My Faith… Let Me Just Get This Out of the Way

I was born and raised under the Roman Catholic faith of Christianity. Even though I went to a public elementary school, once a week, someone would teach religion to us. Come high school, I already had a regular religion class because I was attending a Christian high school. By college, I had philosophy classes that taught other religions. So in a way, I come to understand other religions as well.

That's the key here, understand. I am better off understanding things first before believing in them. As far as I am concerned, that should follow; once I understand, I believe. So please don't get me into a discussion on Flat Earth because none of the Flat-Earther logic is understandable to me. They seem to throw away the science. Even without the science, the math alone cannot prove that we live in a flat Earth. But this is not the topic.

Religion. What is it? To me, it's a division of beliefs, norms, way of life, depending on whichever greater being or beings you worship in order to attain salvation for some, for others enlightenment. It's a vague description but that's how I understand it. In religion, there is always a divine god or gods. Of course, there are also the atheists, and they don't believe in any god.

So where do I stand? I do believe in a supreme being that created us; this planet, the whole universe, the multiverse if you believe in that, all the natural laws. Everything. Also, I do believe in science. But some people find it difficult to fully believe in both. Actually, I think, people find it difficult to fully believe in science and religion, and not science and a supreme being.

I say religion because that comes with the belief in the many creation accounts, which contradicts many scientific discoveries. There are probably more but, I am only familiar with what the Holy Bible has.

So how did I come to believe in a supreme being when I believe in science? Simple. Logic. At least, my logic. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, we are able to clone animals, and probably even people. Some say there is an "ethical" issue to that but then most (not all) of what we know about ethics and law is dictated by religion. We are also having breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence. Clones are technically alive. Artificial intelligent machines are almost sentient. We, humans, are the creators of these technologies. And to these technologies, which someday may have their own "lives," we are their creators. So following that reasoning, similar to our "creations", there must be a being that have created us.

However, the word "divine" still escapes me. I still cannot scientifically grasp the concept of a soul. But there is a so-called Noetic Science that is trying to explain the divine. Take note, divine, not random chance. Random chances can be explained by probability and statistics. And a I count the soul as divine. Most miracles are, as far as I'm concerned, statistical anomalies that lie at the extremes of a normal curve. They can happen, the probability is just extremely low. The so-called miracles that have zero probabilities have been debunked. Hoaxes.

And this is my stand, my belief. There is a God, and there is science.

#FoulJesterBOMB 01

Unlike most of the stories I wrote that I've changed names, threw around some facts, this story is all true.

It's all about me blogging; How I started, what I did, how I came about to doing what I do; blog of me blogging… BOMB. Hence, the title #FoulJesterBOMB.

This is not fiction. The names are not altered to protect anyone since, I probably won't be mentioning much names… Or maybe I would. Anyway, enjoy the trip. Enjoy the ride. Because I sure as heck did.

Let me start by introducing myself. My friends call me Jester. I pride myself for being so many things. Call it a jack of all traits. Unfortunately, probably a master of none. I do, however, write and daydream a lot… not necessarily in that order. I use FoulJester on social media to distinguish myself from the other jesters out there. The word "foul" on FoulJester came from the anime Flame of Recca. In that anime, there a weapon called the foul spider. And being a big Spider-Man fan, I took the name of the character of that used that weapon, Gashakura. But that didn't work out very well since in didn't sound jestery enough. So long story short, I took the "foul" from foul spider, spliced it onto jester and the rest is history.

I maintain a lifestyle blog; fouljester.blogspot.com … yes, this site exists. You're probably on in right now because… this blog is on this blog. I used to have a fouljester.com domain but that's out. Free is fine.

This is not my life's story. But, this is my story. This is a story of my writing and daydreaming.

Writing stories? I think I started early. In fourth grade, I remember turning one of my notebooks into a comic about a cat; a ninja with a gun and a magic word for a name, a wannabe Kamen Rider, and a Super Sentai where the red leader is female which then turned into something else entirely. Something in the lines of Dragon Ball or Yuu Yuu Hakusho. And then I just stopped. 

Then the Internet happened. Goodbye, high school.

Welcome 2020!!

And so 2019 has ended and 2020 has come. Welcome the metal rat once the Chinese new year comes.

As far as I'm concerned, 2019 was a much better year compared to 2017 and 2018 combined. I mean, at least time around, I still have money in my pocket.

I can't say that this is the year that I started uploading videos on YouTube. It isn't. Although it is the year when I started uploading videos on YouTube where my voice can be heard. Search for FoulJester to find my latest YouTube channel. I've deleted most of my older YouTube channels which had a lot of copyright issues. Even if they are just slide shows, the background music used were copyrighted.

I've re-started using Twitter. And at last I've reached 2,000 tweets after being on Twitter since 2013. Look for @FoulJester and follow me.

I now have an Instagram account using my cellphone number. I couldn't use my email and can't use FoulJester as my handle. For some reason, both were banned. So I had to make an account some other way. Look for @the.FoulJester to see pictures of food and toys. Although I'm thinking of putting up short videos as well.

