The Thinker by Berton Braley

"Read this wonderful poem by Berton Braley, it teaches us that it is always "the thought" that lies behind anything important, any success, any achievement."

    Back of the beating hammer
    By which the steel is wrought,
    Back of the workshop's clamor
    The seeker may find the Thought,
    The Thought that is ever master
    Of iron and steam and steel,
    That rises above disaster
    And tramples it under heel!

    The drudge may fret and tinker
    Or labor with lusty blows,
    But back of him stands the Thinker,
    The clear-eyed man who knows;
    For into each plow or saber,
    Each piece and part and whole,
    Must go the Brains of Labor,
    Which gives the work a soul!

    Back of the motors humming,
    Back of the belts that sing,
    Back of the hammers drumming,
    Back of the cranes that swing,
    There is the eye which scans them
    Watching through stress and strain,
    There is the Mind which plans them --
    Back of the brawn, the Brain!

    Might of the roaring boiler,
    Force of the engine's thrust,
    Strength of the sweating toiler --
    Greatly in these we trust.
    But back of them stands the Schemer,
    The Thinker who drives things through;
    Back of the Job -- the Dreamer
    Who's making the dream come true!

Young filipino lawyer addresses Harvard Law commencement

A young Filipino lawyer taking up his masteral studies in law at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been given the honor to deliver the student address at the school's commencement ceremonies on Thursday, June 7.

It is a rare chance that easily came for Oscar Franklin Barcelona Tan, 27 years old, and one of the 700 graduates of the prestigious law school's Batch 2007.

To be hand picked to give the commencement address may be rare opportunity, but Tan's admission at Harvard law school has been considered uncommon in the first place.

Harvard's law school has a record of not accepting fresh law graduates for its master's program. But Tan was immediately admitted after he graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) Law in 2005.

Harvard's LLM program is a much-coveted prospect among UP law professors. Some sources even said that it is possible that Oscar Tan could have "knocked out" some professors who also vied for this school years' LLM program.

Academic records show that Tan is an uncommon stock. His thirst for knowledge seems unquenchable. His interest in various academic fields is apparently limitless, and his drive for excellence eludes any description.


Here's his speech:

Like Wine in the River, Like Citizens of the World
Harvard Law School 2007 Student Commencement Address
Oscar Franklin Barcelona Tan (Philippines)

Delivered June 7, 2007, Langdell Hall

Dean Kagan, Vice-Dean Alford, professors, classmates, families, and friends. Let me first thank my family, who crossed twelve time zones to be with us. Let me thank my father, who was once a poor boy from our province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines. He lost his parents during his childhood, then moved to the capital and slept on my aunt's couch to study law at the University of the Philippines. I do not know if he dreamt then that he would one day watch his eldest son graduate from Harvard Law School, but I want him to know that I love him and hope he is proud of me. Let me thank my law dean, Raul Pangalangan, who was like a second father to me in the University of the Philippines, and is fortunately present here as a visiting professor. I learned all I know about integrity and principle from these two men.

Let me also thank our tireless graduate program staff. Assistant Dean Jeanne Tai, Nancy Pinn, Heather Wallick, April Stockfleet, Curtis Morrow, Jane Fair Bestor, Chris Nepple, Valentina Perez, Ashley Smith, and Sarine Der Kaloustian: This year would not have been possible without you. But let me thank all of you in the Harvard Law community for truly making us feel part of it. I know I am part of it; I was featured in the Parody.

Not so long ago, I went to John Harvard's for the first time with the British, who began chittering in an alien language. I later discovered it was actually English – the real English. I complained I was not used to cold, but a Saudi Arabian reminded me that you can fry eggs on a sidewalk in Riyadh. An Italian gave me tips on women because Italian men are the world's greatest lovers, with the disclaimer that their style does not work on American women. A Malaysian was asked to explain the religious significance of the color of her hijab, or headscarf. She would answer: It had to match her blouse. And I learned more than I ever cared to about American culture: I spent a week in Jamaica with Andy Knopp and Mike Pykosz.

