The Bangus Supremacy

Back in Blog

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:14:47 GMT

I'm back blogging on my wordpress site. The "new" features and design have been in for quite some time now (Yes, I've got a Twitter box, although I haven't quite gotten into it). Following the tradition of naming the blog after the latest greatest Jason Bourne movie, the blog is now named "The Bangus Ultimatum". Because it still has nothing to do with milkfish. At all.

The latest blog entry is my own diffuse rant on the latest death in the University.

Turning Point

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:54:37 GMT

An old friend of mine, the one who dealt in bullets and tragedy, told me that something seemed different now. He said that I have my old eyes back, the ones I had before law dulled and darkened them. And indeed there are times when I feel that I can see better now. Times when it seems like I can see through the most obscure structures and inspect the churning mass of forces beneath.

I know what’s happening. Those times are back for me. Those times of fire and poetry and war. My time with winter’s queen is over, and around me the snow is melting. A butterfly, small and ruby-red, has fluttered its wings, and a storm is now raging in the heart’s hidden cities.

Either that or I must be going crazy.

Whatever it is, I’m happy with it, and I’m taking it with me.

Seven Random Things

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 05:05:15 GMT

Got tagged by Nico. How it goes: disclose seven random facts about yourself. Here goes:

1. I can sleep anywhere. Hindi ako namamahay. Just give me a sufficiently comfortable, relatively horizontal surface, and I can sleep for the night. I owe it to a period in my life where my work involved lots of traveling, and I learned to just collapse out of exhaustion. Places where I’ve slept: a large box in a warehouse, the oily storeroom of an inter-island ferry, under the caterpillar ride of a rural perya, on top of my office desk in ABS-CBN, and many, many floors and rooftops.

2. I am soothed by streaming displays of real-time information. So I often find myself watching the Bloomberg channel even though I have absolutely no stocks in the market.

3. I once staged a “breakout” when I was in Grade One. I was bored with the lessons, so I convinced 2 classmates to escape with me into a wide and open field 2 or 3 kilometers from the school. When we came back, the teacher was nearly out of her mind. I was kicked out of the honor section for the rest of that year.

4. Junior prom night: I along with several geeky types found the whole thing silly, so I opened the school paper’s newsroom and we smuggled in some beer and pizza and had our own little party. This was not repeated in senior prom, but that’s another story.

5. I have a scar on my forehead. I got it when I was a kid. According to my parents, one day I put on a cape, climbed up a series of wooden crates, and then jumped. Instead of soaring (which I probably expected) I dropped like a rock and hit my head.

6. Thus: the earliest memory I can summon is the sight of a ceiling fan in an emergency room. I think I was lying on a table waiting for my forehead to be sewn close. Everything before that (including my alleged fall) is a haze.

7. Well, I’m out. I can only think of six random facts about myself. Isn’t that interesting?

i am interested in what rain, ruby, cai, dana, jona, joni, and golda have to say. so i guess i'm tagging you guys.

Now, Where Were We?

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:55:11 GMT

I guess I’m back. Officially. Five islands, three wounds, and half a dozen rolls of film later, I cannot satisfy my own compulsion to tell stories. Work was waiting for me the moment I landed in Manila. A matter of evidence.

The good thing about my little adventure: along the way: I realized that I am seriously pissed. I am pissed about the law and legal education. Pissed about environmental policy (or lack thereof). Pissed about politics. I am not talking about peeved and flustered here. I am talking about serious, white-hot fucking hatred.

And I saw two good friends. One, a creature of air, the other, of fire. They were right all along, and I guess I needed to tell them.

Bangus Not Dead

Thu, 24 May 2007 04:15:17 GMT

Cameron (surprised at the flame trim on House's new cane): Flames?
House: It makes it look like I'm going fast.

- "Family", House M.D. Season 3, Episode 21

Finally got around to upgrading my hosted blog to the latest, greatest wordpress version, and did a much-needed redesign (props to the Mandingo theme).

I've been blogging almost exclusively on Multiply lately. I enjoy the fact that I can wall off some posts from students and colleagues. The personal stuff. And boy, there was a lot of it these past few months. It can be tiring, though.

So I guess this is how it'll be from here on. Personal stuff that I'd want to share with friends stay in Multiply. Boring posts on law and technology and research and ethics and science go to my first blog. Hope to see some of you guys there.

