Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
My heroes
(Note: Last April, I joined Philippine Star's writing contest entitled "My Icon, My Hero." I lost. Here's my entry.)
My icons, my heroes
by Paolo B. Maligaya
It must be anger. Anger and frustration. An overwhelming sense of injustice and feeling of frustration against systems in place and the way they’re run that they feel the need to actively do something about it? Prestige? (Maybe not.)
Or is it plain old love for country?
I’ve always wondered what motivates people to give up their time and source of livelihood to do volunteer work. Being a part of the secretariat team of a volunteer organization like the National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections or NAMFREL, I am witness to people showing up to perform difficult tasks for which the only form of remuneration is a free lunch, an ID, or the occasional reimbursement of transportation expenses. I’ve met people saying, “okay I’ll be here at 8am tomorrow because I need to make calls to the provincial coordinators and finish a report by evening,” and our reaction would be, “you’ll do that?”
The job of a NAMFREL volunteer is not simple. In fact, it can be complex depending on the kind of work a person does for the organization, which also depends on the set of skills he/she brings to the table.
Take for example a provincial coordinator. This person could be a teacher, a local businessman, a professor, a pastor, a priest, a nun, a housewife, or a second generation volunteer who “inherited” the position from her father, making good on their family’s commitment to free and fair elections. This coordinator would have to convince other people in their area to join his cause, either to be municipal or precinct volunteers, or to help out in logistics and communication. If he lives in a province like Tawi-Tawi or Palawan, this means that he has to travel by land, water, and air to organize volunteers in the different areas, paying for transportation out of their own pockets since the measly (as is often the case) seed money from the national office has not been deposited yet. To augment the expense, he or she has to count on the spirit of bayanihan among Filipinos through sourcing funds from local businesses in his area, often only using his face, track record, and the promise of commitment to uphold fairness in the coming election to secure the much-needed donation.
The job can be perilous. As somebody who has vowed to work for a clean conduct of the electoral process, a NAMFREL volunteer is a target for anybody who would want to disrupt the honest conduct of the process. NAMFREL volunteers have been killed in the line of duty, people like Rodrigo Ponce, Neoldino Del Corro, Abdulhak Balabadan, and others who died while doing what they feel they should do, which is to protect the ballot.
I go back to my question: but why?
I have experienced becoming a NAMFREL volunteer myself. In 2007, I took a leave of absence (without pay) for two weeks from a relatively higher-paying job to volunteer in the national headquarters in La Salle Greenhills. I was met by incredulous stares from colleagues who asked, but why? To be at the other end of this question, frankly I did not know what to say. I may have mumbled something about duty to country or whatever, but the truth was, I didn’t know for sure. Like those Americans who trooped to New York City to donate blood after 9/11, I just felt it was something that I had to do, something that needs to be done, and we could not put words into it. Just.
It’s probably this mishmash of clear yet ambiguous reasons why people have continued to offer themselves to something that they think is bigger than them, but they feel they have to be part of.
The reality is, an election in the Philippines is not just an election, in the way the dictionary or even the UN defines it. For many Filipinos, an election is not simply this party vs. that party (the fact is the Philippines still doesn’t have a mature political party system). For them, it’s more like good vs. evil. How else to explain the heavy presence of bishops, priests, and nuns in the polling precincts, counting centers, and in assemblies? (Do you really expect the priests and nuns to stay idle when they see their flock being cheated, oppressed, or beaten to death?)
For ordinary Filipinos, an election could be a wind of change, a new start, food for the family, the kids finally finishing college, a higher paying job, a way out of this misery. Anything but a mere process of some people getting a bigger number of votes, getting proclaimed as winner, fireworks and cheers. An election in the Philippines is a new lease on life.
The typical NAMFREL volunteer is not a politics geek. He doesn’t go around town thinking that, oh I’m doing this because the political situation in the country is like this or like that or oh I’m doing this because I want to contribute to the democratic process. They do it because they feel deep inside that for some reason, they need to do it, but couldn’t articulate it through words or grand statements about democracy or whatever ideology. More than its national leaders and known supporters, the organization is fueled by nameless, faceless citizens who want nothing more than a decent life but feel they have to actively do something to make it happen. The spirit of volunteerism is exactly that -- a spirit. It’s an invisible force that fuels people into action. You may kill the person, but not the spirit. Which means individual personages don’t define an organization. That is why, when there were some people who tried to discredit NAMFREL by saying that its national leaders are supposedly partisan, it was a slap in the face to its thousands of volunteers. In their provinces, cities, towns, barangays, families, NAMFREL is not the guy in the office in Manila. In their places, they are NAMFREL. And no, you cannot put them down and make them go away.
