It's a ridiculous world

The other day frayed mentioned that recent local news has been “ridiculous”. I just don’t know what she means.

(1) From last week's Inquirer:

SENATOR Juan Ponce Enrile is considering suing Commissioner Ricardo Abcede of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) for saying he was a crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

“I will give this commissioner the chance in the proper forum [to prove his claim],” Enrile, who served as Marcos’ defense and justice minister, said Wednesday.

Asked what forum that would be, he said: “The only proper forum here, once reputation and honor are available for scrutiny, is the courtroom.

What can possibly be ridiculous about a distinguished public figure defending his honor against a blatant falsehood?

(2) Many of you probably thought that some terrible accident had befallen “Environment Secretary” Angelo Reyes, so invisible has he been in the wake of the Guimaras oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters to have hit the Philippines. However, I am glad to say that he popped up looking hale and hearty at a meeting last week to encourage foreign mining companies to destroy the Philippine countryside and carry away its wealth exploit resources responsibly.

(3) Meanwhile in Nueva Vizcaya, the world’s “largest flag” was unveiled—as a result of a direct command from on high:

“With our prayers for almost a year and a half, the Lord spoke to us, saying: ‘How can I love you if you yourselves do not even love your country? The first thing that you should do is to lift your flag because it has a spiritual meaning’,” she said.

Unfortunately strong winds made a massive tear in the flag, but not to worry, the organizers had an explanation for that too:

The organizers led by Grace Galindez-Gupana said the torn portion of the four-ton flag resembled the shape of a heart. This showed that "God loves the Philippines, despite all our political and economic turmoils," the organizers said.

(4) But for something really ridiculous of course you have to go to the American religious right. Here you will find that the major issue of the day is not global warming, oil depletion, or the disintegration of Iraq, but “should Christians do yoga?” -- a question that I know has been troubling you for some time.

Praised by many for its calming effect and wellness benefits, yoga is gaining cultural acceptance—even in some Christian circles.

But should Christians be practicing yoga, considering the questionable Hindu underpinnings? If not, is there a safer, Christian alternative that could keep our physical bodies in top shape?

Here it is, PraiseMoves: the Christian alternative to yoga (and no questionable Hindu underpinnings!). Fitness for His Witness™ is very good, I must say.

Postscript: It seems that once you start thinking about the ridiculousness of life, there is no end to it. This Jollibee video is quite ridiculous (but in a nice way). Last night I went to hear the Clarion Chamber Ensemble perform at the wonderful Philamlife auditorium. Everything was going along swimmingly until a speaker from DZFE invited us to acknowledge the presence of "first lady" Imelda Marcos and people actually applauded. Now that is ridiculous.

Comments

[Erin]

I am so happy that PraiseMoves will now reach a larger audience! She sure looks happy

[Jon Limjap]

A little more work and we'll be as ridiculous as Singapore news is, at least on the opposite side of the spectrum.

[ronaldbrian]

PI! Now I'm glad i missed that concert. I was supposed to see the Mozart concert but I got confused with the dates and ended up seeing the Madrigal Singers' PHILAMLIFE concert the day before, on saturday, instead. I was pissed, especially since after Andrea Veneracion has passed the baton (or the nod or wink or whatever body language she uses to conduct them) to Mark Carpio, and Ana Abeleda has left them, the Madz now sounds especially thin.

Re: Imelda Marcos. She was at the Sandiganbayan to attend one of her many concerts and court employees was actually buzzing surrounding her and taking her pictures. Hay, a celeb is a celeb, no matter how stinky.

[torn]

Erin -- No wonder, she's praising the Lord, tightening her buns AND making a few bucks on the side through sales of her DVD. You can't ask for more than that.

Jon -- I reckon most countries have no shortage of absurd stories. I just included some from here because this is where I live. Perhaps I'll do a round-up of global ridiculousness next time.

Ronald Brian -- It's true, whatever people say about her, Imelda has that star quality. Funnily enough, of the people I spoke to it afterwards it was the foreigners rather than the Filipinos who were more outraged at the applause. To the Filipinos she just seemed an irrelevance from another era. Whether you regard that as a sensible attempt to move on or evidence of the short memories of Filipinos is a matter of choice I suppose.

I think what gets most foreigners about Imelda is less what she actually did during the dictatorship but the fact that she is the perfect example of the lack of justice here and the way nothing is ever resolved.

[Gigi]

What can I say, when people have short memories and small minds, there are no limits to ridiculousness. There's no shortage of that here for sure.

(Christian alternative to Yoga? When I stop groaning I'll comment on that.)

[melissabee]

Ack, applause for the deranged one. Maybe aside from selective (and short) memories we are also a race of extreme masochists. Is it a gene we pass on to succeeding generations? Her popularity is a shame. Vexation, it curls my naturally straight hair.