And yes, the flames stay. :)

Victory

Tue, 08 May 2007 09:02:26 GMT

Well, I guess we won. It's a sweet, solid victory: A unanimous decision to issue what could be the fastest certiorari and mandamus writs in the High Court's history. Also, immediately executory. (So tahe that, Abalos)

I like doing casework for individual litigants at trial court level, but there's something about doing Rule 65 work that thrills me to no end.Maybe it's because most of the time, you're not really fighting for any identifiable personal interest, but for an idea, a policy, an interpretation of law and underlying values. You can see the edges of the whole enterprise from this vantage point, and, if you think you're up to it, push those limits forward.

Granted, this was NOT the party list case that I wanted H to handle. Perhaps in some weird-ass alternate universe...

The Pilot, by Thomas Haynes Bayly

Fri, 04 May 2007 01:57:42 GMT

And before you know it, it's May again. Pretty soon I'll need to start paying my debts to the sea. Did I mention earlier that the sea hates me? Yeah, I did.

"Oh! Pilot! 'tis a fearful night,
There's danger on the deep,
I'll come and pace the deck with thee,
I do not dare to sleep."
"Go down," the sailor cried, "go down,
This is no place for thee;
Fear not! but trust in Providence,
Wherever thou mayst be."

"Ah! Pilot, dangers often met
We all are apt to slight,
And thou hast known these raging waves
But to subdue their might."
"It is not apathy," he cried,
"That gives this strength to me,
Fear not but trust in Providence,
Wherever thou mayst be.

On such a night the sea engulphed
My father's lifeless form;
My only brother's boat went down
In just so wild a storm;
And such, perhaps, may be my fate,
But still I say to thee,
Fear not but trust in Providence,
Wherever thou mayst be."

Curb That Attitude

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:08:55 GMT

(day 2 of iblog 3. nayna and i are sitting near a curb outside econ, having a smoke)

nayna: i think you're starting to turn mean, emer.

me: i'm just stressed.

nayna: you pissed off a nun yesterday.

me: six years of elementary in st. mary's. i have isssues.

nayna: but still..

me: but still nothing. i'm not going to back down from a policy argument just because the other side wears a funny hat.

nayna: i think you just need to get back up on that horse...

me: i need to stop thinking about horses altogether. no horses, no horse-shit.

nayna: now that is just bitter.

me: yeah. also, tired. you're right. life is easy. love and dating shouldn't require the kind of 24-style crisis-management that i ---

(enter chris haravata)

chris: hi guys. can i take your picture?

nayna: sure. try to smile, will you?

emer: yep.

Dear Multiply Network,

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:03:44 GMT

Would anyone know of a Japanese language learning center within or near the Diliman area?

Yes, I got podcasts and e-books on the language galore, but I guess nothing still beats facetime with a native speaker.

That's Just The Way I Am

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 03:37:26 GMT

(morning. atty jj disini's office. jj is my boss)

jj: so who do you want to hire?

emer: i'm thinking joni cham.

jj: wait, don't we already have a joni?

emer: that's jonee, the programmer.

jj: ok.

emer: in fact, this is why we're hiring her. i can imagine our meetings now. "joni! no, not you jonee". "jonee! no not you, joni." it will be so much fun.

jj: you're...insane

emer: possibly. but it's too late now.

End O' The Sem

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:23:49 GMT

Yesterday I survived the last exam for the semester in law school (hopefully I'll pass). Today I finished grading my Communication Research students (they all passed, a couple of them even managed to get a "1"). Tomorrow I'll turn over my OLA cases to some bewildered junior (it's a rather interesting spread of cases, and I'll have time to linger around to see some of them through, but more on that later)

I imagine crossing some arbitrary line tomorrow. Things will change from this point on. Life must always have its cutoffs and pauses.

I will be quite happy tonight. I choose to be.

Probability Theory

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 01:22:57 GMT

What would your students or colleagues say- if they heard that you go to someone like me?

Way I see it, you extrapolate patterns from a seemingly random subset of observations. That sounds like probability theory to me.

And what about logic? Reason?

Good for deeply digging into confined domains. I’m after a more lateral search at this point.

Ah. And what are you looking for?

I’m looking for the future, Yolly. Now read me the cards.

I Forgot Where We Are Dining Tonight

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:50:43 GMT

(emer's office, afternoon)

emer: so the guys were thinking, that you no longer deserved to be a horseman.

remir: i- what!?! why?

emer: you didn't love 300.

remir: i said i enjoyed the movie!

emer: that's not gonna cut it for us. you have to swear fealty to its timeless power. or something.

remir: but-

emer: sorry. turn over your penis and walk away in shame.

remir: this is madness!

emer: madness? this! is! SPARTA!