The NAMFREL volunteer movement is a concrete example of democracy in action, of people coming together by their own free will to strengthen the foundations of their country. People empowering themselves because they feel it is their responsibility as citizens to safeguard the democratic processes of their nation. The movement has inspired and continues to inspire other countries, not just in Asia but around the world, to organize themselves to protect or uphold democratic values. Above all, this national movement of citizens refutes once and for all that Filipinos are “indolent” as the Spanish claimed during their time; Filipinos are a hardworking people who works for their freedom harder.
NGO workers in the country generally don’t earn much, having limited resources for salary and supplies. There’s a feeling among us that it’s unfair that we get paid too little for what we contribute to the country.
But then we come face to face with our volunteers whom we serve and who work harder and contribute more to our cause, but does it for free, and we feel humbled. Along with other ordinary folks like Batangueña public school teacher Filomena Tatlonghari who was killed while protecting a ballot box from snatchers, NAMFREL volunteers use their very own bodies to defend democracy, and they do not ask anything in return after a day’s work other than an honest election process, and perhaps a better life. That is why more than the prominent figures in this country’s history, the unsung, nameless, faceless volunteers of NAMFREL are my icons, my heroes.
My icons, my heroes
by Paolo B. Maligaya
It must be anger. Anger and frustration. An overwhelming sense of injustice and feeling of frustration against systems in place and the way they’re run that they feel the need to actively do something about it? Prestige? (Maybe not.)
Or is it plain old love for country?
I’ve always wondered what motivates people to give up their time and source of livelihood to do volunteer work. Being a part of the secretariat team of a volunteer organization like the National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections or NAMFREL, I am witness to people showing up to perform difficult tasks for which the only form of remuneration is a free lunch, an ID, or the occasional reimbursement of transportation expenses. I’ve met people saying, “okay I’ll be here at 8am tomorrow because I need to make calls to the provincial coordinators and finish a report by evening,” and our reaction would be, “you’ll do that?”
The job of a NAMFREL volunteer is not simple. In fact, it can be complex depending on the kind of work a person does for the organization, which also depends on the set of skills he/she brings to the table.
Take for example a provincial coordinator. This person could be a teacher, a local businessman, a professor, a pastor, a priest, a nun, a housewife, or a second generation volunteer who “inherited” the position from her father, making good on their family’s commitment to free and fair elections. This coordinator would have to convince other people in their area to join his cause, either to be municipal or precinct volunteers, or to help out in logistics and communication. If he lives in a province like Tawi-Tawi or Palawan, this means that he has to travel by land, water, and air to organize volunteers in the different areas, paying for transportation out of their own pockets since the measly (as is often the case) seed money from the national office has not been deposited yet. To augment the expense, he or she has to count on the spirit of bayanihan among Filipinos through sourcing funds from local businesses in his area, often only using his face, track record, and the promise of commitment to uphold fairness in the coming election to secure the much-needed donation.
The job can be perilous. As somebody who has vowed to work for a clean conduct of the electoral process, a NAMFREL volunteer is a target for anybody who would want to disrupt the honest conduct of the process. NAMFREL volunteers have been killed in the line of duty, people like Rodrigo Ponce, Neoldino Del Corro, Abdulhak Balabadan, and others who died while doing what they feel they should do, which is to protect the ballot.
I go back to my question: but why?
I have experienced becoming a NAMFREL volunteer myself. In 2007, I took a leave of absence (without pay) for two weeks from a relatively higher-paying job to volunteer in the national headquarters in La Salle Greenhills. I was met by incredulous stares from colleagues who asked, but why? To be at the other end of this question, frankly I did not know what to say. I may have mumbled something about duty to country or whatever, but the truth was, I didn’t know for sure. Like those Americans who trooped to New York City to donate blood after 9/11, I just felt it was something that I had to do, something that needs to be done, and we could not put words into it. Just.
It’s probably this mishmash of clear yet ambiguous reasons why people have continued to offer themselves to something that they think is bigger than them, but they feel they have to be part of.
The reality is, an election in the Philippines is not just an election, in the way the dictionary or even the UN defines it. For many Filipinos, an election is not simply this party vs. that party (the fact is the Philippines still doesn’t have a mature political party system). For them, it’s more like good vs. evil. How else to explain the heavy presence of bishops, priests, and nuns in the polling precincts, counting centers, and in assemblies? (Do you really expect the priests and nuns to stay idle when they see their flock being cheated, oppressed, or beaten to death?)
