Am I crab? Crab mentality is defined as keeping someone back because of jealousy. Recently I was reading this piece describing crab mentality. I know my blog has taken it's own direction and flavor and of course can be mistaken for "crab".
I do get annoyed when the entire Philippine Nation gets giddy over something and in their giddiness they lose all perspective. The source of their giddiness is that one of their own is bringing back the pasalubong of pansin (attention) back from abroad. What I like to refer to as "KSP".
I strip away the emotion and subjectivity and just look at what is being done. All I am saying is slow down on your idolatry. Don't be looking for attention just for attention's sake.
I am not crab but I am anti bandwagon jumping. For the Pinoy, the perceived stage is far more important than what the person is actually doing. Originality be damned.
1) Charice
I have met enough people who wonder why I don't like Charice. I don't like her for the same reason I don't like Andrew E. Not because of their nationality. I don't find what they do original, distinct, appealing or special. Like I said in a previous post: I don't like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson or Celine Dion either. But I am SUPPOSED to like Charice just because where she was born. That's not crab, that is having standards. "Call me a relic, call me what you will , say I'm old fashioned say I'm over the hill" to quote Bob Seger. But for me rap is not music. Rap is people bragging and somehow convincing you something where the primary performer does not generate any notes is music. The original rap is bad enough but Andrew E. copying it and a Filipino audience eating it up does not suggest Einstein type brain activity.
2) Manny Pacquiao.
Let's describe in basic terms what he does. Around twice a year, he flies to his home in LA, then puts on shorts in a Vegas hotel and beats the crap out of some Mexican. For that he has the country's undivided attention on a Sunday morning. So significant that traffic stops. The thing with me is I love sports. Another thing with me is I also try to put sports in its proper place. It's entertainment. Manny could do so much good if he lead by example. Forget the game shows, the commercials, singing Sometimes When We Touch, his entry to the Cannes Film Festival Wapakman and even Congress. He should use his credibility with his countrymen and lead by example. He should legitimately earn his high school equivalency.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20070531-68798/Doubts_raised_over_Pacquiao%92s_high_school_accreditation
"We all know that Manny Pacquiao has acquired a very rich experience both here and abroad and has thus become quite an Inglesero as well as a good Filipino speaker," Director of DepEd's Bureau of Alternative Learning System Carolina Guerrero 05/31/2007
Face it. Manny is the straw that stirs the drink. People will say anything to please him. That woman said 4 years ago that Manny has some competence with English. Being no stranger to ESPN I happen to have an interview from last year that Manny did for the US network and he by no means had command of the English language. Whether by what he said or comprehension of the questions of Brian Kenney. And this guy is in Congress?? Yikes. You can hear it here.
I will not deny his discipline to be a world-class boxer. But I will be skeptical of this man's desire to learn amidst his self proposed Renaissance Man persona. Crappy CDs, crappy movies, crappy Filipino politics (oops that last one is redundant) . Those speak to the youth and not his lip service to education. But is this message good for the youth? I am supposed to believe he is learning at a university level? The article I quote from (heavy training)
Boxing is a sport where the objective is to give your opponent a concussion. As I have said in a previous blog entry, Concussions are evil. If you don't know why, read up on it. That is Manny's raison d'etre. Giving people concussions. All pinoys love Manny and the attention he brings. Yet they couldn't tell you facts about the reality of concussions and their long-term effects. It is Manny's job to administer those concussions. Not heroic from my own personal point of view. But the way the Philippines looks at him, he is curing cancer. Sorry I choose to disagree. I guess that makes me crab.
3 )
“There is nothing more annoying than having a national sports team whose coach is German and whose majority of athletes are European bred that cannot speak Filipino nor sing the national anthem. Go Azkals!”
Doc Albert.
All you people who were watching entire soccer/ football games 3 years ago I have no quarrel with you. It's all you people who are jumping on the bandwagon like lemmings. Chasing the latest trend and looking for attention. You guys don't like the sport, you just like the attention. It's the PP factor. Perceived Pinoy factor. You want to cheer for Pinoy things but as Doc Albert says, there is very little Pinoy to it. Grasping at straws for attention and esteem. You perceive the stage to be high, you perceive the spotlight to be bright and intense and you perceive the Pinoy to be on center stage. Your Pinoy idealism conveniently camouflages the fact that we depend so much on other countries contributions to make even a tiny dent on any international athletic contribution.
My standards for homegrown may not be as liberal as all these instant soccer fans but does putting more value into what makes a Pinoy make me crab? Or am I just less desperate for attention that a goal scorer trained in Europe who thinks Lupang Hinirang is a hacienda in the province does not give me cause to chest beat. What's the point of being proud of some so called international achievement when a different culture is responsible for the cultivation of that international achievement ? If you have any knowledge of the international scene , our opponents are not exactly World Cup contenders. If just beating fellow bottom feeders is the goal then maybe a definition in national pride is in order.