Soon, we found that great substance that unites any law school: alcohol. On New Year's Eve, a Belarusian handed me a glass of vodka, but scolded me when I began to sip it. Sipping, he emphasized, is not the Slavic way. I shared a Frenchman's champagne, a Peruvian's pisco sour, a Brazilian's caipirinha, a Mexican's tequila, and a Japanese's sake. And I learned how even weak American beer enlivens an evening when you drink it with the Irish.

As for me, I come from the Philippines, a former American colony best known for Imelda Marcos's shoe collection. I remember being a six-year old watching my parents walk out of our house to join the crowds gathering to depose the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and form human walls against tanks. I remember being a twenty-year old in a different crowd deposing a different but equally corrupt president.

It was liberating to hear how a Chilean danced with crowds in the streets when Pinochet was arrested. How a South Korean prosecutor proudly stated that his country has sent two former presidents to prison. How a Brazilian, when he was six years old, was taken by his father to see a million men clamor for direct elections in Rio de Janeiro. How a Bhutanese wants to help shape her constitution after her king voluntarily gave up absolute power.

Friends, my most uplifting thought this year has been that the more we learn about each other, the more we realize that we are all alike, and the more we inspire each other to realize our most heartfelt yearnings. My single most memorable moment here came when I met South African Justice Albie Sachs, left with only one arm after an assassination attempt during apartheid. My classmate stood up and said: "South Africa is the world's second most unequal country. I come from Brazil, the world's most unequal country, and I admire how the South African Constitutional Court has inspired the progress of human rights throughout the world."

A hundred and ten years ago, it was said here that law is defined by the bad man, who cares solely about how to avoid being thrown in jail. Apologies to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes,* but our generation defines law by the good man. The German Constitution emphasizes human dignity, in a continuing repudiation of Nazism. The South African Constitution promises equality, in a continuing repudiation of apartheid. The Philippine Constitution, a continuing repudiation of the Marcos dictatorship, promises social justice and the Philippine ideal that "he who has less in life should have more in law." Even in the United States, the younger Fourteenth Amendment set the stage for the end of segregation.

Countless other developing countries in Asia and Africa have constitutionalized a broad array of socioeconomic and environmental rights. We have thus outgrown the concept of law as passive restraint. Rather, law is now aspiration, law is now the catalyst that seeks to realize the full human potential of billions of good men brought low only by poverty, bigotry, oppression, and conflict.

The good man's primacy is felt just as strongly in international law. Modern instruments, even those lacking binding force, have bolstered our concepts of rights, from economic rights to indigenous people's rights to the rights of the child. The vigor seen in today's expansive constitutions must find its way into these international challenges. How can rights to biodiversity be asserted given an intellectual property regime that allows Indian basmati rice to be patented in a key export market? How can rights to environment become reality given developing countries with large populations and meager resources? How must the right to labor of migrant workers be protected given their vulnerability to countless abuses?

At the least, law must enable nations to dialogue on equal terms. At present, for example, the Filipino people are indignant that a United States Marine appealing his conviction for rape is detained not in a Philippine jail, but in the United States embassy. My people cannot reconcile this affront with the fact that even after our big white brother Douglas MacArthur retreated from the Philippines, ** my country exhibited the fiercest resistance in the Pacific War.

I cannot deny that our generation's issues will be complex, but I can guarantee that they will never be abstract, not after having a classmate who was an Israeli army drill sergeant, nor after watching my Chinese and Taiwanese classmates celebrate the Chinese New Year together, nor after having a classmate chased by gunmen out of Afghanistan. In fact, when George W. Bush's speechwriter visited, my Iranian classmate introduced himself, "Hi, I'm from an Axis of Evil country." And when he was told that the speech made a distinction between the Iranian government and the Iranian people, he said thank you and replied, "When we call you the Great Satan, we also make a distinction between the American government and the American people."

This is how Harvard has changed us. We thank our beloved faculty for raising our thinking to a higher, broader level. But even the most powerful ideas demand passion to set them aflame. The passion we ignite today is fueled by a collage of vignettes that will remind us in this crucible of life that our peers in faraway lands face the same frustrations, the same nation building ordeals, the same sorrows, and ultimately, the same shared joys and triumphs.