For ordinary Filipinos, an election could be a wind of change, a new start, food for the family, the kids finally finishing college, a higher paying job, a way out of this misery. Anything but a mere process of some people getting a bigger number of votes, getting proclaimed as winner, fireworks and cheers. An election in the Philippines is a new lease on life.
The typical NAMFREL volunteer is not a politics geek. He doesn’t go around town thinking that, oh I’m doing this because the political situation in the country is like this or like that or oh I’m doing this because I want to contribute to the democratic process. They do it because they feel deep inside that for some reason, they need to do it, but couldn’t articulate it through words or grand statements about democracy or whatever ideology. More than its national leaders and known supporters, the organization is fueled by nameless, faceless citizens who want nothing more than a decent life but feel they have to actively do something to make it happen. The spirit of volunteerism is exactly that -- a spirit. It’s an invisible force that fuels people into action. You may kill the person, but not the spirit. Which means individual personages don’t define an organization. That is why, when there were some people who tried to discredit NAMFREL by saying that its national leaders are supposedly partisan, it was a slap in the face to its thousands of volunteers. In their provinces, cities, towns, barangays, families, NAMFREL is not the guy in the office in Manila. In their places, they are NAMFREL. And no, you cannot put them down and make them go away.
The NAMFREL volunteer movement is a concrete example of democracy in action, of people coming together by their own free will to strengthen the foundations of their country. People empowering themselves because they feel it is their responsibility as citizens to safeguard the democratic processes of their nation. The movement has inspired and continues to inspire other countries, not just in Asia but around the world, to organize themselves to protect or uphold democratic values. Above all, this national movement of citizens refutes once and for all that Filipinos are “indolent” as the Spanish claimed during their time; Filipinos are a hardworking people who works for their freedom harder.
NGO workers in the country generally don’t earn much, having limited resources for salary and supplies. There’s a feeling among us that it’s unfair that we get paid too little for what we contribute to the country.
But then we come face to face with our volunteers whom we serve and who work harder and contribute more to our cause, but does it for free, and we feel humbled. Along with other ordinary folks like Batangueña public school teacher Filomena Tatlonghari who was killed while protecting a ballot box from snatchers, NAMFREL volunteers use their very own bodies to defend democracy, and they do not ask anything in return after a day’s work other than an honest election process, and perhaps a better life. That is why more than the prominent figures in this country’s history, the unsung, nameless, faceless volunteers of NAMFREL are my icons, my heroes.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Rest in peace, J.D. Salinger
"I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in a big field of rye and all. ... Thousands of kids, and nobody big at all, nobody big but me. And I'm standing on the edge of this crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to come and catch them. If they start to fall ... and don't look where they're going. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Lest I forget
Thanks very much to thingsweforget.blogspot.com for handcrafting this very APT message and for actually mailing it to me all the way from Singapore! Gonna send you something back soon. Cheers!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Lost daze
I blame Facebook.
I finally came to the conclusion that, yes, people write to be able to express something. And when I say "write," it doesn't necessarily mean actual paragraphs or even complete sentences. "Write" meaning "to express." No need for further explanations, just to voice out an opinion, an outburst, catharsis. (The same can be said about singing, hence bad karaoke).
The need to be heard.
And Facebook satisfies that need. Be it a single word, or a phrase, or a grammatically incorrect sentence followed by a barrage of punctuation marks, or a photo, or, (my favorite) a link that somehow lets us "reveal" or hint at what we want to say, filling up our Facebook statuses satisfies our very basic need to say something or make a point, to no one in particular.
To whom really? Our Facebook friends? Or just some of them? Hoping to elicit a response from them? To catch their attention? To show off that we know certain things and they don't? To advocate an issue? To make yourself seem cooler than you really are? Because we don't have anything better to do? Perhaps all of these at some point.
Hmm, it could also be that I'm using Facebook as an excuse for my laziness to actually write something. Face it, if you're not really into it, blogging can be a pain. All the clicking and opening of tabs and copying and pasting of codes, etc., it's certainly more complicated that updating a Facebook status.
I can't promise that from now on I'm gonna be more diligent in updating this blog and dramatically cut the time I spend on Facebook, but, I'll try. Hmm, I don't even know if anybody even cares whether I blog or not, if people actually read my posts. Hello, anybody there?
Since the last time I actually wrote something, many things have happened that normally I would have reacted to or written about at length. I'm going to list them here, and since I don't really feel like making up for lost time, I'm just going to comment on them, Facebook style, as I might have written them when these things happened.
1. I went to Afghanistan.
Paolo Maligaya thinks that what we all know about Afghanistan and its people from western media is, not really inaccurate, but grossly incomplete.
2. Corazon Aquino died.
Paolo Maligaya Cory.
