelona, doesn't really sum it all up. The three times that Barça took the lead and the two times the San Siro residents equalized, and all the round leather's close encounters with the net in between, were the big dramas that made the duel between the two giants at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza quite unforgettable... and another day of no-sleep for football fans in this side of the world - but very happy, nevertheless, thank you very much! :)

***
It all began with a tackle...

The dogfight on the pitch started with a bold tackle by, ahem,
El Capitan, Puyi, flying
kick con flying curls.who else but Ibra on Barça's captain, Carles Puyol. As Puyi rose from the Italian pitch amidst that mighty roar from the crowd... and under Pep Guardiola's not-so-surprised stare, the Catalan Captain shrugged the Italian dust and signaled the seriousness of the match. Xavi, rising to the challenge, was not content with 'just' playmaking that night. He relentlessly skimmed the peripheries of the midfield, darting past Milanese defenders in unstoppable determination in front via a Messi-created space - on a hunt for a goal. With Thiago Alcántara behind, beside, and around him, more than ably covering the voids he leaves in the midfield as he penetrated the Milanese defense, Spain's most current "century man" flirted with fire, taunting the mighty Milanese defenders every so often as he tried to slot the ball in the Milan goal. And then, at a moment of sheer daring and
Ibra... on the loose, footloose
dangerous.brilliance, the Maestro caught a Messi long-distance volley via a Seydou Keita cross in front of the goal and pressured Mark van Bommel to slot an own goal, putting Barça in front - where they belong! Woohoo!

While Keita tried to put a fence around Ibra all night, the "Tower of Terror" got away from Javier Mascherano at one striking glory point as the Swede chased a Seedorf cross that Puyi failed to intercept, beating Victor Valdes somehow with a fantastic kick-on-the-run that found its way in Valdes's net - an equalizer for Milan! The economy-ravaged, post-Berlusconi Italian crowd roared! Game on!

***
Killer kicks, blinding speed, some misses... and yellow cards!

Now that both teams expressed their singular intention of winning the UEFA Champions League Group H top spot via a 1-1 scoreline, they stared one another in the eye coldly in a nerve-wracking intensity, matching each other's kick with a kick, speed por speed... and yellow card por yellow card! But, hey, there wasn't any temper-losing incident from both sides, just a great display of tactical duel - which was an awesome way to play the beautiful game!
Kevin-Prince Boateng, he who
left Victor Valdes breathless.There were heartbreaking misses, such as that Fàbregas uh-oh moment - a waste of Thiago-created brilliant chance - and that Robinho say-what???! wasted chance at the very mouth of the Barça goal, which he sent over the net when he could have just tapped it in nicely in a clinical finish! Oh, well....

Ah, and then there was that Messi "spot blink" (hehe...) that fetched him a yellow card from the amused referee, Wolfgang Stark. :) But, of course, La Pulga completed the opportunity via a Xavi-was-brought-down-on-the-pitch confusing situation with a goal on his second try, putting the Catalans in front once again. And then that awesomeness of an equalizing goal by Kevin-Prince Boateng that left Eric Abidal, Boateng's marksman on Barça's danger zone, speechless... and Victor Valdes shaking his head in disbelief! It left me astounded, too, with a whispered, but full of conviction and sincerity, "dang, awesome"! =)

Just when I was about to declare Boateng's goal as the best in the
Ah, Barça... just oh-awesome!match, Lionel Messi, in his phenomenal brilliance, navigated a crowded Milan danger zone, slipping the ball through with incredible dribbling and speed through the narrow thoroughfare, and found the discretely positioned looking-for-a-kill-like-a-panther Xavi in front of Christian Abbiatti, who rejected a number of Catalan attempts with touches of brilliance of his own. In a split second of breathtaking football - Barça style - Messi laser-pointed the ball to Xavi, and the Maestro slotted the ball with zero hesitation and 100% awesomeness! Dang, too fantastic! Milan didn't have an answer to that, and so the BEST OF EUROPE took the top spot in Group H. Woohoo!