I finally finished two stories on Wattpad. I'm planning on writing more. I just need to know what to write about. Read my stories by looking for FoulJester.

As for my dayjob, I finally had a raise that's not part of my annual, scheduled pay raise. So, thank goodness for that. 2019 was also the year of the passing of Mr. John Gokongwei.

As for notable events, there have been a few natural calamities. Earthquakes have been happening all over the Philippines especially Mindanao. And I can only remember the last two storms; Tisoy and Ursula.

Since 2019 was a way better year than 2018, here's to hoping 2020 would be a lot better than last year.

Mr. Bulbul

Mr. Bulbul is a Korean YouTuber who vlogs about food, drinks, and his life. He is married to a Filipina and occasionally reviews Filipino food coupled with Korean culture and commentaries.

It took me a while to decide on which blog should I put this on. On Tira-Tirahan, since Mr. Bulbul usually talks or comments about food. On Retinal Attachment, since I'm about to comment about one of his videos. But in the end, I decided to put it here on Canned Thoughts. Since I won't be just talking about a single video although I do have one video that I want to focus on.

Let me first start from the beginning.

The very first Mr. Bulbul video that I saw was the one where he reviewed Youngs Town Sardines. He was wearing his signature dark sunglasses. Nowadays, he just wears his eyeglasses. Of course, at first, I was a bit surprised at his name, Bulbul. But then I though, bulbul, probably means something else in Korea. Then he explained in one of his videos that he actually knows what bulbul means in Tagalog. And that bulbul is a kind of bird.

He has a lot of videos in his channel, but now I only want to comment about one. This is the reason why I would like to put this on my Retinal Attachment vlog. It's about his experience with a famous restaurant, Samgyupsalamat, which is also the reason why I want to place this on my Tira-Tirahan vlog. 

Mr. Bulbul says that Samgyupsalamat isn't really serving samgyupsal as far as he knows. Only one of the meat choice only comes close to being samgyupsal. And that's just coming close. It's not even samgyupsal, yet. Mr. Bulbul also said, that in Korea, the server will sometimes cook your barbecue for you.

Now I have to ask, what Korean Barbecue Restaurant serves actual samgyupsal? If I'm going to take a guess, it would be those do not have franchises. It would be those that are owned and run by Korean immigrants. And you would have to look for those kinds of restaurants. I've been to one of those restaurants; run by a Korean. Sometimes, the owner herself (or one of the waiters) will cook your barbecue while you eat. That would be Samgyup Story. Click here for my review.

For Mr. Bulbul's video on Samgyupsalamat, click here.

For the very first Mr. Bulbul video that I have ever watched, click here.

The Visit to Mang Juan

I'm not a reporter. I am just a blogger. And as a blogger, it's not like I have a lot of readers. So by the time someone reads this, this will have been old news.

As one of his thousands of employees, we paid a visit to Mr. John's wake. It is held at Heritage Park, Taguig. We went there this past Tuesday afternoon. We were asked to wear white or anything light colored. It was the family's wish.

The family were all in white; the children, grandchildren. They seem well; they may have accepted the fact. I saw a lot of flowers from prominent persons like the President himself, Rodrigo Duterte; from other politicians, and famous people. All of the flowers, white. Mr. John looked so calm. He had a Chippy pillow on his side; one of his more famous brands.

His son, Mr. Lance, said something funny on his message; on Mr. John's last day, he asked for food from his daughters. But what Mr. John asked form his only son was the business' financial statements. Mr. John still wants to know how their business doing.

Today is the last day of the wake. Tomorrow, will be the funeral. I'm sure it will be an emotional day for the family. It always is. You may be calm during the wake but, the day of the burial will definitely get to you.

Again, thank you, Mr. John.

Goodbye, Mang Juan

So I've just heard that our founder passed away over the weekend. While I do have a television, I don't have the means to watch local news since I don't have a TV antenna, cable, nor a digital TV box. My most credible source of news is Reddit. Not Facebook. 

So there I was, on my way to work, on Reddit, when I saw a post. I thought it was fake news so I had to Google search. I still had to verify once I got to the office, I had to ask someone. And yes, it is true.

Again. Thank you, Boss. Thank you, Mang Juan.

A Blog Blog

So I've read something today and I makes me want to write a blog as it is a blog. Although I kind of started already. Also in effect, the video version of it.

What do I mean?

I mean look. The word blog comes from the words web log. So it's a log that you put on the web. Kind of like a journal or a diary. That way, there would be an actual story coming from it. Of course, I'd still be doing the niche blogs and events on this one.

Since I've already started with throwing in my thoughts, opinions, and a lucid dream, let me continue with something that happened yesterday.

Our company has this event coming in a couple of weeks. Of course with events, there are contests. One of those contests is somewhat of a Music Video / Jingle making contest.

Before I continue, I will only point out a few of things from the contest mechanics; 1) the deadline of submission deadline is on the 31st of October; 2) the entries should be submitted in MP4 format; and 3) The song must be three minutes long at the maximum. Let's continue.

