G. Cosmos – Cease and Desist Order

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Remember G. Cosmos, the dubious Japanese home marketing scheme that’s been so prominent in Manila lately? Last week, the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order against the company, based on violations of the the local Securities Registration Code, as well as complaints by customers and reports that Genta Ogami has an overseas criminal record. So enjoy those giant Genta Ogami billboards while you still can; they may not be around much longer.

Skybiz recruits should also be wary: the FTC has levelled charges against it as a pyramid scheme. Interestingly enough, the original CNET News article has disappeared. Check the cached copy on Google for the whole scoop.

Planet of the Apes Spoilers

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Before I watch the new Planet of the Apes, I feel it necessary to refresh my memory of the old Charlton Heston film, as the last time I saw it was as an uninterested child. Lacking a television and DVD player at home, however, I will simply have to settle for these nutshell synopses of the original movie and its sequels.

Oh, great. Well, seeing as how Ernie over here has spoiled the ending, I might as well find out how the whole thing goes. WHAT?! No half-buried Statue of Liberty?! DAAAMN YOUUU!!!

Ach! Haggis!

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I was feeling adventurous for lunch yesterday, so girlfriend and I went to the European deli in Festival Mall Alabang, and we ordered a plate of haggis, served with brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes. It was greasy and hearty and Scottish and muttonish. Delicious!

GRE Results

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Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement for the GRE, Krissy, Dawn, and Clarissa! I took the test, and my results were pretty good, although the Analytical section was, as expected, below average. I hate abstract reasoning logic puzzles.

Verbal: 680. (Yaaay!)

Quantitative: 600. (Um, uh… Yaaay!)

Analytical: 460. (Boooo!)

The kind of questions asked in the Analytical section: (Exact GRE question changed in respect of test confidentiality…)

Four classes (Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, and Dance Arts) are to be taken by ten students (Harold, Ingeborg, Jorge, Kelly, Larry, Mavis, Norbert, Olwen, Peter, and Qxylplx) for one semester. Anthropology is on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am to 10am and on Saturdays from 8am to 12nn. Biology and Chemistry are 4pm to 6pm on Wednesdays and Fridays respectively. Dance Arts are everyday from 5pm to 7pm. Only six slots are available per class. Every student must attend each class for two hours in a week. Qxylplx must take Biology and Dance Arts on consecutive days, with Kelly joining him in Dance Arts. Norbert must be paired with Mavis on Mondays in Anthropology or Dance. Harold and Ingeborg must enroll in the same class as Larry except on Saturday. Kelly refuses to go to class with Mavis. Given that Olwen and Mavis are pre-enrolled in Chemistry on Fridays, and Peter has pre-enrolled in Dance Arts on Wednesday, what possible schedule conditions MUST be false?

A) Mavis and Kelly in Chemistry on Wednesdays.

B) One full class of Biology on Fridays.

C) Olwen in the same class as Ingeborg on two days out of the week.

D) Harold taking Dance Arts on Saturday and sharing two afternoon classes with Peter.

E) Norbert and Qxylplx in Anthropology on Saturday.

Thoughts running through Paulo’s head at this point: Uummmm… Jeez. If you guys are going to be so picky about what classes to attend, then I don’t see why you bother coming to school to begin with. You’re all expelled. CLICK. (Wah. I want the Verbal Section.)

Clarissa: About the blue straws, well, to be honest, the drinking straws at Manang’s weren’t deep solid blue like that; they were clear with blue stripes. What really matters is the iced tea — and the free refills! :)

Seven Years

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This weekend, ******* and I celebrate our seventh year as a couple. Happy anniversary, my luv! To commemorate this occasion, I present Index 28. The blue straw is in memory of all those Manang’s iced teas from the Ateneo cafeteria, where we discovered together that we both like to pick the bendy blue straws. :)

(And thanks to Tiff’s sister Rian for the excellent close-up photos!)

Now I must get off the net and study for my GRE, which is tomorrow. Panic.

Grazing in the green, green grass

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The name of my site is based on the popular phrase, “How now, brown cow,” which, to my knowledge, comes from an old poem which starts, “How now, brown cow, grazing in the green, green grass.”

Update: Used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds.

I’ve never found a copy of the full poem, which I’m understandably eager to peruse. A quick search turns up only passing allusions to said text, but nothing full or pertinent. I did, however, find this cute little stanza by Alice Schertle, surprisingly evocative in its simplicity, from a children’s book titled after the phrase I so love:

The Cow, by Alice Schertle

You come across her standing there

as common as a box. As square.