3. Carlo J. Caparas chosen to receive a National Artist award.
Paolo Maligaya As Jessica Z. has said, it was so funny I forgot to laugh.
4. Afghans held their election.
Paolo Maligaya Good morning Afghanistan! It's election day.
5. I spent a week in Dubai.
Paolo Maligaya thinks that, thousands of years from now, when our android descendants start digging the Earth's ruins, they're going to dig up the storied lost city of Dubai and conclude that it was one of mankind's greatest technological achievements, until it all melted away because of the unbearable HEAT!
6. I bought a Mac.
Paolo Maligaya ay umanib na sa kulto ng mansanas. Hail our master Steve Jobs.
7. Noynoy Aquino threw hat in the ring.
Paolo Maligaya Somebody needs a make-over.
8. I resigned from my teaching job.
Paolo Maligaya Finally!
9. I became part of Namfrel again.
Paolo Maligaya loves his job very much.
10. I started working in Makati.
Paolo Maligaya never thought he's going to like working in Makati, with its numerous cheap eats and ubiquitous coffee shops.
11. Ondoy flooded Manila.
Paolo Maligaya Lampas-GMA na daw ang baha!
Paolo Maligaya All the taxes siphoned off us workers and they couldn't even buy decent rubber boats!
12. Pepeng flooded Northern Luzon.
Paolo Maligaya What's next?!
13. Aspiring candidates took advantage of the situation.
Paolo Maligaya Wow. Amazing. Ang kakapal ng mukha n'yo.
14. Donations to the government were not promptly delivered to typhoon victims.
Paolo Maligaya Somebody's mounting a campaign...
15. Gloria Arroyo spent more time helping people in Pampanga than anywhere else.
Paolo Maligaya As I was saying...
16. People swamped Comelec offices to register at the last minute.
Paolo Maligaya Trust the Pinoys to go out three days before the deadline and complain that the government is inefficient.
17. Cinemanila 2009 held.
Paolo Maligaya thinks this is the worst Cinemanila ever!
18. Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize.
Paolo Maligaya thinks Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps the reason why many people were outraged that the award was given to him "prematurely" is because they think the Nobel Peace Prize is some sort of lifetime achievement award. It isn't, c'mon look it up. It turned into some sort of lifetime achievement award because nobody seems to deserve the prize as it was originally intended in every year it is given. Well this year it's different.
19. Rio de Janeiro chosen as host city for 2016 Olympics.
Paolo Maligaya wants to be in Rio in 2016!
20. The Eraserheads' "Circus" turned 15.
Paolo Maligaya is putting off his long-planned, teary eyed tribute to the Eraserheads to a later time due to procrastination. Aaaargh!
21. Sesame Street celebrated 40th anniversary.
Paolo Maligaya grew up in Sesame Street. Thank God one of my first favorite words was "agua" and not "Wowowee."
22. I became addicted to Starbucks "cappuccino-venti-2 Splenda."
Paolo Maligaya is fat but wide awake.
23. I started to seriously desire a BlackBerry.
Paolo Maligaya desperately wants to be a BlackBerry! Aaaaargh!
24. Pacquiao officially became a boxing legend.
Paolo Maligaya OK so you're the best, but do I really have to see you and your mother everywhere?
25. Cracks started appearing on my Mac out of nowhere.
Paolo Maligaya is distraught. So it's true!? I still love you Apple, but what the heck is wrong with your MacBook white?? It's not as if I'm the first one to experience this. On the internet, it seems that this has been a known problem for years!?
26. People started declaring their intention to run for office.
Paolo Maligaya cannot really comment.
27. Farmers, gays, and overseas workers disqualified from joining next year's party-list elections.
Paolo Maligaya Because dubious organizations and questionable foundations are the truly marginalized sectors in the Philippines, it seems.
28. 57 people massacred by the Ampatuans in Maguindanao.
Paolo Maligaya is speechless.
29. Gloria Arroyo declared martial law in Maguindanao.
Paolo Maligaya I didn't know the Ampatuans were "rebels"? You mean all along they've been planning a rebellion against the government? How can the masters be rebels at the same time? We are educated people. Huwag naman sanang masyadong insultuhin ang pag-iisip namin!
30. Gloria Arroyo didn't show her face from when the massacre happened until even after the martial law was lifted.
Paolo Maligaya Where is our President? Where are you when we need you? Show your face. We demand accountability. As long as we are paying taxes and you and your government are consuming all of it, we demand answers to our questions.
31. Congressmen seemed to agree with Arroyo.
Paolo Maligaya _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n'yo!