How do a mere 700 change the world, even with overpriced Harvard diplomas? Before a battle in China's Spring and Autumn Period, the legendary King Gou Jian of Yue was presented with fine wine. He ordered his troops to stand beside a river, and poured the wine into it. He ordered them to drink from the river and share his gift. A bottle of wine cannot flavor a river, but the gesture so emboldened his army that they won a great victory. We of the Class of 2007 shall flavor this earth, whether we be vodka, champagne, pisco sour, caipirinha, tequila, sake, Irish stout, or Philippine lambanog.

Thus, my friends – and this includes our American classmates who will soon lead the world's lone superpower – let us transcend our individual nationalities and advance law as the law of the good man in the international order. In this, let us affirm that we are citizens of the world. Maraming salamat po, at mabuhay kayong lahat.*** Thank you and long live you all.


------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----

* "The Path of the Law", Harvard Law Review, Volume 10, page 457, speech delivered in Boston in 1897. "You can see very plainly that a bad man has as much reason as a good one for wishing to avoid an encounter with the public force, and therefore you can see the practical importance of the distinction between morality and law. A man who cares nothing for an ethical rule which is believed and practised by his neighbors is likely nevertheless to care a good deal to avoid being made to pay money, and will want to keep out of jail if he can."

** President William Howard Taft referred to Filipinos as Americans' "little brown brothers" when the Philippines was an American colony.

*** Traditional Filipino closing, literally, "Thank you, sirs, and long live you all."

que estudias?

Books - check. Dorm: mattress, ref, study table - check. School - check.
Days from now, my life will change. Goodbye fun parties.

Im going to war.

My values statement

For a  long time, I have been asking my self my purpose in life; what endeavor do i want to dedicate my life. It took me a lot of time to figure it out. This question is very important for me because it is the first step in fulfilling my project - my life.
I decided to make a general values statement, sort of a mission statement in life that would go like this:

I, by the guidance of God, in able to establish a fruitful and meaningful life, believe in the following values:
leadership by example
maximizing time and resources
being clean and orderly
always ready
habit of savings
humilty
education
ambition
entrepreneurial spirit
love for family
peaceful and quiet life.

Ryukin Goldfish

Today I bought myself a new Ryukin Goldfish.

Press Release: "Meron tayong bagong friends (goldfish)
Reactions:
Mama: kebs
Ryan: mahal ba yan?
Tatay: Ang taas taas ng ng kuryente natin, sana naman tumulong kayo sa pagtitipid natin ng kuryente. Imagine mo ilang kilowatts yan sa isang taon.
                                        Ange: Ah ok.

Welcome to my humble abode dear fishes. I hope we make each other happy for a long time.
.

hilary swank interview

"I've realized that as an actor you have to just keep working really
hard and studying your craft. I think I thought maybe things would be
easier after the first Academy Award,
that I would get better job opportunities, but then you really realize
that there's not a whole lot of great quality out there, for women
especially. It's not just something that women say; it's the truth.
Because of that I had to be specific about not just doing something
that I didn't want to do, but I also needed to pay my bills. I didn't
do job after job after job. I would do a job and then still keep
working on acting, whether it would be reading a play - something
that's inspiring - with a bunch of actors, hearing it, studying,
reading books about acting, and watching actors. I think it's an
ever-evolving craft. And I think it's something that you always need to
work at." - On working as an actor

"I have to say that I didn't
ever really see it as rejection, per se, and I don't know why. I guess
if I saw it as rejection, then I would allow myself time to focus on
something that seemed negative, instead of realizing, "I have an
audition tomorrow," and I was auditioning a lot, and, "If I focus on
why I didn't get that, then I'm not going to be able to be present and
work on this." At that time it was easier for me to let go of the past
and just move on. Although there were so many times when it didn't mean
I didn't get depressed if I didn't get something that I really wanted.
I mean, I'm human, and I absolutely would get bummed out, especially if
I worked really hard on something, and it came right down to me and
someone else. But I'd try to get feedback. Was there something that I
could have done differently? Was it something I can work on the future
for the next job? And try to gain a positive from it? And sometimes it
wasn't anything I'd done. It was just the blue-eyed girl looked better
with the brown-eyed boy. You can't change that; you can't control
that." - On getting rejected for roles

