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You Need To Shape Up, Bohol

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Part of our one-month Philippine vacation last year was to visit Panglao, Bohol, for a few days. Diana and I had fun, of course, because we were able to spend some quality time with close friends whom we haven't seen for years. There was one unforgettable experience, though, when we went to a public beach.   When we arrived the tide was already low, so we spent our time drinking beer and eating taho on the sand. Eventually two of our friends needed to go to the restroom, but we noticed that the free public restroom was closed (on purpose, we suspected, even though there wasn't anything wrong with it). So the only choice was to go to one of the private houses, which charged 40 pesos per person -- just to take a leak.  Our friends were naturally pissed off (pun intended), so they trudged off to look for other options. Diana, however, didn't have the option of trudging off, as her bladder was about to explode. She didn't mind paying 40 pesos. I told her I'd...
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Pinoy "Utang Na Loob" Is Obsolete and Has No Place In Any Family

Your children didn't ask to be brought into this world. It's your responsibility to feed them, clothe them, put them through school, and make sure they can eventually fend for themselves. Your kids aren't an investment. And you don't decide to have children just so someone can take care of you in old age -- that's selfish. If they end up doing that, well, good for you. You don't get to choose who they marry either because, well, that's creepy. You can give them advice, yes, of course. But it's still up to them if they want to heed that advice.  Children who grow up being conditioned as the breadwinner of the family will become bitter and rebellious, and this shouldn't be taken against them. That's a natural response. There are exceptions out there, though -- take Sarah Geronimo for instance, a virtual saint who did everything her mom asked of her. Still, after everything -- and by "everything" I mean hundreds of millions of pesos, lol -...
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Let's give comic books, and the movies that are based on them, a fair shake

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I grew up on Pinoy Komiks and both DC and Marvel comic books.There are well-written comics, and there are badly written comics. Just like there are badly written novels. And badly written poetry. There are well-made movies that are based on comic books and graphic novels, just as there are badly made "arthouse" films.  I love Stephen King's work. The guy is a great novelist, period. Sure he writes horror, and he's also a great horror writer, but he's a great writer -- period. Some "literary" writers who take themselves and their work too seriously have labelled him a hack, which is unfair. Some "arthouse" film directors and critics have decided that comic book movies -- even the well-written ones -- are a steaming pile of cow dung, which is unfair. Oh well, whatever makes them sleep better at night.
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What's In A Name?

Mexicans (well, Spanish speakers in general), have trouble recognizing the name "Mark," especially if you pronounce it the way it's originally pronounced in English. Heck, one time the waitress who took down my name wrote "Mora" on her list, and we almost lost our breakfast table to a particularly rude family. 😂 So now, officially, I'm Marco Patricio here in Mexico. 😎
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Parents, Keep Your Underaged Kids Away From Facebook

A relative recently tried to add me here on Facebook. I didn't accept his friend request, though. It was for his own good. Seriously, Facebook profiles -- especially the private ones like mine -- should have a visible content- or age-rating system. Honesty? I'd rate my page an R-18. If you're below 18, I wouldn't accept your friend request. Again, it's for your own good. All of you know the kind of weird shit I post here. Tell me I'm wrong. Lol This is just friendly advice for parents (I hope you don't take this personally): please keep your 12-year-old kid away from Facebook, for God's sake. I post bastos crap all the time, but that's nothing compared to all the predatory shit around here on social media.  I'd say Facebook is even more damaging than the most violent movies or video games (well, come to think of it, there's LinkedIn too, but that's another story -- or post). And that's putting it lightly. (This blog post was, obviousl...
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Mary Grace Piattos

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With the way things are going, I'm genuinely surprised that we aren't seeing "Pining Garcia" (pronounced "Pining Garsha") or Tiyo Paeng (pronounced "Chu Paeng") among the names of supposed confidential funds recipients. Those are two of Joey De Leon's go-to names in his movies, and are still 100% more believable than the uninspired crap that Sara Duterte's minions can ever come up with. 😆 (Heck, give me Andrew E's Binibi Rocha any day. Lol.)
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Late-Stage Capitalism Sucks

People who don't know me personally, especially those who haven't worked with me, will take one look at the anti-AI posts and anti-work memes that I've been sharing here on Facebook, on Instagram, and even on LinkedIn (LOL) and immediately label me as shifty and unreliable (work wise). It's funny because I have former bosses here on Facebook, those who have a sense of humor of course, who just laugh at those posts. I have a strong work ethic, as both those who've managed me and those who've worked with me can attest, and I'm easy to get along with; but what I mainly have a problem with are those greedy capitalists, period. When you think about it, this should be EVERYONE's problem too. You can disagree with me all you want, but I do believe that we're living in an era of late-stage capitalism: wealth is increasingly becoming concentrated in the hands of a few billionaires and mega corporations, and basic commodities are becoming more expensive and th...
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