Flash Back 2012

The top search terms that led visitors, mainly from the US, into my blog involved an impending end of the world by the year 2012. It appeared that my entry of more than a year ago had been one of the top search results for queries about "2012" and "end of the world." Actually, the most common search string would be one in denial: "2012 is not the end of the world." That made me chuckle, though the funniest for me was "how to prevent the end of the world in 2012." For some time, I actually topped the "how to prevent" search results!

I had mentioned my earlier post, the scientifically sound predictions for 2012: the alignment of the center of the Milky Way with the Sun as seen in the sky (the effects of which are open to speculation) and the height of solar activity leading to solar storms (that can damage satellites and power grids, among other things). Other events converging on that year, or specifically December 21, has fired up the imaginations or fears of the general public. Some of these events have been mentioned in Wikipedia. There are the astrological speculations on the said alignment. Also, the Earth might have a close encounter with some heavenly body. On the other hand, there could be an "elevated consciousness," a "superintelligence," a "singularity" on that point in time. Or, with talks on global warming, there could be an environmental/geological upheaval and depletion of resources, which could lead to war. The comprehensive collection of Dire Gnosis adds to the mix aliens, Kali Yuga (the Indian equivalent of the fallen state of humans) and predictions from indigenous tribes. My own explorations of the Internet have led me to The Fourth Turning which claims a cyclical nature of Anglo-American history. Of course, around 2012, there will be another crisis, but the book is optimistic that a new generation of Heroes would rise to the challenge. In a future entry, I'd discuss more on generations, but for now Wikipedia can provide an overview.

In all, the journey towards 2012 is either that of destruction or of enlightenment. Then again, maybe nothing will happen, but that will be a big boring disappointment.

The convergence from various sources: cultural, religious, historical, scientific and pseudoscientific, with some of them arriving at a 2012 conclusion independent of each other, could be quite compelling. It's no wonder fiction isn't far behind. The Wikipedia link on 2012 also provides references in the arts and popular culture, but anime is not listed, so I'll provide two.

The first one, RahXephon, has explicit references to 2012: its timeline indicates a re-emergence of a lost civilization a week before December 21. The rest of the story features battles between music-powered giant beings in a conflict between humans and the race of the lost civilization. I hear it's a mind-bender, but since I haven't watched this anime, I comment no further.

The second one is a real classic: Macross, also known in the West as Robotech (an adaptation that branched out to its own story). In its timeline, by 2010, humanity was almost wiped out in the first Space War with an alien race. Two years later, the first space colonies leave Earth to spread humanity and culture throughout the galaxy. The concept of fighter planes transforming into robots leading to spectacular dogfights in outer space captured my attention to its awesomeness. Its breakthrough use of music and war romance also made it attract a wide variety of fans. I actually stole the title of this entry from the collection of music videos made in line with the launching of the first colony.

Twenty-five years worth of movies and TV series later, the franchise is back with its latest offering, Macross Frontier, which tells the story of a colony traveling to the center of the galaxy by the year 2059. Two stills from the special premiere of this latest eye-popping animation series now adorn this blog entry.

-oOo-

Speaking of catastrophic events of cosmic proportions, Mars had a close scare when news of an asteroid impact came out last month. This asteroid, named 2007 WD5, passed by Earth (as close as 7.5 million kilometers) and was on its way to the red planet. On the event of an impact, this 50-meter space rock would produce a crater on Mars similar to the one in Arizona.

There actually had been one other documented celestial collision. Back in 1994, astronomers pointed their telescopes, Hubble included, to the Jupiter as 21 fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy smash into the gas giant (if just one of those chunks had struck Earth, we're goners). The difference this time, aside from Mars being a terrestrial planet like Earth, is that there are Martian probes in orbit and on the surface. These could check on the impact and return richer data, which could prove valuable in our own defense against falling space rocks.

Observations crossing over the New Year increased the probability of impact to as high as 3.6%. This wouldn't amount to much, but reaching the same level of probability of impact within the next hundreds of years is already rare among other Near-Earth Objects. Further observations within this month, however, reduced the chance of impact to 0.01% and the asteroid would deal Mars a close shave as it passes to within 4,000 to 26,000 km. Oh well, too bad there would be no interplanetary fireworks for January, but I'd still be counting down to 30 January 2008 18:55 UT+8, the estimated time of impact or closest encounter. Blame it on the movie Armageddon that showed how countdowns could be cool, especially when it counted down until the last second to catastrophe.

