You're scared of.. what now?

Everyone seems to be on a listing spree for the Halloween, so I thought to jump on the bandwagon.

October. It is the month that is usually linked to ghouls, dead people, the dark, and generally all things creepy. But those mentioned are fears common to most, there are truckloads of articles written about them already. I wanted a topic that's not as overused as the others, so after weighing my topic ideas, I settled on writing about people's weird fears (who am I kidding, this topic has already been used and abused). It was a toss up between the top five things we are all afraid of and this. And as always, I went with weird.

So here I present to you, the TOP 5 WEIRDEST FEARS, according to me.

First up, at number five, we have:
5. BOGYPHOBIA

This one's pretty easy to figure out. As you probably already guessed, Bogyphobia is the fear of bogeys. While I too, am not very fond of the bogeyman, the term for this fear just gives me the LOLs. Couldn't anyone have thought of a better, less snicker-inducing name? Something more ominous sounding perhaps?

Next up on the list, at 4th place is:
4. CACOPHOBIA.

Cacophobia's a bit harder to guess, by the name alone. It is, by definition, the fear of ugliness. You read it correctly. Ugliness is scary. How something like this can be an actual condition, I do not know.

Taking the 3rd spot, we've got:
3. CONSECOTALEOPHOBIA

This is the fear of.. -wait for it- ..chopsticks. I kid you not. There are actually people who balk at seeing those tiny little sticks. Imagine this person going to China. And dying.

Now on to the runner up, at number two is:
2. HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPEDIALIOPHOBIA

I salute you if you can read that out loud without fumbling the first time. Can you guess what this is a fear of? Ironically, hippopotomonstrosesquipedialiophobia is the fear of long words. Come on now, people-who-make-these-names-up, this was the only name you could think of? REALLY?!

Psychologist: "So.. what phobias do you have?"
Person with this phobia: "I have Hippopotomo-" *faints*
You just can't give them a break, can you?

And we are now down to last item on the list. This, ladies and gentlemen, has got to take the cake as the weirdest phobia of all time, bar none.

Taking the number one spot on this list is:
1. ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA
You will not see this coming. This phobia is the fear of.. peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. For SRZ. Peanut butter. sticking. to. the. roof. of. the. mouth. PEANUT BUTTER! *pauses and sighs* What more can I say?


Homer has it?
Well, that's that. The top five weirdest phobias I could find on the intarwebz. If you have any of these fears, I am very sorry, but you are weird. And slightly disturbing.

Runners up include: POGONOPHOBIA, the fear of beards; SYPHILOPHOBIA, the fear of.. you guessed it.. syphilis (I would like to think that we all suffer from this fear); and, PELADOPHOBIA, the fear of bald people (Mr. Clean looks like he can pummel you with a meat cleaver).

I'm not exactly one to criticize, because I am deathly afraid of stairs, specially winding ones in very close quarters. It's a weird combination of climacophobia and claustrophobia (someone, come up with a funny name for it already).

What about you, what are you weirdly afraid of?

Mii and my Wii

Every time I get a new toy, I tend to obsess about it until all possible research channels (and resources) have been exhausted. Such is the case with the 2nd hand Wii I recently acquired, a steal at the price I got it for (TipidPC, thank you). Originally bought in February of this year, it is an unmodified US unit, barely used, and it came packaged with an extra Wiimote, the Wii Fit board, four original game discs, all the original packaging and a bunch of other accessories. In other words, I'm very happy with the deal.

The Miis

The first thing you do is to create a profile, to specify where to log all your activities, called the Mii. It serves as your Wii self, basically you in 3D likeness. And while making them can take a while, the end result is usually a hoot. Here are a some of the Miis I made, you tell me if they give justice to their real-life counterparts.

The MEL Mii -hair's a little off, but otherwise a good resemblance.

The PAPA Mii -not bad, could be better, but it's close enough.

The MAMA Mii -SPOT ON! It looks so much like her, it's scary.

The BIM Mii -I'd say this is pretty darn close.

The JANINE Mii -I didn't make this one, her sister Jamie did, but it's too cute to not share.



