NBA Finals Game 3

As I've expected, Orlando won game three by four points over LA Lakers. I was hardly surprised at all when I saw the final result on the Internet. What I didn't expect to know was that this is the first time that the Magic has won in a Finals game, in 20 years. The last time they were in an NBA finals, they were swept by their rivals.

No wonder that there was so much celebration in Orlando after Game 3. Not only that, the team even made an NBA Finals shooting record of 63 percent.

Many commentaries agree, LA lost its invincibility in this game and proved that Kobe Bryant is a mortal after all.

NBA Finals Game 2

I was in a seminar while Game 2 of the NBA Finals 2009 was being played. When I returned to the office for lunch, I asked my office mate who won and he had a big smile on his face.

"Lakers," he said, "by five points on overtime."

My initial reaction was "Whoa! Five points? It was a 25-points lead on game 1, powered by 40 points from Kobe Bryant. Did the Lakers cool down this time?

My office mate shrugged his shoulder. He said that the Lakers three stars namely, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom continued to produce points, especially Gasol who made 7 of the 13 points of his team on overtime. He added that Kobe started a bit slow in the first half, producing only 6 points in the first half. He only picked up his game in the second half when the Kobe of Game One came back.

I watched the replay of the game tonight and I think Orlando was sloppy throughout the game, even committing 20 turnovers! Dwight Howard's performance did not help his team either. The Magic was just, well, lazy throughout the game.

So Game 3 moves on to Orlando. I expect the Magic to win this game, considering the home court advantage and the strong support of their fans.

By the way, I am following the series this year because some of my office mates have placed bets on who'd be the Champion this year. I wasn't able to join them because I came in late. Losing bettors will treat the winners to an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch. Isn't that exciting?

School's Back!

Tomorrow, some 18 million Filipino kids will troop to their schools as classes start for school year 2009-2010. I am just not sure how many of these kids will find a classroom to stay in, a chair to sit on and a desk to write on. I also wonder if all 18 million kids will have a book for each of their subjects and if these books even contain accurate and up to date information.

Of the 18 million boys and girls, 13.1 million are elementary students and 5.6 million are high school students. If you notice, there is a large disparity between the number of kids in elementary and high school. A 2008 study showed that of every 100 children who enter Grade 1, only 65 reach Grade 6, only 43 finish high school and only 2 enter college. (Manila Times)

In the meantime, the perennial problem of lack of classrooms continue to haunt the country. In spite government efforts, the current classroom to student ratio is 1:50. Daunting if you ask me because when I was in school, there were only 35 of us in a classroom. Even then, our teachers were complaining that there were too many of us in one class. I expect to see another photo of kids having classes under a tree on the front pages of newspapers the day after tomorrow.

Don't expect this problem to go away in the near future. The country has one of the highest birth rate in the region at 2.3 percent or some 1 million or more babies born in a year. Give or take seven years and these babies will also demand for classrooms.

The lack of teachers is still another problem that's been with the system for a long time. Some teachers are tasked to teach several grade levels at a time. With the low pay they receive, some leave the country to work as house helpers in other countries. Aside from the small number, the quality of some mentors are also questionable.

The children who will go back to school tomorrow have other problems to face. One is the high price of school supplies. Notebooks, school pads, pencils and ballpens have become more expensive in recent years. I looked around for school bags last Friday and I found out that the average price of each is 400 pesos. Parents with more than two children going back to school tomorrow will need at least a thousand pesos for school bags alone.

Then there's also the need to buy shoes and school uniforms. Even if the education department kept repeating that school uniforms are not compulsory. I think it would be more expensive in the long run to buy clothes for kids to wear to school. What parents would want their child to go to school in worn out or tattered clothes?

The most recent concern of course is the spread of the A H1N1 influenza virus. The weather bureau expects a rainy first week of classes. It would be damp and cold, a great environment for viruses to flourish. Putting 50 kids in one classroom does not help of course. There's also the lack of lavatories and toilets in most schools. This may not be a problem in private schools or even government schools in the city, but those in the far flung areas of the country may be in need of these facilities.

Government promises to eliminate most, if not all the usual school opening kinks in the future. Unless it gives education the attention and action it deserves, these problems will remain for future generation of school children.