32. Efren Penaflorida chosen as CNN Hero of the Year.
Paolo Maligaya participated in mass internet voting LIKE THE REST OF THE FILIPINO DIASPORA to assert the GREATNESS OF THE FILIPINO RACE, as usual (in between voting for Miss Photogenic in international beauty pageants). World domination, here we come?
33. "Avatar" opened.
Paolo Maligaya has just seen James Cameron's "Avatar" on IMAX 3D. Hollywood spent almost $500 million on a mind-blowing movie...about ecology. It's probably the best thing about it.
34. Christmas came.
Paolo Maligaya Bah! Humbug!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
1984: The year of pop
Where were you in 1984? Were you in college? In high school? Or in elementary school perhaps, just like me? A yuppie? Heck, even if you were not born yet, if you just remotely happen to like pop music, there's no way you could have escaped 1984.
For 1984 was the year of pop. If there's one single year that plotted the course of popular music of the '80s and beyond, this was it. The year left no doubt who would define the music of the decade -- a triumvirate the like of which has never been seen again -- whose influence on pop culture extends
to this very day. You'd be surprised to learn that most of the songs that you associate with the '80s were actually released in 1984, eternal reminders of our youth, or at least of that last '80s-themed movie you saw or that last '80s-themed party you went to.Though the album Thriller was released in 1982, it was in 1984 that Michael Jackson cemented his reputation as the King of Pop. Christmas 1983 saw the release of the Thriller video. But just in the first quarter of 1984, Michael: officially released "Thriller" as the last single off the album; saw Thriller certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest-selling album ever; infamously burned his hair and scalp while making that Pepsi commercial; won 8 Grammys including record and album of the year; and was the subject of a TIME cover illustrated by Andy Warhol. Later in the year he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and had the then-largest-grossing tour ever with The Jacksons. Definitely not shabby.
Madonna released her debut album in 1983, its popularity carried over to the following year with the release of the classic singles "Lucky Star" and "Borderline." But it was in September of 1984, at the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards (in which The Cars' groundbreaking "You Might Think" video won the top award) when the world truly first took notice of Madonna, when she writhed onstage wearing a wedding dress. Her second album and smash single Like A Virgin was released a few weeks later, accompanied by that video shot in Venice, Italy.
Michael Jackson may have ensured his status as the King of Pop, and Madonna may have proven to be the most enduring, but there's no doubt who owned 1984. In 1984, the world turned purple with the release of Prince and the Revolution's Purple Rain, arguably the year's best album and an instant classic. Out of the album -- a melding of hot funk, rock, and polished
pop -- came tumbling classic after classic: from the first single "When Doves Cry," to "Let's Go Crazy," "Take Me With U," "I Would Die 4 U," to the live recording of the ballad "Purple Rain." The album, and the accompanying hit movie, established Prince not just as a star, but also arguably rock's finest frontman, and a songwriting genius, not to mention being pop's most enigmatic and prolific.Apart from the triumvirate of Prince, Madonna, and Michael Jackson, 1984 saw a multitude of artists release their signature hits: Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." and "Dancing In The Dark," Van Halen's "Jump," Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face," INXS' "Original Sin," Phil Collins' "Against All Odds," and Sade's "Smooth Operator."
1984 also saw one of the best musical comebacks ever, when Tina Turner strutted onto MTV in high heels, denim jacket, tight leather skirt, and that hair with the hit "What's Love Got To Do With It," inspiring a hundred thousand drag queens the world over to do the same. The year also showcased the staying power of several acts, most noteworthy of which were Lionel Richie (with a bunch of singles from the best-selling album of his career, winning the Grammy album of the year award in 1985), Chaka Khan with "I Feel For You," Paul McCartney with "No More Lonely Nights," and Queen with the anthem "Radio Ga Ga." Speaking of comebacks and staying power, 1984 also saw the release of Bob Marley and the Wailers' posthumous classic compilation Legend, introducing Marley and his music to a new generation, and the album eventually proving to be everyone's favorite entry-level initiation to reggae and Jamaican music.
Hip-hop was still at its formative stage and would not gain mainstream acceptance until two years later with Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys, but in 1984, one of hip-hop's most enduring classic -- Grandmaster Melle Mel's "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)," an anti-drug anthem -- filled the airwaves in America and Europe.