By the way, there would be a bigger one which would also give earth a close shave at around the same time.

-oOo-

One movie caught my attention while I was scanning the list of films for this year. It was a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, a 1951 film about a visitor from outer space named Klaatu and his invincible robot. I had watched the black and white original two years ago via Google Video (the movie's old enough to be part of the Public Domain, thus can be distributed for free) and was amazed at how they pulled off the "primitive" special effects. It could still induce the desired audience reaction fifty years later! Perhaps the iconic theremin music helped. The movie's message for peace had retained its lasting impact from the Cold War to the present War on Terror.

What got me really amused with this remake was that Klaatu will be played by Keanu Reeves. I could imagine him turning Klaatu into a Neo, and with a possible change in the script, might actually do some kung-fu fighting again. I don't know if the producers would include a 2012 angle to this one, but I'd be watching this remake, even if only for the lulz of seeing The Day the Earth Stood Still get remade into The Matrix.

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Fantasia (Part 9)

Previous parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Daniel awakened to a flooded neighborhood. Fortunately the floodwaters were subsiding in a few hours, the rain and winds were gone and only the dark clouds remained. However, the village would still have to clean up from the mud and debris left behind by the overflowing river. Obviously he would not be allowed to roam around the city, so he made himself useful in the clean up. He fumed when rain fell and delayed everyone's work.

Red was returning to his own house with food for the next two days. He was supposed to buy food from whatever enterprising store would open that day, and he had braced himself for the high prices he expected from Merchants. Fortunately though, some Knights had been galloping around Ceres fulfilling their chivalrous task of distributing food for the suffering citizens, and he got most of the essential goods for free. The flood didn't threaten his neighborhood, but a sudden downpour caused flooding on the road back home. Good thing he decided to ride a carriage. He saw Dominic and Crag outside the house collecting rainwater, for the well was muddied. Not far away, Helen was soaked up in the rain taking a bath. Red remembered Helen asking him if it would be alright if her sister Emmie could also stay in his house. Emmie was also a guest for this year's interscholastic visit but was assigned to a different group. The returning homeowner went out from the carriage and inquired, "leaving so soon?" Helen nodded. Red showed his bountiful catch (it wasn't a purchase) and insisted that she stay for breakfast.

After breakfast, Red noticed the long face on Mervin. Oh please, he thought, Helen will be gone for just a few hours! Dominic was also uneasy, for Angela was taking too long at the Box of Conversation. Harvey was checking up on her. Later on, Dominic appeared to be confiding a plan to Mervin who seemed warm to it. Kindred love-struck spirits. The two then approached Crag who seemed amused at whatever that was. Amusement, Red thought, they'd be needing a lot of that, stuck as they were in the house until tomorrow. He had learned that the boats and carriages that would bring all the guests home would come to the Pillars tomorrow morning. He had also chatted with Gorgon who lived by the same street and got the details on the concluded tournament. The entire household struggled with boredom for the entire afternoon. The thought of working on scholastic requirements actually passed their minds and they shuddered that such a thought ever came up.

Daniel had managed to sneak out his house later that same afternoon. He reached the street leading to Red's house, but he suddenly stopped on his tracks. He'd been moving along by sheer compulsion: that was how he sneaked out and how he hurried to Red's place. Yet now his compulsion told him to stop, and he couldn't argue with it. All of a sudden, there was another downpour, but Daniel had brought his cloak for such eventuality. The street at Red's house became flooded, but not that bad as to deter Daniel's boots. The rain strengthened though and he doubted if he should go on. Gorgon saw the motionless cloaked figure out in the street and called out, "hey Daniel! Out to see Helen? She's not there; she went to her sister."

Thunderclap. Daniel waved Gorgon off in what he supposed was a gesture of thanks. He stood a few moments longer on the flooded street. His cloak had kept him dry, yet he was feeling the rain. Then he started moving again towards Red's house: might as well check on the others. He tried knocking on the gates, but the rain was louder. It was no use, he surmised and then walked away.