The Games

Of course, what would a gaming console be for if not for the games? Although mine came with a few games when I got it, I've collected four additional games for it within a week, namely:

• Super Mario Galaxy -a gift from the awesome Bim
• Resident Evil -because of glowing reviews from everywhere in the interwebs and IRL
• Super Smash Bros Brawl -ranked 4th in the Wii All-time Best game rankings, and
• Wii Play -bought at a great bargain, a better Wii Sports with decent ranking

Anyway, after getting all those games in a span of four days, I am done. No more new ones until next year. Absolutely no more! I promise. That is.. after I get Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party disc and a dance pad. But those will be the absolute final purchases for the Wii for this year. Promise. No, really.

So far, of all my games, the Wii Fit has been the most fun. It extends the Wii to something more than just a hand game by making you get up on your feet and move. It's also a good way to keep a less sedentary lifestyle, and it provides the entire family with a lot of laughs too (chunky dad attempting to do a yoga pose is a precious sight to see).

This is my tita, Tita Ging and her mini-me, Jamie,
enjoying the Wii with the rest of the family just this weekend.

In too many words, what I was just saying is that the Wii is a boatload of fun!

Selfish Acts

09/30/09. This was the day that Kate and I set aside to help out the typhoon victims in our own little way.

We had already decided on a place to offer our services to: Whitespace over at Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati. Armed with a meager budget, Kate and I met up early in the afternoon to grocery shop. It's good to note that noodle and canned good racks were most nearly empty; it hopefully means that what was in the racks were already donated. With our car filled with loot a couple hours and some bargains later, we happily made our way to Makati.

Finding the relief center was easy enough, as it was next to landmarks that were impossible to miss. Right as I was about to enter the gates of Whitespace, a red motorcycle came hurtling towards us from the other direction. And because we were going at a snail's pace, I was able to stop the car so as not to hit the biker. He hit us instead.


*spot the unintentional ad and you get a prize

That's the biker in the red helmet, Joel, who incidentally had been driving for less than 6 months, and was on an errand to buy a pack of gum for his boss. Those people standing around him were my witnesses, all of them saying the biker was going too fast. That's Cherry, my secondhand car; plate bent, bumper dented.

On a cheerier note, the MAPSA enforcer who helped us with this case was Renato (i-forgot-his-last-name); local celebrity copper, that guy on the news who returned the million pesos he found on the streets (he proudly told us this bit of information after everything was settled). The first thing he asked was if the bike toppled over with the impact. It didn't.

He assured me by saying that if a bike stays upright after impact, it usually means that the bike rammed into the car rather than the other way around. Otherwise, the biker would've been flung to the ground and injured. Bim arrived on the scene a few minutes later, he slipped away from work to come to my rescue... by laughing like there's no tomorrow with Mang Renato. And more importantly, he came armed with a hug reserved for me.

It took a good hour and a half to settle things before we went inside to unload the goods. Kate and I shortly found things to busy ourselves with and once we did, we were happy campers working like little ants part of the ant colony, part of the bigger picture. We were joined later by respective office mates and friends, who all headed straight over after work to help out as well.

The goods had to be collected, distributed in family packs, moved to the collecting area to be counted and then finally loaded in the truck for distribution. It was tiring, manual labor, but it was also fulfilling and well worth it. Although what we had to offer was little, we were still welcomed. Everyone of different classes, of different ages were working together for a singular cause. Seeing everyone contribute whatever they can to help our countrymen who were hit badly by the storm gives one a sense of pride; that we know and we've proven that we can come together at a time like this, there's hope for us yet.

Someone told me that people volunteer to feel good about themselves, that it is a selfish act more than anything else. If that is the case, what the hell, then so be it. We feel better about ourselves AND we are able to help those who need helping. It's a win-win situation from all angles.

A couple of weeks after Ondoy wrecked a good part of the country, things seem calm. The hype has died down. Classes have resumed. Adults have gone back to work. Donations come in fewer and further in between. Now, more than ever, relief operation centers need more volunteers and donations. The disaster isn't over yet, there still are thousands of families in evacuation centers with no food to eat, and no houses to live in.

Let us still try to help in whatever way we can. Here is the list of places to donate and volunteer. Every little bit counts.