While Massimilliano Allegri and his men competed absolutely
El Maestro, the Man of the Match.fantastic, the well-deserved win went to those who are some notches more brilliant... who ran and attacked relentlessly on the pitch - Barça! :) But all clubs expect that when they find themselves on the same pitch as the Catalans... Europe's best run a lot, they take ball possession to heart in an attacking football strategy that is heavily anchored on tiki-taka, they link up on the pitch like a single body that packs tremendous cohesive force (although lately, they're exhibiting some failure in that division via a Guardiola endless combination "experiments" this season. Ah, but what do you do when you have so much talent in your stable, so much options in front of you? You'd experiment, too, wouldn't you? Dang, I would!). AC Milan went into the match with the right game plan, the right attitude, and the right execution with incredible football artistry, too. But in a duel of absolute brilliance, played in good spirits and sportsmanship, the better team emerges victorious! Visca, El Barça! :)

***
Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks.
Video credit: Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

***

Ah, it's game on in London! Roger that!

Two big hurdles cleared, and the high notes reverberate at the O2 arena!
===============================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo


And so, fresh from "winning ugly" against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in their three-setter encounter last weekend, El Maestro demolished the Spanish Matador, 6-3, 6-0, at the Barclays ATP World Tours Finals in London. You can say that again, the most awaited encounter between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the O2 Arena didn't turn out to be a nail-biting event. Instead, it did turn out to
Win #2, and into the semi-finals. Roger that!be an exhibition of the "old" Federer breathtaking genius on court... except that it was at the expense of his biggest rival - the warrior from Majorca. RF was going for a kill right from the first set, which he took without much resistance from the other end of the court. And Nadal can't seem to recover from the mighty hiccups that was choking him in the first set, cannot mount a comeback in the second set. Relentless RF didn't give him a chance either, taking the set with a murderous scoreline, 6-0... and winning the match in a little more than just one hour! Oy! But as Nadal said, the world doesn't stop turning today that he got defeated by RF, or something along that line. Sure, sure... 'game on' then! :)

Of course, RF's brilliant performance against Nadal a few hours ago is reminiscent of his dominance of men's tennis in the previous decade. Then again, we, RF fans know that once he decides to take his tennis to high gear, there is no stopping him... especially in non-Grand Slam tours where age-related stamina is hardly a factor. He hasn't lost his incredible touch, even when world ranking suggests that. It's just a matter of deciding that he wants all the numbers that match his genius... or nothing at all.

Uhm, is that Team Djokovic scampering for last-minute anti-RF strategy there? Well, good luck to them! :)

***

Wednesday nostalgia...

...reaching out across the multi-disciplinary interface, and over to the "yummy side".
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


Uh-hmm, yeah... it was around the "ber-ber" months of 1999 (whoa! 12 years ago already!) when somebody took this photo of myself...

Lund University - out there... where engineering became "yummy" for me.

...yep, I did live for a year in that lovely Scandinavian country - Sweden - with a population of 9 million (way smaller than the population of Metro-Manila!), including he who is the all-time "clay specialist" of men's tennis, Bjorn Borg, they who made us equate videoke with "Dancing Queen", Abba, and he who is the current tower of terror on the football pitch, Zlatan Ibrahimovic! :) It was there where I first attempted to specialize in an engineering area that is more benign to Mother Nature's faltering health, long before "green technology" has become the "it" thing in processing technology.

So, yeah, I went to Lund University, the pride of Skåne, with the idealistic hope of meeting "the next" Norman Borlaug
The little studio that I "shared" with Vincent van Gogh during
my Lund University days (1999 - 2000).who seeks to feed the world, this time, through the wonders of processing technology. No, I didn't meet the next NB. But I did meet 1/3 of that trio that wrote what an MIT grad student described as "the bible of membrane fouling". It was there where I shared a well-kept office pantry, coffee table and a few ideas with Gun Trägårdh of the "Marshall, Munro and Trägårdh" membrane fame! :) Therefore, I could say that I learned membrane technology from one of the very best in the world! Boy, it feels good just to be able to say that! :) Of course, I have yet to maximize the benefits of that learning, and help spread the joy of that experience - skimming Gun's head. Therefore, time to move on from where I am now.

