Worst Show Ever...

I was watching some new "iCarly" episode with my little sister, and when it was over, I checked the guide to see what was coming on next. It said that some game show "Brainsurge"was coming on. It was a new show I'd heard about, but hadn't seen.

I watched it with my mom, and we laughed so hard. We thought it was the cutest little kids show. But then, there were 3 brand new episodes of it in a row.

We soon realized that the writers of "Brainsurge" have no b rain of their own. The puzzles were exactly the same, except for instead of memorizing the number on the chili dog, it was now a hamburger.

My mom and I were not impressed. I immediately ran for the remote, and if you happen to see this show on, I advise you to do the same. :) 

That Religious Guy: New Position

..... Ok this'll just be a short blog hee hee. Guess what? As of yesterday officially I guess, I am now the Press and Publicity Manager for catholicpriest.me.uk . Look they even have me listed on the site itself! Yowza!

..... For those of you not in the know, I wrote a short little vocational story for the Web site and have kept some contact with their online core team. So I was checking my e-mails on Friday (The Homecoming Parade) and noticed I got an e-mail from the site saying they needed a press and publicity person because the site has been getting popular. Well they had me in mind! But the e-mail was old, being sent a month ago. I wasn't sure if the position was still available, but I still inquired and low and behold, Jeremy becomes the P/P Manager, in charge of popularizing the site by spreading its link or review around the Web.

..... So the moral to this story is to always check your e-mails! Be neat, be clean, even on the Web. Also, go out there and spread your wings. Try new things and by doing so, try to help others out too. Being religious, I think by helping out this particular site, I'm doing a service for the church. It's basically a Web site that says it's ok for teens to talk about having a vocation to the priesthood. The site is run by teens for teens, a trait that as far as I know, is unique to us among vocational sites. We get around 700 hits a day and get visitors from around the world now. The site is hosted in the UK, but its core team hails from the U.S., Canada, and other regions.

..... This is me in my professional voice talking now hahaha: For all those readers or bloggers out there, try to review us on your blog and offer our link anywhere you have a Web presence. That means Myspace profiles *cough* *cough*, Facebooks, and others! :]

- Jeremy Dela Cruz, Press and Publicity Manager

CARINA 360°: Obama, a Nobel man!

Today at around 2 am, it was announced in Norway that our 44th President, has made history once again.

He is now a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Now I was in disbelief. At first I thought why? He has only been in service for what 9-10 months! Does 'strengthening diplomacy' all it takes to win a prize as honorable as this? Only 20 other Americans have won the Nobel Peace Prize. With President's Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter.

And why did he win? Well the Nobel Committee says, "For his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

But to many (and me) it seems as though he hasn't made any extraordinary efforts. So far, no obvious change in the gay community. No obvious change in Afghanistan. And no obvious change for the unemployed. (See the SNL spoof here!)

But then I saw Oprah today and she brought up something I didn't really think of. He had brought the nation together. He has given us hope, the right to believe that change could happen. He's proof of that. We went from the 'War President' to the 'Peace President.'

But still, if you compare him to the other people who have won it. There really is NO comparison! AT ALL!
Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Elie Wiesel, - Barack Obama ... eh doesn't really sound right to me. (See the list here.) After this he should really step up and banish his title as the 'do nothing' President.

Some argue that this could damage his rep a little more. Approval ratings have already dropped for the him.

The prize money is 1.4 million dollars, which he says he'll donate to charity. How Nobel of him.

*carina360.blogspot.com

That Religious Guy: Quetal man uste?

..... Recently, I've developed a taste for everything Chavacano. I want to learn the language and speak it fluently!

..... For those of you who don't know, Chavacano is a Spanish Creole language spoken mainly in places like Zamboanga and Cavite City in the Philippines. To the Filipino ear, Chavacano sounds like Spanish, yet is spoken like the wavy Tagalog language. Here's an example of students speaking it: Click Me! and an example of a beautiful Chavacano song: Click Me too!

..... I love the way Chavacano sounds because it reminds me of the Spanish cultural roots of the Philippines. Even Tagalog, a dialect of Filipinos, consists of many Spanish words, although they are spelled and pronounced much differently. Some even mean different things.

Spanish / Tagalog / English

cuarto = kuwarto = room

cocina = kusina = kitchen

baño = banyo = bathroom

silla = silya = chair

la mesa = lamesa = table

..... I recommend the Mexicans should look at the common phrases in Chavacano too shown here. So I guess I need to find some Chavacano teachers haha. Know some? Oh, and true to my blogger name, here's the Lord's prayer in Chavacano:

Nuestro Tata talli na cielo,

bendito el de Usted nombre.

Manda vené con el de Usted reíno;

Hace el de Usted voluntad aqui na tierra,

igual como alli na cielo.
Dale con nosotros el pan para cada dia.

Perdona el de nuestro mana culpa,

como nosotros ta perdona con aquellosquien tiene culpa con nosotros.

No deja que nosotros hay caé na tentacionsino libra con nosotros de mal.

- Jeremy Dela Cruz, Chavacano Speakers Wanted

That Religious Guy: Lodi Keeps Public Prayers!!

..... Separation of Church and State is needed in society. Surprisingly, I believe in this statement too. But unlike some, I believe in it because I don't see this concept as a protection of the State from the Church, but protecting the Church from the State. Religion isn't always the enemy in the equation. This is to say that faith is sometimes the victim of secular institutions or worst yet, radical atheists.