"You need to study and
work on your craft. If you're not prepared when that dream audition
comes, you are not going to get that opportunity. To me, the definition
of success is when opportunity meets preparation. So I really recommend
that actors always work on their craft and their skills. Obviously you
can't make a living doing that, but you can get a lot of joy from it
and learn and be inspired by the people you're working with and by your
teachers and by the material. As long as you're still being inspired by
it, you're going to find joy. Then hopefully the role will come along.
I just want every actor to know to keep chipping away at it." - On
giving advice to beginning actors.

"At the beginning, it's not
like I didn't like boxing. I just didn't think about boxing, I didn't
even really have an opinion about it. And when I heard about it, I just
thought, 'What is the thing about hitting someone and wanting to get
hit?' The whole thing eluded me, but then, you know what? Like anything
else in life, when you have to dive into something deeper, you gain
respect for it because you learn about it in different ways than you
ever would expect. What I realized when I learned more about boxing is
that it is so much more than just the physical aspect of it. Obviously
the physical aspect of it is huge, but it is such an unbelievably
mental challenge. There's such an art to boxing, it's like a great game
of chess. When you're in the ring, you're one with your opponent.
Everything goes silent and it's you and that person. You hear your
breath. You hear the other person. And as you try to figure out their
strength and weakness, you're learning about your own strength and
weaknesses. And each person that you spar or fight with, their strength
and weakness brings out new strength and weakness in yourself. And the
second you think, 'I have this person,' and get cocky, you can lose and
you usually do. It's a great analogy to life. You have to remain humble
and have respect for the other person." - On Boxing

"As in life,
your mind can be the hugest obstacle or tool, depending on how you
choose to use it. And I find that a lot of people who are successful in
life say, "I can do this, and I will do this." Their minds don't get in
their way; whereas people who wake up and say, "Oh, I can't," their
mind is in their way, and it's going to stop them from doing what they
need to do to achieve their dream." - On trying to achieve your goals.

"I
think that if you can grow together, you'll stay together. The most
important qualities in making a relationship work are a blend of three
ingredients: communication, respect and believing in another person.
I've been with my husband for over twelve years. That's what made our
relationship work. We have a mutual respect, the communication is key
and believing in one another makes you feel like you can do anything!"
- On what's important in a relationship.

China Town Trip

When I was just a lad, I used to watch a lot of chinese "kung fu" action films on TV. I would often imitate their moves and lines. Their stories are predictable and always revolve around avenging the death of someone. What's amusing with these kinds of films is that they never seems to ran out of Kung-Fu styles. The most prominent of which are: The dragon style, the tiger style, the eagle style, and the snake style, not to mention the monkey, the dog, the parrot, and probably all animals you can see in the zoo.  Anyway, since I am so poor, i can't go to China, Jo and I decided to go to China - yeah, China Town in Binondo, Manila. We set the date November 6, 2006. Here was our plan.

9 a.m  - meet at D.Jose terminal station take the jeep to Divisoria

10 a.m - go to 168 and shop! (happy birthday jo!)

12 a.m. - find Binondo church

1 a.m. - find China town, eat chinese food

2 a.m. - drink overpriced coffee at Binondo

Our China town trip was very memorable, It was probably one of the most memorable dates jo and I ever had.

I don't wee the logic of this smiley. How do you expect people to buy from your store if you give them a "frowning smiley"?

 

Smiling Binondo church, look at the next pic to see what i mean...

Did you see it?

 

Of course we had to buy the "pangmasahe" first, before we could pass through the pasilyo.

 

China town Eureka!

 

 Lunch at shing something restaurant.

 

Starbucks Binondo, We couldn't understand what the people around are saying, everybody was going "chong ching kung hei *@^^#*$^*&^" hehe

Spot the difference!