More on Lund University, the wonderful people I met there, and the beauty of Scandinavia some other time... 'cause, yep, work beckons - again! Tsk!

***

BTW, have you ever looked forward to some big event, worked so hard so you could be a part of it - day and night, even on weekends, foregoing what could've been "life-changing" social events (and giving up blog time, too, hehe...) to do so - and really happy about it, too, just because your effort seemed to be paying off with excellent results, and that heightened your excitement about participating in that "big event"... and then when the big day finally arrived, you weren't even a part of that event? That you were reduced to just a mere spectator - an outsider - rather than an active participant? And the only excuse people could offer is a "glitch" in communication line... yes, in this day and age of ridiculously advanced communication mega hi-ways, too? Did you feel crushed? Yes? Well, I know how that feels now.

Uh, nah... that has nothing to do with Lund University... I had a great time there! :)

***

A couple more things before going back to work...

...'cause these are 'rather important', y'see. :)
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


I do need to post this here... just because I really need some football sustenance, and to make a case to sports (cable) channels to air live La Liga coverage here in Manila. That David Villa monster header via an Isaac Cuenca brilliant cross is something that should be written in gold ink in football history books for extreme awesomeness! And it did collect the fourth goal for FC Barcelona in their 4-0 win against Real Zaragoza in Camp Nou, too. Here, see for yourself...

Now, if that didn't make those Manila sports cable channels owners, who are obviously huge golf fans, waver in their devotion for their kind of green - at the expense of football air time - then... maybe they should get a bigger TV/computer monitor, so they'd have a better appreciation of so much beauty - on my kind of green? :D Otherwise... I therefore conclude that I should move to Spain - soon! Olé, olé! =)

***

Just when I was swearing to high heavens what a beautiful tennis Roger Federer plays, tennis bloggers are, all of a sudden, talking about how RF 'won ugly' against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in their match at the Barclays ATP Tour Finals in London yesterday! :)

A-ha, so now the Maestro has learned something new... regaining composure against Tsonga when the going gets tough. I hope he remembers that lesson learned when he faces Novak Djokovic at some point. :)

***
Video credit: Thanks, YouTube, for the videolinks.

Pardon me, but I can't be bothered with work right now...

...'cause I crashed some parteh last night and I just have to talk about it!
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


The event was "RevAmp", the University of Santo Tomas Chemical Engineering Society (ChES) Officers Induction, Acquintance and Pageant Night, and the place was "Area 05 Superclub" at Tomas Morato in Quezon City.

***

So, they're not just about Chemistry and Math, and Thermodynamics and Transport Phenomena, and research and innovation, huh? They're all about these, too...

"RevAmp"... rev up and amplify!

One moment, they're rockin' the Dean's List, another moment they're rockin' the dance floor like this...

Seriously? Those are more than just "class presentation moves", you guys!

...and they don't look all that geeky when they're hittin' the dancefloor either. Well, at least, not all that much... ;) and even if they did, it'd still be awesome 'cause one moment they're impressing you with a cool pipeline design, another moment they're surprising you with some, er, interesting dance moves! Haha...

"Get down, get down, and move it all around..."
Yowzer! :)

Yep, they work hard in the classroom and in the lab... we (the faculty) see to it that they do. They know we mean serious business in there and they always have to give their best effort in everything... or else, they're out! Seriously!

Last five minutes in a 120-minute exam, and no one can be bothered to rest his/her pen... except those who already 'passed out' from the 'torture'. :)

And when they party, they party hard... only because we make sure that they do, too! :) No excuses for mediocrity when working, no exception in fun when playing... and that's engineering for ya, ChES style, bebe!