..... The State shouldn't interfere in matters of religion and the Church shouldn't interfere in secular subjects. In Lodi, a battle ensued over the issue of opening prayers in City Council Meetings. Proponents of the practice declared that it was the right of Christians and indeed any persons of faith to pray. Others, however, believed that praying before these City Council Meetings was a breach of the separation of Church and State. So one side believes prayer is a right and the other side believes it's against the division of two great insitutions.

..... Well, under the logic that praying before public meetings is unconstitutional, then restricting this custom is also unconstitutional since the First Amendment guarantees that every citizen has a right to practice their religion privately and publicly. A solution to this problem would be to stop electing people of faith into public office. That would be impossible.

..... Devout Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and others can't help the fact that they believe their faith can help them in troubling time such as these. With rising unemployment rates, a budget crisis, and foreclosures, California and indeed the rest of the country could use some divine intervention right now!

..... I applaud the fact that Lodi chose to keep public prayers in their meetings. It was a reasonable reaction. What I don't understand is why atheists from Wisconsin were trying to interefere in Californian affairs. That's right. People from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Wisconsin were trying to butt heads with citizens in Lodi over their right to pray. I've seen how radical atheists resort to insults to cause injuries. On the West Coast Walk For Life this year, atheists we're just parading around our Pro-Life procession, spreading insults, only because they hate religion, which was evident from their signs. These Wisconsin atheists don't really care about principles. They just hate religion in general. Prove to me otherwise and earn yourself an "I told you so" moment.

..... So Lodi, congrats on your battle for the right to prayer!

- Jeremy Dela Cruz

That Religious Guy: Offline For Good!!

..... As of a few days ago, I, Jeremy Dela Cruz, am Myspace free.
..... Yes, I've been a recovering addict for months now, only logging in a few times, checking my messages, and updating my profile occasionally. My final step into full recovery took place after I forgot my password! haha
..... Sure, that's just a rookie mistake. After all, who forgets their password? Well I'll tell you who. Jeremy Dela Cruz that's for sure. I didn't mean to misplace my password, it just slipped my mind. In any case, these past few days without Myspace have been awesome.
...... Maybe it's just the withdrawal effects talking, but I'm pretty happy that I don't have to constantly check my status for comments or post bulletins about my top 5. I really thought that I'd feel terrible without the use of my Myspace, but instead, I have that indifference you get when somebody steals your Pokemon cards. Sure they're gone, but you don't care because you never play with them and you grew up. Maybe it's that. Maybe I just grew up and don't feel a need to tell the world about my favorite books or categorizing my list of friends who I may or may not have regular contact with anyways.
..... Could it be that I'm becoming more mature? After I told some friends that I lost my password, they were like, "Oh, so now you're getting a Facebook or a Twitter right?" And I promptly responded, "Of course not!" Why would I trade in one addiction for another? Why would I trade in my free time for a Saturday of chatting with friends online instead of actually hanging out with them like I do now?
..... In the end, I realize that these Web sites are just temporary. We won't always want to go to them for support and fun. That's what we have living, breathing friends for. They're really the ones you should go to for troubles, for entertainment, and for social interaction. Forget Myspace. Forget Facebook. And please, for the love of God, forget Twitter! But of course, these sites aren't really doing much harm. So don't get a full-blown lobotomy. Just lay of the social networking Sites for a while and see what it's like. You might like it.

- Jeremy Dela Cruz, That Myspace-free Guy

CARINA 360°: The hard life of a Four Eyes

They make you look smarter.

They make you look sexier.

They make you look like a smart sexy librarian!Forget all the things they tell you! It’s all lies (except the smart part.) Having to wear glasses all the time is a hassle!

Watching the TV is never the same. I can’t lay down because my glasses hurt my head. They slide down my nose! I am constantly having to push them up - making me look more like a nerd. Wearing headbands is difficult. Wearing mascara? Forget about it. My lashes are too long and they dirty the lenses. Every time I take pictures, I always take my glasses off. No one but my mom or bf thinks they look cute.

Today my brother and I had a pillow fight, while I was wearing my glasses. NOT GOOD. They smashed against my nose, causing a butt load of pain.

Don't get me wrong, I am thankful. Without them I wouldn't be able to see the board in class. And I admit, sometimes I like wearing them. Especially when I have little to no makeup on. I put those on and they camouflage the true hideous nature of my face.

Since the 6th grade I have gone through four pairs of glasses. They were either lost or stolen. And seeing as I don’t settle for ugly nerdy-looking glasses, I made my dad fork up the cash. And so far, I have lost my dad well over $600. (Sorry dad.)

I don’t know why girls and guys walk about with those none-prescription shades on. Why do they do that? I bet they have no clue the hardcore life of a four-eyes.

And don’t get me started on the amount of time I spend cleaning them. Every little thing gets them dirty.

I remember my first pair as if it were yesterday. I was at LensCrafters & I was in no mood to pick a new set of eyes. I already knew the teasing I would get at school the next day. I tried to be all cool and designer and got some granny looking Anne Klein's.
And the next day was hell.

The class bully who seemed to only pick on me, kept the comments coming.

“Are you wearing glasses? You look ugly!”

“You look like a grandma.”

“FOUR EYES! FOUR EYES!”

Now to you, they may not seem very mean, but to a 10 year old, those word attack your soul. Throughout the whole school day I tried not to cry.
Eventually I lost those glasses when my family and I went to Mexico. So right now, my first pair of eyes are probably six feet under at some playground in Zacatecas.

Today I rock some cheap Oscar De la Renta’s. My vision has gotten worse, so says my eye doctor. Maybe in the future I’ll consider getting laser eye surgery, to finally rid me of my curse.

Or maybe I'll accept my fate, and see the world through plastic.

*carina360.blogspot.com