Rhetoric of Cancer

Health is one of the most difficult topic to talk about, especially when you're talking to someone who is not just sick, but is terminally ill. One best example of this is conversing with a person who is suffering from cancer.

Science and Music

One of the lessons which we have studied for STS revolved around the concept of music and of science. It is not the standard combination which one is familiar with in popular culture; considering that we live in an era where music is heavily influenced by drugs, love, or sex. Music and science mixed together is bizarre. However, in light of the modern era, it has been observed that it is not altogether strange to consider science to have such an effect on music.  

For example, the theme song in the famous sitcom The Big Bang Theory which narrates the scientific origin of the universe, of matter,  and of human nature. Unexpectedly, the theme song of TBBT which can be regarded as a crash-course into Darwin’s theory of evolution* is actually quite catchy and popular. Personally, I have been an avid fan of TBBT since it was possible for me to download episodes of it through the net and TBBT’s theme song with its upbeat tempo and catchy lyrics was stuck in my mind for days.

 In addition, a famous Youtube video series, the Epic Rap Battles of History, is a clear-cut example of music which is heavily-laden with science and technology. In example, rap battles between Einstein and Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. What are present in these examples are the concept of music, as that which is under the category of Art, and the concept of science, as a system of knowledge separate from Art, being thrown together and thereby producing a strangely unique combination. Surprisingly, this combination is easily accepted in society and immediately became popular and widely-known. Who would have thought that science -which used to be boring and lacklustre can be as interesting as popular music? Not even I could’ve imagined it -until science and technology proved itself otherwise.

*Note: TBBT’s theme song represents only a linear representation of the history of the universe. There are other representations of the origin of the universe.

Xavier Noel Briones

2013-41022

One Flew Over Imelda's Nest

Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

Imelda Marcos is a well-known figure until this day. She represents Ilocos Norte in Congress these days, but there is more than meets the eye to her.

She rose to stardom when she joined the beauty pageant "Miss Manila". Then known as Imelda Romualdez, she placed second, but was still entitled "Muse of Manila" after contesting the results. Before being married to Ferdinand Marcos, she actually dated Ninoy Aquino, the would-be rival of Marcos.

Imelda's ego would grow with the power that his husband would accrue. Some even call the Marcos dictatorship a two-headed one, with Imelda wielding as much power as the President. During the Martial Law era, she would hold positions in government and travel the world, consolidating power and acquiring funds from the Philippine treasury. She would also serve as the President's representative to nourish ties with different international political figures, such as Gaddafi, Hussein, Castro, and Nixon.

There was also the debacle of the construction of the CCP, when an accident during construction occurred and it was reported that some workers died, but the First Lady still told the workers to continue the construction to reach the due date. There are many more scandals the Imelda is in the middle of.

Now that she's a representative of Ilocos Norte, her ego has appeared to bloat even more. She believes she is a philosopher, a responsible citizen, and, worst of all, innocent of the atrocious crimes they committed during the martial law era. Let's hope nobody like her gets elected in the future. What a waste of a seat in Congress.

A Different Outlook on Cancer

Jonathan Idolor

2013-14792

             When I listened to this audio-interview, The Rhetoric of Cancer, I couldn’t help but be at awe at such a different perspective of someone who was diagnosed with cancer. His relation to the treatment of cancer to war on one’s own body and cells really made me think. We say so many times how war is such a poisonous mindset, and yet when thinking of sickness and disease we always aim to kill, destroy, eliminate that which is changing us. It goes without saying that some degenerative diseases really is no one’s dream to be diagnosed with but thinking about cancer and it’s nature, it really makes you think about what or who you’re really fighting against. These are your own cells, to my understanding everyone is born with them; it is only when you have too many cancer cells that they begin to metastasize and take over.

           

            Although a mindset may not remove cancer from someone, it can really change how people act towards it. Instead of scaring people who have cancer we can help them continue to have a healthy and loving lifestyle. None of us has an unlimited time here on earth, an invisible clock ticks for all of us. In the end we all just want to live happy and make the most of our lives. There is no real battle against cancer, just a battle everyone faces everyday to live in the here and now, to accept it, and just be happy. Just because the clock has revealed itself it doesn’t mean you have to stop being happy and living your life to the fullest.

            The interviewee, Andre Graystone says:  “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to have cancer, but I warn you that when I die, if any one says that I have lost my battle against cancer, I will personally come back and haunt them.”