Her lower jaw revolves the cud;

her hooves stand foursquare in the mud.

Come closer. View with mild surprise

the gentle softness of her eyes.

Cute, eh? Look for a cow layout sometime soon.

Answer to 9 Truths and a Lie

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I almost forgot, in 9 Truths and a Lie, the lie is number 6.

I have two left feet, I cannot dance for peanuts, and I will not be made to embarass myself by even trying. At the high school prom, my date and I were content to talk. Actually, we didn’t talk much either; I was an awkward kid. Well, what do you expect? Dressing up like Parker Lewis and playing too many fantasy role-playing games were not exactly socializing factors. But at least I could whup you good with a Level 4 Summon Lightning. Assuming the dice rolled right.

And yes, I do use women’s deodorant. Rexona Confidence, because of its delightful powder-fresh scent. (I’ve been trying Rexona Fresh-Cotton Dry Stick lately, and I like it too.)

If you desire further expostulation on any other points, just ask.

(Any Incredible Hulk queries will be disregarded. Don’t make me angry. You… you wouldn’t like me… when I’m angry.)

Bring… Back… Kirk!

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He should not have died. He did not deserve the death they gave him: bereft of honor, glory … or hope. But… it is not too late… He can still… come back.

Bring… back… KIRK!!!

*snort*

*giggle*

Critiquing the Fundies

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P. Andrew Sandlin has an engaging Reformed critique of the Fundamental Baptist movement, but many of his concerns about the FBM don’t apply to Berean Bible Baptist Church, where we’ve been attending for the past three Sundays. As Sandlin says, “there is a great deal of diversity within it [the FBM]. Certain descriptions and criticisms I make of the FBM will surely not apply to everybody within it.” Indeed, BBBC has few of the problems ennumerated in Sandlin’s account: there are no controversies regarding pastoral tyranny or legalistic authoritarianism, and the KJV is not a hot issue, as we are allowed to use our NIV’s — albeit with some implicit reservations.

History, however, is of greater concern to me, particularly where the much-touted “Trail of Blood” Baptist lineage is concerned. As Sandlin puts it,

I quickly discovered… that the FBM had a woefully inadequate approach to… church history. Many of its supporters held to the “trail of blood” thesis, that true, Bible-believing Baptists enjoyed great precedent all the way back to the early church and John the Baptist himself. Interestingly, however, many of the groups claimed by the FBM or by almost anybody’s standards – including many of the FBM today – are heretical. I refer to the Novations, the Albigenses, the Cathari, the Anabaptists, and so forth. The Anabaptists, for instance, had no doctrine of justification by faith alone…. The FBM seemed to glory in always being outside the established Christian church, and notably the Church of Rome. This opposition to Romanism is most commendable, but the FBM apparently did not recognize that the doctrines of the very groups they hailed as theological predecessors were in no case less egregious and in some cases more egregious than those of the Church of Rome. (emphasis mine)

The pastor of the church, a solid man, well-grounded in Scripture, has himself stressed that BBBC doesn’t derive its sense of baptismal authority from this “Trail of Blood” heritage, but rather from its own being as a believing Christian church, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. If that is so, however, why continue waving around the “Trail of Blood” booklet? More disturbingly, why will they regard me as being unequally yoked for fellowshipping with Christians from Reformed and non-FBM churches? Why do I need to go through yet another immersion baptism? Is it because my old baptism at GCF was not authoritative, having been conducted by a non-FBM pastor? The exclusivist FBM mindset is still there, though it is not readily apparent from the first few attendances.

It is not something to which I can reconcile myself in good conscience. Not yet.

Considering the Fundies

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It’s been a long day. We talked to the pastor of Berean Bible Baptist Church this afternoon (no affiliation with The Bereans), and they seem like a good church: conservative and firm, solidly grounded in Scripture, except for this: I am bothered by the exclusivist stand of the Fundamental Baptist denomination (yes, yes, they gave us a copy of Trail of Blood, much to my bemusement), especially that they will not regard as valid my baptism at our last church (GCF), whose doctrinal heritage is not Anabaptist. (Well, at least we’re allowed to use something other than the KJV.)

Any comments my Reformed friends out there can give would be welcome.

Tired. Will sleep now.