Ilocano Lesson via Meme

I am half-Kankanay, an ethno-linguistic group that has roots in Sagada, Bontoc and Mountain Province. However, my Kankanay language skills are very poor. So to get in touch with my Kankanay side, I am trying to learn the language. Nevermind that I can't even speak "proper" Tagalog. Some may say I should master one language first before working on another. But I think there's nothing wrong with being mediocre in both languages. hehehe. ;) Anyway, since Kankanay is related to Ilocano as shown in the following chart from the book Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar by Carl Rubino, I figure that I will try to learn a little Ilocano:

I figure that learning Ilocano will help me in eventually learning Kankanay. Thus, I will answer a "middle-names meme" from Major Tom by using Ilocano words.

The rules:

1. State your middle name. If it’s too long or not sounding so good, then think about the name you wish you had as a middle name. And use that, of course.

2. For each letter of the middle name stated in Rule #1, write a specific trait or characteristic of your person and elaborate reasonably.

3. If you had five letters in such name, tag the same number of bloggers. Like if that name has seven letters, then seven other bloggers. If such name has one letter, then tag that one single blogger. Now wait, I don’t think that middle names—or any name for that matter—could probably have one single letter on it. But who knows, some names might just be like that, like Mr.X, or Mr.Y. We got a lot of names like that back in my accounting subjects in college, Mr. M owes this much, Mrs. Q earns this much, and so on and so forth.

4. There is no Rule #4 so might as well go on.

Instead of using English words, I will use Ilocano words for the initials to describe myself. Another thing though is that I don't really like my middle name. Fortunately, the rules say I can choose a middle name if I don't like my given middle name. Thus, I choose "Danger" since "danger" is my middle name. haha. That joke is from the movie Austin Powers, of course. hehehe. So here's the Ilocano words that describe a little bit about myself from the initials of my chosen middle name:

Dayaw - with the root word "dayaw" meaning honor or glory, the word "manangdaydayaw" means respectful. I try to be respectful of other people even if we don't agree on certain things. That should be a given, no? ;)

Álus - used, second hand. I rarely shop for clothes, but when I do, I usually buy them at thrift or second-hand stores.

Nadalimpako - wavy or curly hair. As I stated in a prior post, I once had wavy hair. I still do. Just not as many. ;)

Gadang - with the root word "gádang" meaning either wading, short pants or shallow, the word "magadang" means shallow, water not reaching the waist. Although I can swim, I don't like swimming in the ocean if its deep. In fact, I've never swam in deep ocean water. I prefer swimming in the ocean if it's shallow.

Étika - This is actually borrowed from the Spanish word for ethics. Most of the words in my Ilocano dictionary that start with 'e' are derived from Spanish words. Anyway, I choose this word because although I have my inner struggles like everyone else, I still try to lead an ethical life.

Raém - polite. Another given. Example from the book: Raementayo kuma ti pammatida a kas met ti panagraemda ti pammatitayo. Translation: We should respect their beliefs as they respect ours.

Now how to use the other 5 Ilocano words in an actual Ilocano sentence is another story. hehe. So there you have it. An attempt to learn Ilocano via a meme. I just need to do this meme several hundred more times with different Ilocano words and I should be a fluent Ilocano speaker in no time. hehe. Now, according to the rules, I now have to tag 6 bloggers, the same number of letters in the middle name. Thus, I'm tagging the first 6 commenters of this post who have yet to be tagged by this meme. If you don't have a blog, then just reply to this post with your middle-name meme. ;)

Technorati tags: meme, Ilocano

Six Pack Movies and a Meme

I saw two movies recently: End of the Spear and 300. What do they have in common? Angry guys with six-packs. :-D My roommate rented End of the Spear on DVD. It's about a group of Christian missionaries who are killed by the Waodani, an Ecuadorian tribe, during the 1950s. The main characters are Mincayani, one of the tribesmen, and Steve Saint, one of the sons of the murdered missionaries. Undeterred by the murders, the missionaries' wives and family still try to reach out to the Waodani by living with them. Overall, it was an interesting story.

The next night, I saw the movie 300. I was reluctant to go b/c the movie looked like just another mindless, violent film, but I was with a friend and his friends and I didn't want to be a wet blanket so I went. Ok, let's see, the film had:

1) violence that seemed gratuitous even for a battle film
2) ridiculous elements that look like they're straight out of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel and not a history book (e.g. a giant rhinoceros, a Goliath-like creature, a half-goat/half-human, a human with crab-like limbs, fighters called the immortals with skull-like masks, a group of deformed mystics, and a hunchbacked Spartan)
3) occassional wannabe-freedom-speech moments that comes off as Braveheart-Lite
4) historical exaggerations, e.g. a characterization of Persian leader Xerxes that is downright silly

Aside from those things, the movie is great. hehe. Oh, I could go on, but I'll just say: skip this film and watch the History Channel or PBS if you want to know about Spartan history. Also, if you're into ancient war films (not necessarily Spartan-related), check out the classic Braveheart instead.