"Imeldific"

Jonathan Idolor

2013-14792

My first view on Imelda Marcos has been based on the view of my parents who witnessed martial law. I imagined her as the right hand to Ferdinand Marcos’ regime. The lady with the 3000 pairs of shoes amidst the people in poverty who don’t even have a change of clothes. Although Marcos was smart and was able to implement laws that were beneficial to our development, like others I cannot help but be angry at all the corruption and injustice done under Marcos.

The contents from the movie, at first, showed me Imelda's upbringing which explains her attitude. She was many times the star and she clearly loved the attention. She sees herself as the center of many things. In her mind she may have thought she was humble and that she was serving the people but it was clear how blinded she was by her self-absorbed nature. It does not excuse her ignorance or neglect to the truth regarding the state of the country under hers and Marcos' regime. Although she sees positive things in the past situations of the Philippines, she only focuses on the positive and turns her back on ugliness even though that is what needs to be addressed. A selective generosity that is composed of mainly her ego-centricity. "When I am living glamorously the people are happy." I do not know where this makes sense…

She spends and spends, one gown every time she goes in public. She has this need to idolize herself, having a diorama or shrine or something to worship her life. “Imeldific”, a superiority complex that she thinks helps people. She erects that so many buildings, some eventually never get used and lets the workers die when it collapsed.

The part about how she sees life with her interconnected drawings freaked me out. I’m not sure if it was seriously how she thought, I respect individual ideas, but it really seemed outrageous and seemed to have a shallow basis. It was funny how she seemed to be so convinced that she is right in how she thinks.

The shallowness to her reasoning is surprising and what’s more surprising is the image she has been able to build an international reputation for herself under that mindset. Shocking that she has had some influence over other political figures around the world with such s strange perspective on herself and her duty. It is true that she has the self-confidence and position to make a statement, but is what she has to say really for the unadulterated benefit of the Filipino people or what she thinks is the “imeldific” thing to do since she is so rich that she must give back.

Imelda: Beauty Through The Years

by: Maria Teresa Llera 2013-40924

Everytime I hear or see the name “Imelda Marcos,” an image of dictatorship and suffering immediately comes to mind. This is because she is mostly known as the wife of the late president Ferdinand Marcos who brought Martial Law that really shattered the Filipinos during that time. Also, an image of a woman who has too many pairs of shoes comes to mind. Some people even said that Imelda never wore the same pair of shoes twice.

These descriptions of her are quite astounding, but when I watched the short film “Imelda” that documented the story of President Marcos’ wife, I realized that there is more to Imelda Marcos than just suffering and shoes.

In the film, Imelda’s love for beauty in everything that she sees and does was shown. Even when she was a child, Imelda already knew how to appreciate beauty. She never goes out of the house without grooming herself very well. When she became a lady, she joined a lot of beauty pageants, and she was even given the title “Muse of Manila.”  When she married Ferdinand Marcos, one of her many suitors, beauty was still with her. With every dress that she wore and with every step that she took, one could always see grace and elegance.

Imelda’s appreciation of beauty led her to the idea of building the Cultural Center of the Philippines, one of the biggest structures in the Philippines. Nowadays, it showcases beauty through cultural presentations and art.

The film basically showed what kind of woman Imelda Marcos is, aside from the common stereotype of her as the wife of the man who made a lot of Filipinos suffer. There’s more to Imelda than this – she is beautiful, smart, and graceful.

               

The Rhetoric of Cancer - Treading Strange Waters

by Erwin Umali | 2010 - 23119

The insight proposed by this radio show was both interesting and poignant. In a way, The Rhetoric of Cancer treads on strange waters -- between the realm of scientific medicine and human ethics and philosophy. Who are we, really? What constitutes our whole? If our body decides to create something that slowly destroys itself, how are we supposed to feel about it? The Rhetoric of Cancer attempts to tackle that viewpoint, and evoked questions in me that I never bothered asking before.

In a way, the radio show treaded on a fine line between personal psychology and science. It felt almost religious -- how, in spite of the suffering cancer has caused them, people learn to live and accept it, to the point where they question the reason why they try so hard to eradicate it. After all, it’s “part of me”. 

