whynot: etc: oh deer (Default)
Las ([personal profile] whynot) wrote2009-08-06 02:21 am

from Ortigas to Cubao

So I drag myself out of bed, skip breakfast, and go to my internship and am like, "Wow, good thing there's no traffic." And I get to my building and am like, "Wow, good thing I'm the only person in the elevator so we don't have to stop at every fucking floor." And I get to my floor and the office is dark and empty and locked.

?!?

I missed the memo, but I should have figured: today is a public holiday today because the Philippines is burying Cory Aquino.

Check it out, here she is:


January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009
Ex-first female president in Asia, advocate of democracy, People Power revolutionary, and all-around awesome lady.

When the Marcos regime assassinated her husband in 1983, her vengeance was to become president. I mean, holy crap. Well, she officially lost to Marcos, but everyone knew that was just electoral fraud anyway. What followed was the People Power revolution (also called EDSA revolution), in which 2 million people took to the EDSA highway in non-violent protest and refused to budge, the culmination of years of repressed opposition. As the protest wore on, more of the military began to defect. Marcos fled the country with his tail between his legs.

President Cory Aquino! \o/


Cory's husband is now worth approximately US$10

Her presidency wasn't perfect, but it did end 20 years of dictatorship and heralded the democratic transformation of a nation. Even after her presidency, she continued to be active in philanthropic work and political empowerment, collecting stacks of human rights honors along the way. 120,000 people showed up to watch her funeral cortege pass. Probably why my side of town was so quiet.

Thanks for your awesome, Cory!


But where there is death, there must be life! I swear I didn't get this from the tabloids: two-headed babies have been born in both my homelands. BOTH. Coincidence?! Indonesian two-headed baby. Filipino two-headed baby. Just. Wow.

In completely unrelated news, the commentfic party seems to be off to a great start. COME PLAY, GUYS. Going strong are an Edmund&Susan Last Battle AU thread, a Gossip Girl goes to Hogwarts thread, and Pokemon goes to Camelot thread. Have I mentioned lately how much I love you guys?
dhobikikutti: earthen diya (Default)

[personal profile] dhobikikutti 2009-08-06 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you posted about her. I hope Aung San Suu Kyi gets to achieve the same kind of revenge some day.

(psst... can I pester you into committing to writing something for Eid ka Chand? You know you want to write an Edward Said-esqe figure going into Calormene and commenting on the Narnians...)

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-08-06 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
Haha, I would, but I don't think the Calormene are Muslim, just Arab-esque. Still, that community is a wonderful idea and I promise to at least write a drabble for it when the time comes!
dhobikikutti: earthen diya (Default)

[personal profile] dhobikikutti 2009-08-07 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
I also do not think the Calormene are Muslim (and it makes me mad when sloppy fic writers treat them as such), and for a long time I thought they might be Hindu analogies, with the representatative god Tash etc.
Which is why the Narnia books do not feature in our source texts lists. But... I still maintain that it is an excellent universe for a Muslim character to cross over into! Haroun (and the Sea of Stories) or Deeba (Un Lun Dun) for instance...

::cough:: Meta discussions about fictitious representations of Islam such as in C.S. Lewis and Guy Gavriel Kay's worlds would, of course, be completely appropriate for the comm. ;)