But not all the pop that the world consumed voraciously came from America, for 1984 was also the peak year of the so-called Second British Invasion (the first being in the '60s), not seen again until the rise of Britpop in the mid-'90s. Leading the pack were the golden boys of MTV -- Duran Duran -- who unleashed "The Reflex" and "The Wild Boys" to the world in 1984. Culture Club memorably burst onto the scene, led by a cross-dresser in shockingly red hair and kabuki make-up whom I really thought was a woman until I read the name ("Why is her name Boy George?"), prancing across TV screens with "Karma Chameleon," "Miss Me Blind," "Mistake No. 3," and "The War Song." The Police released "King of Pain" off Synchronicity, won the Grammy song of the year award for "Every Breath You Take," then broke up. Wham! (George Michael and that other guy) told us to wake them up before we go-go, then also unleashed the immortal "Careless Whisper" and "Last Christmas." Eurythmics gave us "Here Comes The Rain Again." Depeche Mode came out with "Somebody," "People Are People," and "Master and Servant." Tears For Fears made us "Shout." Spandau Ballet, The Cure, and Bananarama all had new singles. The Smiths came out with their self-titled album and told the world that they're miserable now (but when was Morrissey not?). U2 uplifted us with "Pride (In The Name of Love)." And before the year ended, Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats had corralled most of them in a studio as Band Aid to sing the second British invasion's glorious anthem, "Do They Know It's Christmas?," which directly spawned 1985's similarly stellar (if inferior) "We Are The World" by USA for Africa, as well as the defining concert of the '80s -- Live Aid -- the crowning glory of which was Queen's set, with Freddie Mercury leading a sea of people through "Radio Ga Ga."(But where was rock during this time of boys in make-up and hairspray and ladies who looked like drag queens? In America and the U.K., hardcore punk and post-punk were still in full swing, and alternative rock was taking roots, with memorable releases from bands such as the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Minor Threat, Meat Puppets, R.E.M., Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, and Cocteau Twins. In the last quarter of 1984, Tommy Tanchangco formed the hardcore label Twisted Red Cross in the Philippines, releasing tape compilations the following year featuring bands such as Urban Bandits, Wuds, Betrayed, Dead Ends, and Ethnic Faces.)
By 1984, barely three years after it was founded, MTV had already become the taste maker when it came to music consumption, with bands wanting to be in it, not only to be heard but to be seen. Suddenly, singers had to be attractive, fit, young, and trendy. Along with radio, MTV gave exposure in 1984 not just to established acts, but most especially to memorable one-hit wonders that the '80s have become known for, like Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax," The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You," Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me 'Round (Like A Record)," Shannon's "Let The Music Play," Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life," Robin Gibb's "Boys Do Fall In Love," Talk Talk's "It's My Life," Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now," Torch's remake of "(Build Me Up) Buttercup," and Nena's "99 Luftballons." The first MTV generation bought music in droves, mostly in cassette form. At that time, cassettes had already been outselling vinyl due to the popularity and portability of boom boxes and the Sony Walkman. In the same year, CDs were first manufactured in America.
In Asia and Latin America, 1984 also signaled the start of Menudo-mania, with the boy band from Puerto Rico (featuring lead Robby Rosa and later on new member Ricky Martin) releasing hugely popular singles within the year such as "Like A Cannonball" and "If You're Not Here (By My Side)."
In the Philippines, the youth culture zeitgeist of 1984 was not only ignited by American and British acts. In the same year, the movie Bagets was released, featuring a popular teenage cast, and the soundtrack spawning not only Raymond Lauchengco's "So It's You" and "Farewell," but most especially "Growing Up" by Gary Valenciano, who had another hit that year with "Reachin' Out" from the movie Hot Shots. (Gary V. would go on to become the country's very own Michael Jackson, releasing hit songs and albums and routinely selling out venues for his energy-packed concerts). Bagets also sparked a fashion craze in the country, when teenagers and kids started wearing clothes in primary and secondary colors like the characters in the movie (I certainly remember wearing shirts and short pants in a combination of red, yellow, blue and green, sometimes with the Bagets logo).Whoa, what a year! There may come a time when a year like 1984 might come our way again -- a rare moment when talent, mass appeal, positivity, youth, and commerce aligned -- but I certainly doubt it. In the meantime, let's hit the boom box and say happy 25th birthday to the hits of 1984.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Roll out!
Cybertron Philippines
Transformers toy exhibit
Taken on June 28, 2009
SM Megamall
(Click on any image to see more photos)
Transformers toy exhibit
Taken on June 28, 2009
SM Megamall
(Click on any image to see more photos)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael.
