Brain Contour

A friendly competition between rival universities is common and healthy. Sports, for instance, foster and engage friendly competition and cheers between group groups. While each team may want to become the more popular and stronger squad, it is the boosting of comradeship and interactions that must come first.

Abby Duling on The Volante

Whatever that begins as a friendly competition must end as it is. Human as we are, we are all competitive in nature. However, we should not allow this human nature to fuel hate in us. Abby Duling, a columnist of The Volante, the student publication of The University of South Dakota, may not know what friendly competition is all about. In her column “Home of the Coyotes, not the bunnies“, she encouraged violence against specific innocent parties, in this case the students of USD who wear SDSU gears. The “incitement to violence” is clearly described by Ms. Duling’s statement, “All of the people walking around campus with SDSU gear need to be kidnapped, smuggled into the dome and then hurled onto the floor at halftime. Then all of their SDSU backpacks, binders, pencils and SDSU lanyards need to be thrown in after them.”

A winter weather advisory is in effect until 6 pm today. I looked outside from the terrace and heavy snow is falling. According to the forecast, 5 to 7 inches of snow will be likely from around Brookings area. There is no wind gust. Based on previous experiences, taking the wind factor effect out, it won’t be freezing cold to walk from home to the office.

It is Monday morning. A 10-minute walk from home to Wecota Hall is the best alternative since my car is too powerless for the snow-filled streets. Filled. No more humps. Street gutters are unrecognizable. No more yellow lines. Everything is white that you tend to lose the concept of colors. Apart from the endless snowfall, my morning hike to work will be a breeze — nothing will ever stop me from traversing on foot and singing in the snow. Geared for the battle, I put on my ever-enduring coat that have lasted many worse winters, including my ninja headgear outfit that I sometimes find ridiculous efficient. Ridiculous since it really makes me look like a fighting ninja. Efficient since nothing compares at how it makes my head so warm.

See who is in the Argao Mayor’s office? That’s me people! Mayor Edsel Galeos and I posed for a quick photo shoot after a good chat regarding the possibility of having a public library in the town. And my role — to help make the project a reality!

When will the project start? It is still in the planning stage and I need the help of every Argaoanon. Every little help to make this library dream come true will be appreciated much.

Argao, located in the south of the Cebu island Philippines, is a beautiful town. I never thought it is so beautiful until I visited the mountainous areas of the town lately. In all my years of living in the town’s lowlands, it just dawned on me that there is more to the story of every “habal-habal” plying the rugged terrains of the mountains every day. One has to be there, on the mountains, to see and experience life beyond the plains.

Aside from the cultural heritage, Argao is blessed with precious natural treasures that every Argawanon should be proud of.

I have already visited the Red Box Karaoke at the Ayala Terraces in Cebu City. My sister and I were looking for a place to eat lunch and a friend referred us to Red Box, which just opened the day before. I thought at first that it may just be one of the usual karaoke bars in town where food comes next to comfort of the room. But it was not. Unlike other karaoke bars, we had a unique room experience with a cozy feel of its interiors and a bounty of food served at our delight for a very affordable price.

With only P299 per head, we had an eat-all-you-can eating service including a room complete with a high-tech karaoke system. The system contains about 1000 songs that are organized according to artists, or songs.

Few Filipino friends back home have asked me about how clean Americans are in the house. I could not give an answer straight to the point, because the term “clean” is relative. Cleanliness in the Filipino perspective could be a far cry from from the American viewpoint. If cleanliness is the absence of dirt or offensive odor, then based on the number of American homes I have been into since 2006, Americans do maintain a clean surrounding.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Some Americans (mostly the younger generations) do not know how to maintain tidiness in areas of the house that are supposed to be shipshape. This is not specific to one culture, however. Although Filipinos are known to be really clean in the house, some are deficient in this area of household responsibility as well.

There are a number of hotels, motels, and inns around the Buffalo area in New York for those wanting to visit the famous Niagara Falls. I have been traveling quite often and, in most times, I always check hotels.com for hotel availability for my travel dates. This time, when I searched for hotels near Niagara Falls, I found a hotel name that is unfamiliar – Lord Amherst Hotel. This is my short review for the Lord Amherst Hotel in Buffalo, NY.

I wanted something that is affordable yet well maintained and clean. Getting a cheap hotel near a popular tourist attraction like the Niagara is a game of chance. If there will be good deals online, expect that it can be filled in no time. Most of the hotels I saw were priced over $100. This is quite pricey in comparison with those hotels I stayed in Florida and California.

I only saw the link online while searching for things to see in Iowa. It says that I need to visit the Grotto of the Redemption, specifically located in West Bend. I saw some pictures posted on some blogs, but was not actually impressed by them. What really captured me was this line: a miracle in stone. Another description of the grotto that I found interesting was that it is the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. This, I will dispute because for a very long time now the Philippines has been cited to have the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, and that is the famous Banaue Rice Terraces (which, by the way, is too beautiful for the Grotto of the Redemption to surpass).

Anyway, my friend and I drove almost 4 hours to reach the Grotto of the Redemption, coming from the eastern side of South Dakota. The site is hidden in the rural Iowa community, situated amidst residential houses. I was expecting an ordinary sight, you know something that will make me utter short reluctant ahhs and ohhs, and then the scenes will quickly vanish in my head. Yet, the moment my eyes laid on the grotto, I was in awe and the place etched a perfect picture in my mind.