In meme related news, Carey created this meme in which I was included. Her rules are as follows:

1. Choose five blogs randomly from your blogroll.
2. For each blog, choose at least one entry (you could add more) which is your favorite post by this blogger.
3. Include a link to this post and explain why you like it.
4. The chosen five bloggers are considered tagged and they will also have to do the same in their blogs.

So far, Carey has posted this meme three times, each with 5 different bloggers. I was included in part 3. Cool. ;-)

Ok, like Alternati, I didn't really choose randomly. hehe. As I've said before, there's lots of great bloggers out there but I did have to choose only 5 of my favorite posts from the bloggers on my blogroll. That's not easy because each of them is unique and great in their own way. Note: I was a politician in a past life. :-D Anyway, here's some of my fave posts from the bloggers on my blogroll:

1) Toe's Let Me Drink My Diet Coke:
The first blog post that made me LOL.

2) Vern's The Pursuit:
It shows her persistence when it looked like she wouldn't get into the college of her choice. Her "won't take no for an answer" attitude is kinda inspiring. :-D

3) Alternati's 13 X-tinct Games:
I also played these video games as a kid and despite the cheesiness of the graphics, they do bring back memories. Just looking at the picture of the video game Kung-Fu Master makes me grin. If you've played that game, you know that the game is the epitome of "cheese" with it's damsel in distress plot. Still, I liked it. ;-)

4) Bill Billig's Let's Have Fun and Paulo Avelino Raps:
If there's one guy out there who speaks for my Igorot heritage, it's Bill. He articulates what I have a hard time putting into words. I chose two posts from his blog: his post about Paulo Avelino, a half-Igorot guy in some Pinoy game show and a second post about the controversy involving Barrio Fiesta restaurant. Ok, so Bill mentioned me in the 2nd post which is another reason why I like the post. hehe. Anyway, discussions on Bill's blog are always lively, fun and intelligent. Bring your thinking cap when visiting this blog.

5) Niceheart's Ten Things I Would Never Do:
I just feel bad for Arlene, who is mentioned in number 9. hehe

As far as tagging goes, like Alternati, I'm also waiving that requirement for the mentioned bloggers. ;-)

Technorati tags: meme, 300, End of the Spear

Meeting My Fellow Bloggers

Verns tagged me to do this meme. Well, she didn't exactly single me out -- she tagged EVERYBODY. hehe. Anyway, this meme involves meeting my fellow bloggers. If I should I ever meet my fellow bloggers, I wonder how it would go. I mean meeting other bloggers can be strange. There's a chance it might not go well. For instance, there might be lots of long, awkward silences. How will you know if the meeting didn't go well? Because they'll probably blog about it. :-D For example, they might say in their blog:

"He's not as tall as I thought he was."
"He kept blabbing on and on and on...."
"Geez, what a weirdo."

I would prefer that bloggers say the following in their blogs if they ever meet me:

"Definitely way better looking in person."
"Even funnier in person."
"His blog doesn't do justice to how great a person he is. More people should be like him. In fact, a cult should be started right now in his honor."
"I laughed. I cried. I would tell all my friends to go see it." Wait a minute, that last one is from a movie review. :-D

Anyway, enough intro, here's the meme:

Who is the first blogger you met?
My sister. hehe. Aside from her, haven't met any bloggers. Although everyone seems to have a blog nowadays so I have probably met bloggers but I just didn't know it. ;-) I did try to meet a blogger once, but.....well, let's not get into that. ;-)

Who is the blogger “you most want to meet”?
Kevin Sites because I like reading blogs by people who are actually on location covering what they blog about. It also takes a lot of courage to do what he does.

Who is the ‘I can meet, want to meet, but somehow never got to meet’ blogger?
Right now? Well, I don't know too many Bay Area bloggers so I guess no one.

Who are the group of bloggers that you most want to meet?
This is a weird question. Group of bloggers? Can I make up my own group? If so, then I would say I would like to meet the bloggers whose blogs I often visit and leave comments on. What an awkward sentence. ;-) These are bloggers who make me laugh and have the same sense of humor as me. Ka-lebol. hehe. I also like reading about their personal stories.

Do you have any bloggers/blog readers that you would like to meet right now?
Yes. hehe. Well, you didn't ask who. ;-) But seriously, just see the previous question. :-)

As far as tagging people, I 'm going to add a twist to the tag: I'm tagging everyone who DOESN'T have a blog. So if you don't have a blog, good luck doing the meme. hehe. But seriously, feel free to do this meme if it interests you. :-)

Technorati tags: blogging, meme