I don't think the twentysomethings and below truly know who the world just lost today. Anyone born around the time of the "Bad" and, uhm, the "Dangerous" albums will never truly grasp why Michael Jackson mattered. The Michael they knew was the suddenly-white-skinned guy with the funny nose, scary face, and the controversies -- from his sexuality to vitiligo to child molestation to his "fatherhood" to baby dangling to bankruptcy and other nutty behavior. To them he was Janet's older brother, the crazy guy at the Neverland ranch, the burka-wearing lunatic with the Spiderman-masked kids, that old guy idolized by Britney and Justin, the has-been clinging to past glories. That fart who claims he is the "King of Pop" like, wtf? :-(
Go to your favorite entertainment or news website and read the coverage, because his achievements and significance in entertaiment, culture, and black history are just too many to mention here. The fact is, his claim that he was the King of Pop was justified. The younger generation can never fathom what that meant, so I'll try to explain: put together at their peak the popularity and ubiquity of Alanis, Leo, Britney, BSB, N*Sync, High School Musical, the Jonas Brothers and that Twilight guy, and they will still not measure up to Michael Jackson around the time of "Thriller," when he was everywhere, a force of nature, a cultural phenomenon whose appeal transcended nationalities, color, and age. He was on MTV, on our cassette players and turntables, bedroom walls, pins on our shirts, stickers on our notebooks and lunchboxes. People copied his moves, his style, and he seriously helped shape the music of the '80s, the art of the music video, and the emergence of hip-hop into the mainstream. Millions stayed up to watch world premieres of his videos, new singles on the radio. His appearances were events. Remember that time when the Beatles claimed they were bigger than Jesus? Michael was bigger than the Beatles.
I was about six when Michael was the hottest thing on TV and the radio. I remember watching the premiere of the Thriller video with my teenage cousins. If I'm not mistaken, there was even a Michael Jackson dance-alike contest on Eat Bulaga. My brother and I would put medals and pieces of colored cloth on our shirts and dance in front of the TV imitating Michael. One time I almost got into serious trouble for attempting to filch a stick of gum from a vendor outside our school (the gum included a free Michael Jackson card).
Of course I also got a cassette copy of the Thriller album. As a boy, songs like "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "P.Y.T.," and of course "Billie Jean" became the soundtrack of my life at that time. One day I got the shock of my life when I saw my younger brother taping over "Billie Jean," singing "Dear Mama" (the theme song for a Regal movie showing that time) in front of the cassette recorder. Playing back the tape, I also heard my father convincing my brother to, was it to take a bath or to eat, I don't remember exactly. And I think there was also me shouting and turning off the machine. Well, my father's dead and my brother has gotten married and probably doesn't remember this incident. But the tape has survived, kept in a box at home, the memories alive like Michael and his music will forever be.
Go to your favorite entertainment or news website and read the coverage, because his achievements and significance in entertaiment, culture, and black history are just too many to mention here. The fact is, his claim that he was the King of Pop was justified. The younger generation can never fathom what that meant, so I'll try to explain: put together at their peak the popularity and ubiquity of Alanis, Leo, Britney, BSB, N*Sync, High School Musical, the Jonas Brothers and that Twilight guy, and they will still not measure up to Michael Jackson around the time of "Thriller," when he was everywhere, a force of nature, a cultural phenomenon whose appeal transcended nationalities, color, and age. He was on MTV, on our cassette players and turntables, bedroom walls, pins on our shirts, stickers on our notebooks and lunchboxes. People copied his moves, his style, and he seriously helped shape the music of the '80s, the art of the music video, and the emergence of hip-hop into the mainstream. Millions stayed up to watch world premieres of his videos, new singles on the radio. His appearances were events. Remember that time when the Beatles claimed they were bigger than Jesus? Michael was bigger than the Beatles.
I was about six when Michael was the hottest thing on TV and the radio. I remember watching the premiere of the Thriller video with my teenage cousins. If I'm not mistaken, there was even a Michael Jackson dance-alike contest on Eat Bulaga. My brother and I would put medals and pieces of colored cloth on our shirts and dance in front of the TV imitating Michael. One time I almost got into serious trouble for attempting to filch a stick of gum from a vendor outside our school (the gum included a free Michael Jackson card).
Of course I also got a cassette copy of the Thriller album. As a boy, songs like "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "P.Y.T.," and of course "Billie Jean" became the soundtrack of my life at that time. One day I got the shock of my life when I saw my younger brother taping over "Billie Jean," singing "Dear Mama" (the theme song for a Regal movie showing that time) in front of the cassette recorder. Playing back the tape, I also heard my father convincing my brother to, was it to take a bath or to eat, I don't remember exactly. And I think there was also me shouting and turning off the machine. Well, my father's dead and my brother has gotten married and probably doesn't remember this incident. But the tape has survived, kept in a box at home, the memories alive like Michael and his music will forever be.
(PBA09qr16s11)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Happy 25th birthday Tetris!
And who hasn't dreamt of these falling blocks after a day of playing Tetris?!?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
R.I.P.
daddy.