***

So, how do we know that fun is stretched to the max? Well, when there's pageantry...

"Engineering is revolution, amplified - innovationwise, fashionwise, funwise!"

...dancing and singing - lots of both!

Aw, are these the same kick-ass engineering girls who are all-business and rarely smile in the classroom? Wow!

And there was a lot of endearing shows of camaraderie, like this...

Y'can tell they had fun rehearsing this together, can't ya? Too fun to watch, it made me want to join in! :)

...and this...

Uhm... they were probably too busy to rehearse. Hey, but they did it anyway - that's the spirit, ladies! :)

...and this, too.

Huh? Uhm, it's easy to tell, they were hoping to just wing this... or else suffer in shame - together! =) Fun!

***

Ah, what a wonderful evening it was!

One day they will dance their way out of the University as they say goodbye to us. That's inevitable...

"Aw, Mickey you don't understand, you take me by the heart when you take me by the hand..."

...and it will be another moment of mixed feelings for us in the faculty: sincere happiness for seeing them accomplish a HUGE goal, and are finally ready for the "real world"... sadness because we know we'll miss them - dearly. Even when a new batch of kids come in to take their place in the hallowed portals of our dear alma mater, one group is never the same as the other.

Hey, but y'know, there's still time to enjoy their presence in our midst... and we'll do exactly that! Alright then... Cebu, here we come! :)

***

Speaking of awesome day... CONGRATULATIONS to our new licensed Thomasian Chemical Engineers!!! Thanks, Batch 2011 for the good performance! :)

We're VERY PROUD of you! We'll see you soon, guys! :)

***
Video credits: All videos are mine, but thanks, YouTube, for the videolinks.

Beautiful game, beautiful men...

...uh, and "that other game" with "that other man", plus a bit of the not-so-beautiful.
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


So, even when Lionel Messi and his star-studded Argentina side cannot put away Bolivia in their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers fixture last Friday, drawing the match at 1-1 and making it 1-1 at 11/11/11, there is something else that keeps Barca's little genius in the limelight... and it isn't just the Albicelestes' 2-1 win against Colombia a few hours ago, following the Bolivia hiccups, either. The world leader in football boot-making business - Adidas - launched yet another innovation recently: the "smart boot", the newest version of adizero f50. And the best footballer of this generation, no less, is endorsing it. And so, La Pulga's adorable smile is all over the net traffic, causing congestions in a few places in the www... and vena contracta effect in many (female) hearts! Oy! :)

Here, get a load of some footie-bootie awesomeness...

"It's football perfection!"

Feel free to replay... it's totally understandable to feel the urge to do so! And that's talking through experience, too. :)

***
Xavi is a "Century Man"

Of course, this news made me flip with excitement. :)

Sure, there's a good number of awesome geniuses in the world of football
Xavi, a century of kicking beauty for Spain.today who are all worthy of admiration (... and more!). But, for a long time now, I still cannot make up my mind between Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández for my BIGGEST favorite in this generation's football greats! :) Add he who is World Cup smooth assassin, Andres Iniesta, in the mix... and ranking them becomes close to a headache - the sweet kind. The Barça trio of geniuses are in the 2011 FIFA Ballon D'Or Award shortlist again - as in the previous year when they occupied the top three spots in the final race for the award given to the best player in the world.

Although Messi leads by a few yards in my personal "favorite race", I've never stopped wishing great things for Barça's playmaking guru par excellence, Xavi. And so, when he received his UEFA International Centurion medal for his 100+ appearances in the Spanish uniform, I was so happy for him that I celebrated with two new pairs of shoes (good bargain, too), a haircut (eat your heart out, Cesc!), foot spa, and manicure/pedicure! :) Forget hat-trick, I did a manita of celebration for the high priest of the Barça formation's heart on the pitch... and it felt good! Yaay! :)

Felicitaciones, El Mestro! :)

***
The Kings have new clothes

The Spanish National Team - the reigning Euro and World Champs - launched their new kit... and it's predominantly red, as in La Furia Roja, indeed! Very nice! What's nicer is that the launching went with this...

