Choosing the Twelve (Part 1)

It’s so hard to choose 12 names to put in the ballot. I don’t even know all of the candidates, especially because I am always working. They don’t put posters in my neighborhood and I rarely watch local channels.

It’s sad really, if you think about it. middle class folk like me, who are supposed to be the agents of change for this nation are too busy with daily life to even care about knowing who the candidates are, and helping to educated the public about these candidates.

For people like us who have the means to reshape our destiny because of our education, because of the opportunities that were given to us, because of our mobility, we can work hard and possibly rise above our frustrations to achieve our dreams.

But what about those who weren’t as fortunate as we are? Who is going to sincerely think about them, after the elections?

So how do we really choose the twelve? Do we judge them by their skills and achievements? Do we judge them by their “hearts”? Do we judge them by intentions?

I wish we can be as wise as Christ when he chose his own 12 Apostles. Come to think of it, Senators and Public Servants…and so were the disciples. And what did the disciples do? What skills did they possess? Each of them had different skills: one was good at finances(tax collector), one was a charismatic speaker (the evangelist), a few were good in drawing in fish, another was a revolutionary. They left everything they had to follow the path that would lead to the salvation of mankind.

Then again I stumbled upon several articles on the internet hinting that the 12 Apostles weren’t exactly management material by today’s standards.


TO:
Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter Carpenter Shop
Nazareth

FROM:
Jordan Management Consultants
Jerusalem

Dear Sir:

Thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.

It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the “team" concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.

We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings. They registered a high score on the manic depressive scale.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.

We wish you every success in your new Venture.

Sincerely yours, Jordan Management Consultants

Even with these limitations, the not-so-favorable-managerial-candidates, or the remaining 12 disciples managed to lead an “organization” that, 2000 years later remains to be the BIGGEST International “Superpower”.

So what makes a leadership candidate viable?

Much Ado About Sanjaya

The moment that Simon Cowell has been waiting for has arrived. Sanjaya Malakar has been voted out of the American Idol contest.

I am not a big Sanjaya fan as well. He reminds me of this character in the American Idol parody: American Dreamz (Yes, I watched the film. The date didn’t work out fine, but I’m glad the movie was senselessly hilarious. At least I was entertained.)

The Mandy Moore starrer had a lot of interesting characters, including this clumsy terrorist named Omar, who joined the American Dreamz contest in order to kill the President of the United States. Omar had a gay cousin, who had been dreaming of joining American Dreamz. I found that character so funny, especially since I haven’t really seen a gay Arab in a film before.


Back to Sanjaya Malakar. He is admittedly, not the best singer in this season of American Idol, he doesn’t have the best moves, and he doesn’t have the best hair. Obviously, I am not a fan.

But Americans seem to be amused by him. And they seem to be upset that Simon doesn’t like him. Ryan even had the nerve to ask Simon if his comments were because the performance was so bad, or was it because it was Sanjaya. Simon got infuriated with Ryan’s comments and rightly so.

Simon wasn’t really appalled with Sanjaya the first time he heard him sing. In fact, Simon was impressed that he told Sanjaya: "[You are]A lot better than your sister... she has the stage presence and I think you have the better voice. You're like a shy little thing who's got a good voice." The problem with Mr. Malakar is that he wasn’t able to have a good follow through with this first impression.

There’s this one interview Ryan Seacrest did with this girl on the street and she said something about Sanjaya and William Hung.

But Sanjaya shouldn’t be compared with William Hung. Mr. Malakar CAN sing. He can sing pretty decently. If we look back at his audition, I’d say he was alright. He had all the reason in the world to audition for American Idol:


William Hung, however, cannot sing. He had no business auditioning for American Idol.


And that enlightened me as to why Americans are so amused with Mr. Malakar. I thought at first they liked him because of that whole “Michael Jackson” kind of aura he has. But I guess it’s because he’s undoubtedly Asian-looking. They think he’s a comic character, a funny guy. His “popularity” is borne out of America’s tendency to become racists: Dude, Asian guys are so hilarious.

I bet even if good belters like Dessa or Jed Medella make it to American Idol, they’d still be ridiculed. Unless of course they say they are from Hawaii and not dwell too much on their Filipino heritage: case in point, Jasmine Trias. Then again, what’s Jasmine doing now?

This is so true

Got this email about a softdrink ad in Mexico.

I don't know much about the Spanish language (maybe I should get private Spanish lessons with someone), but the narrator basically talks to the women in the ad, explaining the various indications on the truth that your (guy)bestfriend likes you.

Maybe the other Spanish-speaking people can better explain the commercial to us.