1 of 43

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:10:18 GMT

I talk to Ayn's sisters. I tell them everything and they listen.

I have a couple of theories on why this is possible. They know my name. They know why I have to keep moving. They have the truest, fullest measure of what I've gained and lost.

They are family, and so I take my time.

I tell them about the first night after last year's greatest storm. I tell them about The Valkyrie, the warrior-girl and her sad eyes. Her strange and beautiful sister-friends. I tell them about the sea and the mountain. I tell them about the midnight drive, and the choice and the disaster. And not being able to move, being rescued, and vomitting and missing Ayn so terribly, that everything becomes so very small and irrelevant. I tell them of the years, and the forty-three things. And the most beautiful bookmark, now destined to rot in the darkness and the cold.

They are family, and so I can afford to weep.

They offer very little, in terms of judgment and directive. They let me fall as far and as deep as I must, knowing for themselves what lies at the bottom.

The older one states a declaration. Her words are lost now, and I can only trace its wake in memory. We've kept her alive all these years. Through our lives and our choices. With each retelling we have inherited her will and her heart. We have to be careful now - and yet very happy - with the particle that we hold. We owe her that much.

We have to be careful now. We've got to be happy. I could not walk nor speak, before those words. And now I am running again, stabbing at the dark with laughter.

Professor Te on Newsbreak

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:21:57 GMT

Reading Professor Te's articles on the Erap impeachment was one of those things that helped me decide that I ought to get into law school.

This guy was my teacher in Criminal Law 1, Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, and Evidence. All the lawyer-as-in-lawyer, law-as-you'd-always-imagined it subjects. He's my director and supervising lawyer in OLA. By sheer osmosis, whether I like it or not, I won't be able to shake off the impact he'd have in my future practice.

Things are looking good so far, though. See for yourself.

Horse Banter

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 08:26:45 GMT

emer: well, she *is* cute.

remir: whatever, you're so gay.

emer: what!?! everybody you're the gay one.

remir: bakla.

emer: ulol.

remir: ...

emer: ...

remir: okay, seriously, are you gay? because if you've been holding out on me, we are so missing out.

emer: no, i'm not.

remir: oh. ok. me neither.

iBlog3 Wants YOU!

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 05:17:15 GMT

We are looking for a dozen (or so) volunteers to help us out during the event itself. Blogger Wranglersreception and check-in of registrants, attendees and speakers. ushering. some gophering. some crowd control and food distribution. miscellaneous people stuff. Astromech Droidscables, ports, the whole data-plumbing thing. prepping projectors, laptops, and storage media. monitoring network access. miscellaneous computer stuff. Camera Cowgirls/Cowboyscatching those special moments. the drama. the fun. a speaker's faux pas. we'll give you freedom to roam. you can play depressed, tormented artist. all your pictures are belong to us (no not really, but we'd really like to borrow them all, with full credits to you).Interested? Contact Pia Rieza at 0915-4064906 / 0922-5568810; piarieza[at-sign]gmail.com

Always The Bright Side

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 11:07:51 GMT

jon: well...

emer: well.

jon: the good thing is -

emer: what?!?

jon: you get to know how it feels to be a depressed, tormented artist. except, you know - minus the talent and the motivation.

emer: i'm feeling cold, jon please hold me.

jon: fuck you.

Future Perfect

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 06:55:01 GMT

There are things for which there are no witnesses, and no records, but remain true, though all the gray years pass.

Once there was a day, almost perfect. This was how it was.

The girl gingerly skipped her way through the narrow, stony path to the lake, and the boy followed her.

He was worried that there would not be enough daylight for this adventure. There was a time when he was always right, and always sure. She was so happy in spite of everything, that it warmed his heart. But in those last days, loving her so much made him afraid. Afraid of the future. Afraid of the world around them.

“I have a surprise for you.” She called him by his chosen name, his truest name.

“What is it?” he tried to sound excited.

She took his hand and pointed towards an old wooden boat on the lake shore. Its oars were cracked and splintered in several places, and it smelled of rot.

“Let’s go to the other side!” she dared him.

“But why?”

“We’ll find out! We’re going to the future and it’s a big place!”

“So the boat travels through time?”

“Sure! Just like everything else! It also goes through water. Come on!”

And so he followed her, and they went forward, to the other side of the water. And since there are no witnesses, and no records, for all we know they could still be there. On the future’s distant shore, forever.

Almost Perfect

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 01:44:14 GMT

There are things for which there are no witnesses, and no records, but remain true, though all the gray years pass.

