also

i don't have time to be writing right now, but i really want to share these videos that i found by youtube user byronfgarcia the other day.   basically, he's a prison administrator in the phillipines, and this is part of his approach to rehabilitating the prisoners there.    i googled him and he had some articles where he said that he feels music is the language of the soul and therefore SHOULD be included in a prisoner's life and return to productive society.

it was such a STARK STARK contrast to how we treat prisoners in the united states.   here, if you go to jail, we pretty much write you off as lost.   there is very little rehabilitation going on, in my opinion.  i think most people just waste away in there and never learn again how to be part of something bigger than themselves.   a contributing part, i mean.

but these videos...   what a great way to show people that a little work really can pay off, and that being a working part of a whole really can bring about something positive.   i really, really admire what this guy is doing.    Javi questioned this, saying that it seemed to him that these guys were treated like toys, and that it's disrespectful to do this.   I asked a filipino friend of mine about it, and when he opened the video he just LAUGHED AND LAUGHED and said, "yeah.. that's just how we roll.   we like music."

ahahaha....   amen.  :)