On the way home, a carriage sped along close to Daniel. Inside the carriage, Helen wondered whether the cloaked figure they passed by avoided the splash. Beside her, Emmie saw what happened and exclaimed, "that guy didn't even dodge it; he could've been ran over! What's up with him?"

At Red's house, everyone figured it was best to nap the boring afternoon away and the thunder failed to rouse them, except for the homeowner himself. Lethargy kept him from getting up though. A short time later, he strained his ear to determine if it was knocking he heard outside. Finally, the sound of hooves and carriage wheels had him scurrying to the gate to welcome Helen and Emmie.

The long afternoon nap had everyone wide awake later that night. All were engaged in a second round of card games. Since acolytes don't gamble, Dominic was a spectator, but he seemed just as anxious as last night's losers who were hoping to win back their Zennies. His eyes glanced at Angela from time to time, just as Mervin would glance at Helen then Emmie then back at Helen again. On the other hand, Angela kept on glancing at the Box of Conversation wondering when Harvey would summon her for a talk.

A short while later Helen and Emmie took their leave for they were too sleepy, being the ones who didn't nap that afternoon. With that, Mervin made a sharp look to Dominic as if accusing him of some delay. That startled the acolyte and he rose abruptly.

Dominic cleared his throat. "Ah, guys, I was just thinking, uhm..." Emmie continued to the bedroom, but Helen turned around to listen, to the delight of Mervin. "That since we, uh, didn't have a farewell ball this time, uhm..." Dominic stared at Angela, who glowered at him in bewilderment. He was taken aback, but found his composure to gesture to Crag to get his guitar. Suddenly, the Box of Conversation lit up and chimed. Angela jumped towards it. Sure enough, it was Harvey.

"Thank goodness you're up!" She whispered breathlessly to Harvey, but that didn't conceal to everyone the relief she felt that he finally made his summon.

Dominic remained speechless at the turn of events. It was Mervin who screamed in frustration, to everyone else's amusement. So that was it, Red thought. He noticed that Helen had gone to join her sister in bed and wondered why Mervin hadn't taken the initiative this time.

As Dominic, Mervin and Daniel lay in their respective beds, thoughts of where they had gone wrong and what might have been kept them from sleeping soundly.

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Disabusing Some 2007 Notions

The year 2007 is over, but before we "move on" to a new one, I would like to touch on some events and notions of this year that, thanks to the media, have been blown to ridiculous proportions.

First up is the media circus swarming over the death Marianet Amper in Davao City. They say, based on a note she left plus a cursory examination of the household, it's the poverty that had drove the poor girl to suicide. Perfect! The news producers must have thought while leaning back on their plush seats to process the situation. This angle should be hyped up because it is such a "convenient truth" for profit, if not for power.

Later on, when the discussion among ivory towers died down a bit, the infamous mayor of Davao, perhaps more as a defense of his economic handling of the city and a defense of political allies, launched an investigation to see if Marianet has been a victim of an abusive father. Some evidence actually pointed to this angle, but, oh, this would ruin the sensational alignment of an innocent death, poverty, hopelessness, corrupt administration and farcical economic gains! An alignment that could finally provide the spark to topple the said corrupt administration and prove once again the awesome power of the Philippine Free Press and avenge the murders inflicted upon their kind.

Don't expect the issue to be given its proper conclusion, though. Later still, the mutiny at the Manila Peninsula, the spark for a power grab, have fizzled out and some media personalities have been detained for processing. "Processing?" The government should never have the monopoly of double-talk! Forget Marianet, this is a personal attack against media!

Too bad they haven't even considered my theory that what have driven the girl to suicide are the earworm voices of Sean Kingston and JoJo warbling the lyrics below to a pleasant beat and chord progression that is familiar to everyone since Ben E. King:

You're way too beautiful girl
That's why it'll never work
You have me suicidal, suicidal
When you say it's over
Damn all these beautiful girls
They only wanna do you dirt
They'll have you suicidal, suicidal
When they say it's over

I'm way to cool for ya boy.
That's why it'll never work.
I'll have you suicidal,suicidal.
When I say its over.
Damn all these beautiful girls.
We're only gonna do ya dirt.
We'll have you suicidal, suicidal.
When we say it's over.