Every pinoy is so proud of the Azkals drubbing of the Sri Lakan Brave Reds. I am an absolute sports junkie and I have never heard of them. So I decided to cleanse my ignorance of this mighty squad that the nation is so proud to have vanquished. So I did a search on Google for “Sri Lankan Brave Reds”. The first two pages are all pinoy pages either bragging about the 4-0 nothing victory or anticipating the same game. I checked my settings that I was not stuck on a Philippines only mode. I wish I could stop it right there and that was enough explanation. But I feel for some people that hate my point of view without exercising logic I must go on. We are so proud of beating these so called Brave Reds yet their only identity on a Google search comes from pinoy websites. No ESPN, no Star Sports. Their own country does not generate enough web traffic for their own team. Does this sound like a team that is really of a challenge to anyone? Translation: they have never accomplished anything themselves yet Pinoy websites treat it like a David beating Goliath event. Yet I am crab for pointing this out.
The cold hard fact is that 98% of the world prioritizes soccer. That is what these kids focus on from the time they leave the womb. The Philippines deserves to be beat like a piƱata when it comes to international soccer because others focus on it far more seriously than we do. Significant accomplishment is about focus, perseverance and longevity . The Philippines as a country is none of those three when it comes to soccer. Since birth the culture has been handed down bad examples by the artistas and trashy low class but high ranking politicians. The bad example of instant gratification and short cuts. When the men's World Cup was played a year ago, the populace as a whole did not care. It was not something to aspire to. Read my comments at the time here.
If Gloria is proven by the courts to be a thief and a cheat don't go patting yourselves on the back just yet. The runner up that year (2004) showed very little evidence of leadership, governance and integrity. Why we produce useless candidates who get votes from the majority make me weep for this concept called democracy. Democracy works if the people doing the voting pick someone with some evidence of wisdom and foresight. Notice I said foresight and not scheming.
But more on that later.
My chest will not swell with pride over the Azkals for two reasons: they are not very pinoy and they are not very good. But some of you will call me crab.
4) Arnel Pineda
Another person whose value to the culture is that he brings attention to the culture. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself. Except that he brings attention to the culture that is already thought of externally as a culture of Monkey See Monkey Do.
Arnel Pineda is the perfect symbol to explain what I mean. For the record I started enjoying Journey back in 1979. When I first heard Lovin Touchin Squeezin. Arnel was 12 at the time and I was 13. Point being that he had no hand whatsoever in my enjoyment of Journey in 1979 and for the rest of my consumption of the band. When I was second year high school or as we say in Canada, Grade 9, the two big albums were Foreigner 4 and Journey's Escape. Ironically lyrics from Escape's opening track goes "Those crazy nights I remember from my youth, those I recall were the best time most of all." There were very few crazy nights but I am recalling my youth in this piece.
What I am trying to say here is I had way more impact in the Battle of the Bulge than Arnel had in my experience of Journey. He is as culturally significant as an Elvis impersonator. Yet the Pinoys treat him like he is Fats Domino or Chuck Berry. I will say this again, I am not being a blind follower and I question those who follow blindly. Am I crab for doing that??
Conclusion:
Let's examine the subjects that makes the typical pinoy go gaga: Manny Pacquiao, Charisse, and Arnel Pineda. This is the same populace who last year voted a convicted plunderer 2nd place for the highest elected office in the land. A crime under normal circumstances would be punishable by death. But of course we were saved from that guy cause cooler heads prevailed and we voted in a balding career politician with zero accomplishments whose campaign strategy was to refer to his dead parents early and often. I am a bad guy for being a contrarian to people that think like that???
This country has way more things to worry about than anybody who comes across as crab mentality.
I go against the grain. I question the herd. I don't go with the herd. I think I articulate my position logically on why I disassociate myself from the herd. If that makes me crab in your eyes, fine but it sure as hell does not me sheep.
Ed
http://edrlopez.blogspot.com/
Related Links:
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1049/Dog_Ate_Manny_Pacquaios_Homework_-Audio_Blog
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1115/Manny_Dancing_Circles_Outside_The_Ring
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1058/Manny_Pacquaio_Speaks_Live_Without_A_Net_Audio_Blog (Heavy Training)
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1193/I_dont_find_Charice_Talented_But_Let_Me_Tell_You_Who_Is
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1161/Three_Reasons_Why_I_Avoid_Reading_The_Newspaper
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/325936/leave-crab-behind#.Thew1aX1w8w.multiply
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/793/What_Do_You_Mean_Hits_
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/619/Arnel_Pineda_Extrapolation
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1105/Pangilinan_in_New_York_Times_Joins_Other_Pinoy_Parrots
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/449/Keep_On_Boxing-_Yeah_Right_
http://worldofalbert.blogspot.com/2011/07/there-is-nothing-more-annoying_02.html
http://www.mediafire.com/?v20dvj0rrev0649 sometimes when we touch
http://www.mediafire.com/?owtqw1kz69365dh Manny in own words
http://www.mediafire.com/?va4oe6kd1avyqm6 Dan Patrick laughs at Manny
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1143/They_Forgot_the_Philippines
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1241/Noynoy_Gay_One_Mans_Conspiracy_Theory
http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/943/What_part_of_beyond_reasonable_doubt_do_you_not_understand_Erap_related
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