Mark as Unread

The people behind the upcoming Sinulog festival never even tried to hire a proper design agency for the logo. They resorted to AI slop, probably so they could pocket the money. Disgusting.  Pope Leo has always been a vocal critic of AI, but here we are. Ironic because this is supposed to be a Catholic celebration. It always grates on me whenever other religions criticize the Sinulog, but the foundation behind it always seems to give the critics enough ammo. This is no exception. I've always blamed the greedy capitalists for unleashing this AI blight upon us, but I've also believed that we can do our own part, no matter how small, as long as we let our principles guide us. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I've always believed that designers, writers, teachers should be paid well. Which is why I always tip my tattoo artists, I still subscribe to a paid news app, and I still pay actual human tutors to help me with my Spanish, and never resorted to AI apps for conversa...

Jonvic Remulla says a forceful attempt to arrest Bato dela Rosa could result in up to 10,000 deaths. Hmm . . . sounds familiar. Where have I heard that logic before? Ah, yes. Back when he was president, Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly argued that confronting China over its nine-dash line claims and enforcing the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award from The Hague meant risking going to war with China. Different circumstances, same familiar argument: We can't enforce the law (in Jonvic's case) or assert our rights (in Digong's case) because the consequences will be catastrophic. Really?  "Catastrophic" my ass. "Risk going to war with China" my ass. "10,000 deaths" my ass.  What can I say? UniTeam logic. Or better yet, palusot. 👊🏼 ✌🏼

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...

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 -...

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.

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. 😎