-oOo-

Speaking of the Manila Peninsula stand off, there is this particular defense for media's actuations before, during and after the incident at the Pen. Most pundits have been debating about the right to information vs. the duty of the police and police overkill vs. police SOP among other things, but there was one statement that gave most some pause: if none of the media people stayed put, Trillanes, Lim and company might have been killed. Most have apparently accepted this as a valid line of thinking. Indeed, in exploring this idea one might assert that if there was complete media coverage of Ninoy's arrival back in 1983, he would never have been killed.

This, however, is an oversimplification because it does not take other factors into consideration. Consequently, it requires a lot of assumptions, which could be telling. First it already assumes that someone is out to kill somebody. Otherwise, it assumes that the mutineers will shoot it out to the death. Still otherwise, it assumes a poorly trained and undisciplined SWAT team. Bottom line, there appears to be a distrust to the authorities (may they be de facto or de juris, with or without moral ascendancy), or an effort to create mistrust, or, further still, pandering to a possibly distrustful public. Perhaps it is but natural for media to be critical of the authorities; therefore, this is acceptable.

Other assumptions would be that the killing would take place inside the hotel under their watchful eyes. This one is dismaying, because it lacks imagination. Rather, it somehow reeks of naive self-importance: the mere presence of media can decide who lives and who dies. They should have considered that media can be used and have been used to broadcast murder and that their complete coverage would be rendered powerless in saving lives, instead creating a more potent "chilling effect." Oh sure, the killer may--repeat, may be caught on camera, but they are assuming the murderer will allow him/herself to be identified, an assumption that could cost the very lives of the media people. Ah, but they are willing to die for the right of the public to information, aren't they?

It would have been better for all if they railed against the curfew. Maybe, a legal attack wouldn't prosper since the administration has done its homework and has conjured a legal block, fair or otherwise. But the opposition could have injected more malice to this overreaction. In the end, the media preferred discussing about themselves. In addition, compared to the stand-off and the curfew, the media aspect has more gray areas and touches on their area of expertise; thus, it has more fodder for further analysis.

-oOo-

In the end, I'd like to share what I've written in the Philstar Feedback Section (subsequently deleted by the moderator, I wonder why) back when the debates were raging about the media handling of the Manila Peninsula stand-off:

Philippine media is like a pendulum swinging from authoritarian control to anarchy. Marcos started this pendulum's swing by holding the bob to the side of state control, and when his iron grip was forced to let go, the bob swung wildly to the opposite side. Shall the media then slowly swing back to being nothing more than a government propaganda arm? Who could be the great leader whose hand shall still this swinging and restore the bob to its stability at the center?

-oOo-

Now for some lighter stuff. There is a decor hanging on our Christmas tree that appears not so "Chistmassy." For me, it looks more like a key chain. Then the thought hit me: why not hang on the Christmas tree key chains that can pass as Christmas decor? I'm thinking of the shiny "gold" and "silver" metallic kinds, but of course any key chain may do. It can earn your tree a second look from visitors. At the very least, you save on buying additional Christmas trinkets and at the same time find a way to put those key chains received every Christmas into good use.

(Disclaimer: To those who have given me key chains, be assured that this sentimental chap has remembered and will remember the good memories associated with the gifts. It's just that there are not that many bag zippers and sets of keys where I can adorn with your key chains, so they stay in storage until the ones currently in use get worn out.)

Now if you see this phenomenon next year, bear in mind that you read it first here in Highway Drift.

-oOo-

I've written before about the pathetic excuse for carolers exhaling sounds that could hardly bring anyone the tiniest bit of Christmas cheer. Fortunately for this Christmas season, I've encountered none from their kind. Some singers in fact deviated from the tiresome medley of Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and this I've much appreciated. Also, there are still jeepney carolers, but this time, they thump their tin can drums with a more coherent rhythm and none wish for the death of stingy people.

One caroling tactic I've noticed this Christmas is the Stake Out Caroling. That is, the singers stay by an empty house and spring into action when the homeowner comes. Of course the unwitting recipient of Holiday songs no longer has the option of ignoring the carolers. At least they're not staking out to rob someone.

A prosperous new year to all!

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