Once there was a day, almost perfect. This was how it was.

The girl gingerly skipped her way through the narrow, stony path to the lake, and the boy followed her.

“I have a surprise for you.” She called him by his chosen name, his truest name.

“What is it?” he tried sounding excited.

She took his hand and pointed towards an old wooden boat on the lake shore. Its oars were cracked and splintered in several places, and it smelled of rot.

“Let’s go to the other side!” she dared him.

“But why?”

“We’ll find out! We’re going to the future and it’s a big place!”

“So the boat travels through time?”

“Sure! Just like everything else! It also goes through water. Come on!”

iBlog 3!

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:53:06 GMT

iBlog, the largest and bestest free-as-in-beer blogger's summit in country, will have its 3rd iteration on April 13 to 14. That'll be two days worth of sessions and sharing and just plain eyeballing with other bloggers.

Last year we had two-hundred bloggers crammed in UP College of Law. This year we're shooting for 300 to fill the more spacious UP School of Economics Auditorium.

To join iBlog:

1. Go to the iBlog Registration Page.

2. Fill up and submit.

3. There is no third thing.

Registration will entitle you to reserved seating and mealstubs and schwag. If you can't register on time, pass by on the event itself anyway.

Oh, and I'll be giving a long boring talk on (yawn) bloggers and ethics on the 2nd day of the event. I still have no idea what I'm supposed to say. But hey, I've had worse days in open court. I'll figure something out.

The Not Available to Everyone Visayas Chronicles Part 4: The Mountain

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:58:25 GMT

the mountain spoke with the green of its forests, and the traveler talked back, in whispers, so that no one would catch him.

i know why you are here, on this island. you hoped to buy some peace with the blue.

i just had work to do.

all the seas are one, and no matter where you are, the seas will never trust you again.

i’ll try to win her back. i gave her the messages.

a temporary truce, at best. but you were right to climb up here. every mountain is different. i am better than your cold and cloud-addled mistress, up in the north. i do not ask difficult questions.

yes. i guess you are warm and welcoming. charming, even.

we can talk. you’ve seen my name on that map. and i know your name. your truest name. we mountains talk to each other. you have promises inside you.

let’s not go there. look, can i just take pictures? i’m sort of on vacation, and not in any mood to go all existential.

oh. okay. hey check out this little marsh. and look – a brahminy kite!

The Not Available to Everyone Visayas Chronicles Part 3: The Sea

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 07:57:41 GMT

I was shivering, and nauseous. Motion sickness. Or the withdrawal symptoms of an addiction. I had become too attached too quickly. Rolled down the slope too fast. And now that I’m away and choking with work, I could barely function.

It is a difficult thing, trying to step back. Emotions build up to a considerable mass, sometimes they grow so big they have their own gravity. Eventually you’ll need a significant amount of momentum to reverse its trajectory. Often there is never enough energy.

But there is power in memory. There are wells of it, deep and old. Out there, in the loathing waters, I needed only to say one name to invoke the heart’s alchemical properties: Sorrow into anger. Anger into force. Force for movement and focus and courage. This too, was an addiction, I realized – and sooner or later I would have to get rid of it.

The Not Available to Everyone Visayas Chronicles Part 2: Things to Do in Bacolod While You're Dying

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:07:05 GMT

Watch the UP Law Moot Court Team
Talk to a teutonically depressed old friend about love and betrayal, the decline of the fighters in the mountains, and the feasibility of mounting a 50 cal gun on the back of an owner-type jeep without having it flip at every shot.
Talk to a cheery old friend about how important it is to have people who are willing to pull you back from the brink.
Celebrate with the moot court teams from other schools– great match!
Commiserate with the moot court team – so unjust!
Look for an internet café
Multiply
Drink “Happy Mix”, the mysterious, traitorous, and yet guaranteed no hangover concoction from Bacolod
Eat every chicken part imaginable

Manila

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 08:56:18 GMT

I arrived yesterday afternoon, and the sky was sweet and filthy. I got shafted by a cab driver, dropped off some pasalubong, and in the law school waiting for me were at least two new cases, and a report/presentation due the next day.

So happy to be back.

Statistically, a great trip. I may have an additional job (non-evil in nature, plus free travel) over the summer. I got to meet friends old and new. I got up to a mountain without going existential. And for the first time in a long while, an encounter with the Sea that did not end up with me humiliated or bodily injured. And I guess some pictures (I'll post 'em as soon as I can scan 'em).

More stories soon.