So come the deadline, there were only two entries that were submitted. However, one of which was in MP3 and was a few seconds over three minutes. So my boss says, "Let's loosen up the mechanics so that more can join the contest." So we accepted the MP3 format for now and told them to make a video in MP4 format. Also, the deadline was extended for three days. When the deadline of submission came, we ended up with nine entries. 

So on the next day, five finalists would have to be chosen. Those five would have to perform their song live on the event. After the finalists have been chosen, I uploaded their videos on our company's local site for others to view. And then the protest comes in. Or protests, I wasn't the one who heard of them directly. My boss did. Anyway. Some of the plants whose entries came in after the original deadline protested against the one plant that had the entry with more than three minutes long.

Why? Is winning the contest that important to them? Some of the rules were put aside so that more can join, including those who protested. Now they're pointing out that that one entry did not follow rules and should be disqualified. Come one. All but one entry did not follow the rules. Why have the nerve to complain about someone not following the rules if you yourself did not follow the rules.

They are adults squabbling like brats.

The Suspicious Removed Message

Have you ever seen something like this on your Facebook messenger?

When you remove a message from messenger, it leaves this remark that you removed a message. Which makes those who read it a little suspicious. Sometimes way too suspicious. 

Then on your group chat, you have an idea to leave a string of removed messages.

It's either everyone else not involved would think something is suspicious or someone will just jump in and join the bandwagon. Especially if all of you are a bunch of smart alecks.

But on a serious note. Just be careful with what you send out via the messenger to avoid removing a message. Because there's a lot of people out there who go overboard with their imaginations and make up stories in their mind why there's a "removed message."

2018 Year-End

It's almost November and I just noticed that I don't have a year-end summary for 2018. It's almost the end of 2019 and I don't really remember anything that happened during 2018. So there's no point in making one now.

What I do remember is returning to the Head Office job at the start of the year. That's it. Anything else? Yes but, I don't really remember. Besides those events that are on the blog. 

Let's check!

On this blog there's just the year-ender for 2017 so there's nothing here.

On the food blog there are three posts; one about Piattos, one about Nips, and one about Four Seasons buffet. That was my first time in that restaurant. It was okay. I still think Sambokojin is better… or maybe City Buffet. Perhaps because the latter two are closer to home.

On the movie, TV, and video blog there's a couple but, tell me that I went to the movies. In fact, I don't remember going to the theater to see a movie. I have not for a very long time. Except for Endgame. That was company-sponsored so thank you to the company I work for.

So there you go. My 2018 year-ender. Now to prepare for the 2019 year-ender. I mean, make the outline at least.

Dream

I just want to share this dream that I had. Actually, they were a few dreams but are actually one. It's a bit confusing so let me just tell you about it. 

It was a couple of nights ago. The dream started with me lying on the bed. I look at the window just above the head end of the bed. There was a man holding a machete, climbing up, about to get into the window. Fear set in. Then I woke up. It was a bad dream.

I went back to sleep after going to the restroom. Then another dream started. It was very similar. I was on the bed. I got up to see someone entering the house through the balcony. Then in the dream, I realized I was dreaming so I forced myself to wake up. So I did.

It was pretty much the same dream but just a little different. When I get back to sleep, will I dream that again? I could only know once I went back to sleep.

I went back to sleep. My dream started in a room or a hallway. I couldn't tell. It was dark. I followed the wall out. I could feel the wall. It was tiled. When I felt the wall, I knew I was dreaming. I just followed the wall until I reached the end. At the end there were many people. I could recognize them all since they were all family. There was some kind of party.

I wanted to leave the party so I did. There were two paths out. Somehow I know that one was a direct route out and one was unfamiliar and goes through someplace unfamiliar to me. I did not want anyone following me so I took the unfamiliar route. 

I went between two fences with fines crawling form both creating somewhat of a tunnel. After that, I went through a path almost similar to the once known as White Trails of Camp John Hay of Baguio City. I passed by what seems like an abandoned building. I was not sure what it used to be. It was either a school or a hospital. I moved on until I reached a road. Again, it seemed like one of the highways going to Baguio City but it was muddy. There were trucks going to and fro. I crossed an intersection avoiding the  huge trucks when I noticed that I left something at the party. I needed to go back and get it. 

It turned back and crossed the intersection once more. At the intersection, I saw a couple of co-workers telling to go and get whatever it was that I left. As I walked back the path I took, it went dark. But I had a flashlight. I turned it on and moved on. Then from a distance, I saw a house being invaded. I wasn't sure if I was watching one of the dreams I just had. There were other houses that were being invaded. Some invaders had guns. One of them saw me with the flashlight and shot at my direction. I turned off the flashlight to conceal myself. All of a sudden, a police car came rushing from behind me. It passed just a few inches beside me. The police car arrived at the chaos. Then my alarm woke me up.

What made this dream unique? It was because I felt everything happen as though I was there; I felt the tiled walls as it guided me outside; I felt the mud on the road as a walked on it. It was… lucid.

I am a believer of parallel universes; of alternate realities. Did I just experience going to one? Did I live a moment of another version of myself? I didn't know. I don't know. All I knew was that I was tired.