Salamat sa musika, sa pagmamahal sa plaka at stereo, sa cha-cha at tango, kay Anastacio Mamaril at Perez Prado, sa vintage glasses at kamisetang retro, sa pinakamasarap na menudo, sa duyan sa ilalim ng puno ng chico. Sa pag-inspire for better or worse ng potential future creative output. Sa mga what were at what could have been. Sa mga sinabi at 'di sinabi. Sa mga iba't ibang emosyon. May you rest in peace.
(PBA09s114oro)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The better to see you with my dear
I'm not really sure what came over me that I became obsessed with owning one of those oversized, authentic vintage eyeglasses from the late '70s and early '80s, a la Dindo Fernando in those Viva movies, or Ninoy Aquino, or well, anybody with glasses at that time. I trawled the internet for info on where in Manila I could get one, and even went to all the optical shops in Robinsons Galleria and SM Megamall, to no avail. My best bet was looking in those neighborhood optical shops that have been there forever, but I figured I might lose my interest in the thing before I could ever find one.
Finally, after a longish search, I found a mine of shockingly inexpensive, unused authentic vintage frames in one shop at a flea market somewhere in the metro, exactly the ones I wanted! I immediately bought two, and went straight to my optometrist to put prescription lenses on one of them. (Note: if you're wearing prescription, don't throw away your old pair just yet. The optometrist would tell you that prescription lenses fit for old, oversized frames just aren't available anymore. They can put the lenses in your oversized vintage frames, but the grade or something won't be "centered" or something. So I suggest, if you're currently laboring through Victor Hugo or Dostoevsky or Infinite Jest, stick with the old pair; if you're going out, put on the welder's mask.
Fancy a frame? Send me your e-mail address and I'll tell you where to get the booty. Now, time to re-enact those cop shows!
Finally, after a longish search, I found a mine of shockingly inexpensive, unused authentic vintage frames in one shop at a flea market somewhere in the metro, exactly the ones I wanted! I immediately bought two, and went straight to my optometrist to put prescription lenses on one of them. (Note: if you're wearing prescription, don't throw away your old pair just yet. The optometrist would tell you that prescription lenses fit for old, oversized frames just aren't available anymore. They can put the lenses in your oversized vintage frames, but the grade or something won't be "centered" or something. So I suggest, if you're currently laboring through Victor Hugo or Dostoevsky or Infinite Jest, stick with the old pair; if you're going out, put on the welder's mask.
Fancy a frame? Send me your e-mail address and I'll tell you where to get the booty. Now, time to re-enact those cop shows!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Walang "kung anu-anong shit"
"Hay! Men! Ang Blog ng mga Tunay na Lalake" is hand-down one of the most hilarious and shockingly smart things I've ever seen on the internet, wherein (an) anonymous author(s) evaluates a who's who in Philippine pop culture whether they're "tunay na lalaki" (real man) or "'di tunay na lalaki," (not real man) based on their own "Manifesto ng Tunay na Lalake." (And don't fail to read the comments also, especially if the subject of the entry drops in and chimes in, just like a very sport Apa Ongpin).
Clearly tongue-in-cheek (no?), it's endless fun, and it's updated faster than your friends can post quiz results in Facebook! Not for people with no sense of irony.
Manifesto ng Tunay na Lalake
http://tunaynalalake.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 27, 2009
Cool, still
Celebrating its 40th year this year, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) remains the country's premiere venue for showcasing up and coming Filipino artists. In between movies at the Lino Brocka retrospective last Saturday, and with Joy Division blasting in my ears, I walked through the galleries and took snapshots of the pieces that spoke to me (hehehe, is it even allowed? There weren't any signs.). Hey, when was the last time you visited the CCP? It's still worth the trek after all these years, and admission is still free.
(Click on any image to see more photos.)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Vote for the country, vote for you
Stick these pins on your shirt or your bags (or wherever you wish), or give them away to friends and family, to encourage people, especially first-time voters, to participate in the 2010 Philippine presidential elections. To vote is to exercise your right as citizens, and it's one of the easiest ways to participate in nation-building.
You may get your pins from the Ayala Young Leaders office, or you may drop them a line at (02) 752-1065, text them at (0917) 511-7354, or send a message to mildred.ople@gmail.com.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Crazy day for gays and Jews
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ruffles feathers at the UN anti-racism conference in Geneva.
Meanwhile, in Vegas...
I guess next time UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans on having Mr. Ahmadinejad, he's not going to send an invite to Perez Hilton.
Meanwhile, in Vegas...
I guess next time UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans on having Mr. Ahmadinejad, he's not going to send an invite to Perez Hilton.
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