Clowns in Forums?

I frequent several forums online to get connected with people who share my interests. Some of these are very good sources of information, especially those on technical and computer related topics since many experts of various fields also frequent these sites.

One of the advantages of these sites is I can get help on some technical problems almost swiftly and reliably because I am certain that those who answer my queries have encountered my problems or have information about them.

Lately though, I noticed that some members of my online groups have become dependent on this forum and became lazy to even do simple searches for their problems. In one computer related forum that I am in, answers to some of the problems raised were easily found in the user's manual or even in the Help option. I often wonder if these members are just too lazy to look for the solutions and rely on others to find it for them.

Another thing I noticed is the Off Topic option for many of these forums. Although it's okay to ask something like, where to get something for other things beside the topic on hand, other members actually ask mundane things.

In one forum, I was surprised to see a member asked where he could treat his son for his 1st birthday. Another member asked where he could find clowns. I think information for these things are found in classified ads or a simple Google search can give the member answers. To ask a forum that centers on computer related things about these mundane things is just too much for me. Of course I could choose not to read or respond to these queries but merely seeing them on that space is irritating. It muddles the forum and wastes bandwidth.

There are other "sins" committed on these online groups but one particular question that hits a raw nerve in me is "Please help me decide whether to buy this product." One time, I couldn't help it anymore, I responded by telling the person that other people cannot decide for him because only him knows what he needs. There were those who agreed with me and of course, some called me an a***ole.

I think some fora are made as  venues for sharing ideas and information of people who have a common interest. I would like my groups to remain that way. While some off-topics are permissible, I hope other people do not use it not because the information they need is not available elsewhere, but because they are just too lazy to look for it.

Bananas!

I love bananas.  Here in the Philippines, we have several types of bananas.  Small and fat, long and thin, yellow, red, white and even green bananas.  I love bananas because they are easy to eat, just peel off the hygienic natural packaging and you’re ready to chomp on them.  They also contain lots of vitamins and minerals.  My meal is almost incomplete without it.

I bought a variety we call saba.  This one is often used for the banana que I kept on having as merienda.  But this type of banana can be cooked in different ways.  My father likes it fried in oil and usually eat this during breakfast. I cooked some in two of the most common methods:  boiled and sweetened.  

I boiled the bananas with the peel on and had them for my mid-morning snack.  I was happy as can be, of course.  I also ate some while surfing the Internet.  Though it’s gone cold for the length of time that lapsed since I cooked it, it still tasted good.  In fact it tasted refreshing on a warm morning we had today.

In some parts of the Philippines, particularly in the Visayas, saba is cooked before they are fully ripened.  Then they eat with bagoong, the smelly fish sauce that is uniquely Filipino.  I haven’t tried this one yet but maybe someday, when i get the courage to do it. 

The sweetened bananas were reserved for dessert after lunch.  I cooked the bananas by boiling them, peeled of course,  in a mixture of brown sugar and water.  For added flavor, I placed a couple of tablespoons of the preserved jackfruit I was keeping in the fridge.  It was so delicious I couldn’t stop myself from eating a few pieces even though they were still hot.  I usually put some shaved ice to make it cold.  Other people even put some milk to make it creamier.

I ate this while watching the TV news after lunch.  Then I had some more of both the boiled and sweetened ones for merienda.  Unfortunately, I ran out of ice to shave that I contented myself by eating eat just cold and not chilled.

I had more bananas after dinner and in fact, I plan to eat the rest of the boiled bananas during breakfast tomorrow.

You may say that I really love bananas but I do!  I go bananas over bananas!

End of Summer 2009

Today marks the official end of the summer season. The Philippine weather bureau or PAG-ASA announced that this year's summer is quite short. I say short but terrible.

The two hottest days recorded in history occurred this year. I expect my electric bill to really go skyhigh this month because I couldn't stand the daytime heat and my air conditioner had to work full time. It was so hot this summer that I had a bout with my allergies several times this season.

As we say goodbye to summer 2009, we meet the rainy season with not one but two typhoons. As I write this, the weather bureau is already tracking two low pressure areas developing in the southern parts of the country. They are, most likely, going to develop into typhoons.

Vote Earth!

Let's switch off our lights for our beloved earth on March 28 at 830PM.