Campeones del Mundo... that's all you need to understand. :)

Hmmm... sumptuous, isn't it? Santa Claus should consider working out and getting into a La Furia Roja kit, don't you think? Then, many Mommies (and non-Mommies, too) would be kissing him, Santa baby! :)

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And the Swiss Maestro hits the "usual" high notes - on court

Yes, yes, and yes! Of course, I've been paying attention... from the Davis
Paris... not a last tango, but a first time for RF.Cup in Australia - after the US Open - to the indoor tournament in his hometown, Basel, Switzerland, and last week's Masters event in Paris where he downed his 2011 Wimbledon QF conqueror, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga! Yes, I am aware that Roger Federer is slowly mounting a "mini comeback" in the Barclays ATP Tour year-ender in London featuring the Top Eight of men's tennis, which he won last year. It's just that work is "in the way" - as usual... and, the sports (cable) channels here in Manila do not cover so many of the Masters and ATP tours. But they do follow all sorts of golf touring events in every corner of the Universe where there's expensively mown grass! Ugh! I know, I know, it's a matter of preference, and I shouldn't fret over the unfairly wider coverage of golf even when it still remains to be an "elitist sport", as far as I'm concerned... not to mention, it isn't nearly as beautiful as either football or tennis. Once again, a matter of preference....

Going back to RF... he is still the BEST today, methinks. At 30 years, the oldest in men's Top 10, he still possesses the loveliest of games - classic in its absolute beauty! His is still the most fascinating
The RF grace and elegance... that beauty with
which the gentlemen's sport should be played -
in my book.game, technically and tactically. He hasn't lost his breathtaking grace on court, too... and it's always fantastic to watch him after all these years, and a few places below the #1 in the World spot in the rankings. And because age-related stamina and shifting personal priorities, being the father of a fast-growing adorable twin girls, are slowly limiting him to best-of-three-sets matches, savoring his sumptuous tennis is fast becoming a rarity - almost a luxury these days. In fact, Andy Murray overtook him in the rankings recently because the Swiss Maestro had skipped a number of ATP and Masters tour events, mostly in Asia, :( losing a lot of ranking points in the process, while the Scot ammassed points, enjoying the limelight, mostly without the other Top 4 players. It still doesn't necessarily mean that RF's tennis has faded to ugliness as he, yet again, slipped down the ranking - definitely not! And I still looove him - always will! Roger that! :)

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Oh, and there's that PacMan issue

While, to me, boxing is not a "beautiful game", some boxing events deserve blog time. :)

I'd be the first to admit that the Philippines' "national fist", Manny Pacquiao, was not in his usual brilliant form when he went to meet Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in a slugfest in Las Vegas last Sunday. Pac-Man took a lot of beating from the Mexican -
Ow! That hurts (the ego)!just a thin margin more than the beating he gave the obviously in-form, in-the-zone, win-against-Pacman-starved Marquez. However, Pac-Man stood his ground. He stepped into the ring to defend his crown, albeit ill-prepared... and defend he did. While Marquez did absolutely great trying to take away Pac-Man's crown, he didn't do enough to show that he actually, and without a doubt overpowered the Pinoy fighter, just because that Pinoy fighter can be brilliant even in his most lackluster form. So, I think, the fight should've been a draw. But because the judges made the puzzling decision, I think it isn't fair to be hurling unkind words to Pac-Man no matter how bad we feel for Marquez... and feeling bad for Marquez is totally justifiable, too. It's painful enough that, for the first time in a long time, the Philippines cannot celebrate in a real victorious glee after a Pacman fight.

So, let's have that rematch ASAP... and move on, okay? :) NEXT! Floyd Mayweather, Jr.? Huh? Still busy eating chicken? :) Oh well... In the meantime, forget those trips to the recording studios, Congressman Pacman, and mind your boxing first - please!

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Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks.
Video credits: Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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