I didn’t really know what to feel afterwards. I’ve always viewed cancer as a menace that has to be thwarted no matter what, as a purely evil entity. Realizing that it’s part of you -- it’s definitely a strange affair. The Rhetoric of Cancer enlightened me how looking at everything in an objective, scientific way will not always pave the best path, especially when the human psyche is involved. While the logic is flawed, you can’t help but respect and empathize with the person suffering from something that he himself supposedly created.

Hater of Imelda

The thing about Miss Imelda Romualdez Marcos is that up until now she thinks that she’s the greatest thing that ever happened to the Philippines or maybe the world. After I watched the documentary film, Imelda, I could say that I didn’t really like Imelda’s attitude. In my opinion she was a proud and also egoistical old lady who thinks she has done our country a lot of good. Well, compared to a normal citizen like me, maybe she has done quite a number of things but were all of the things she has done contributed to the betterment of the Philippines? I don’t think so. And even if someone has done major contributions to the world, I still don’t think that she could act like she’s better than everybody and make other people feel like they haven’t done so much. A true noble man or woman would let his actions speak for himself and just be humble.

Even if Imelda shows a confident and proud attitude, I think that deep inside her is an insecure woman who wanted to matter in this world. Well, who could blame her, being a former first lady, people had high expectations and all she wanted to do was comply. Although I'm pretty sure she just wanted to justify the fact that she has bought a lot of expensive stuff by saying she has done a lot for the Philippines so quits right? Nope.

Krystine Robles 2013-70142 

Director's Cut It Is

I got confused by the "director's cut". I didn't know if it was part of the title or just something to describe the editing done to the film. As I searched for the movie in the net, I found and downloaded two films with different file title: "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner: Director's Cut". I found out that the two are somewhat different..so I watched both.

The two films differ by the special effects and that in the latter, the narration was removed and replaced by sequence of dream effects, but the essence is still the same. "Blade Runner: Director's Cut" is a science fiction film with a mix of espionage. It is about the "blade runner"'s mission to kill the "replicants". But then, like as much as other movies, love moves in to the story. The film then shows how the tandem of the couple affects the plot more than themselves. The film presents a moral that is to be noticed by many; we are, not 'should', bounded by our own morality. A part of the film shows an irony on how a rich man was killed; how money couldn't him security, how one thing can't assure everything.

"Blade Runner: Director's Cut" is then another futuristic film of the past. I wonder how script writers, directors, and filmmakers of those times always fancy the future as a plot for their films. Most of the films viewed the future as progressive in terms of technology. Overall, "Blade Runner: Director's Cut" is somewhat better than the former. The creativeness and innovative of the director is seen in the difference of the two. I also love how espionage is blended with science fiction. It is worth the time to watch. :)

Xavier Noel Briones

2013-41022

The Woman Behind President Marcos

by Maricella D. Valdivia (2013-55498)

        I firmly believe the statement, "Behind every successful man, there is a strong, wise, and hardworking woman". It may be a mother, grandmother, or a sister, but in President Marcos' case, it's his wife, Imelda Romualdez. We are all aware of what Marcos did, and maybe what we can remember is the Martial Law. But if we really look back on the things he had done, it had a large impact on our economy. And now it's not Mr. Ferdinand E. Marcos who we would talk about, but it's his wife, the former Muse of Manila, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos and what she had done as the mother of the Philippines.
        When we say Imelda, the first thing that comes to your head is shoes. But what really did she contributed in Marcos' term? Was she really a help for him? I've already heard stories about the huge buildings she built in Manila, and I wondered before "WHY IMELDA? SHE'S JUST THE FIRST LADY", and now I understand that President Marcos stands as the father of the republic whilst Imelda is the mother for the nation, the light that will guide the people. With the buildings she built, art and beauty was her focus. That the arts and folklore of the Philippines be cultivated. Maybe I didn't reach the time during the Marcoses, but I've heard of the great things during that period. The time when Manila seems to be like Singapore now.
        Imelda made a huge contribution especially in the arts. She also had her own book, yes, she has a point, but it's not the greatest. One said that Imelda needs a friend, I think that that person is right. In fact, based on Imelda's interview, I can feel that she's only into the fame and glory, and the praises other gives her. She's old now, and I bet she feels like the most beautiful person in the Philippines. Although I believe that life is full of beauty, I know for a fact that it is not all beauty. I think that Imelda is an optimistic person, and that she really loves to serve the people. But then, I do not know the whole thing that's on her mind, so I won't judge. But this is all my opinion.