Keep Calm, Carry On

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Best of 80's new wave...

Kwestyon en anser

Sa kabila ng mga kaguluhan sa mundo, sa gobyerno, sa kapayapaan, sa dagat sa kanluranan, at ang walang kasiguraduhan sa kilma, may pag-asa pa kaya ang Pilipinas nating lahat?

Schempre naman.

Kaya ipaglaban!

Sino pa?

Pasasalamat kina Ben Tisoy II, Z generation kutings, at Totoy Badboy.
This post has been approved by the Boom Boom Paw Foundation.

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Hikahos

Hay hikahos! 

Buhay nga naman...
Talaga pala minsan.
Parang ngang gulong.
Umiikot. Umuusbong.
Dumarating. Lumalayo.
Nagtatagumpay. Nabibigo.

Ganun talaga.
Nananalig. Umaasa.
Natatapos. Naguumpisa.
Basta't may ligaya.
Minsan ma'y kadiliman.
Babangon muli. Umaga...
---<--@

Keep Calm, Carry On

Approved!

Keep Calm, Carry On

Good News: Ililipat na raw sa Pilipinas ang Camp Big Falcon! =)

Bad News: Hindi raw kasama sila Voltes V... =(
---<--@

Minsan talaga kapatid ko, kailangang daanin na lang muna natin sa tawa...

Lolo Kiko, the Smiling Pope

Let me tell what I love most dear about our Holy Father Francis... it is his joy!

I think all the world has noticed how Lolo Kiko's smile warms the heart. I myself love that smile.

When our Holy Father visited our Country, I was watching live on TV as the Sri Lanka jet taxied to a stop in Villamor, waiting for that smile to touch my soul and for his feet to touch our soil.

How brilliant is that smile! 

The joy in his heart must be heroic. There must dwell a holy love in his soul, there must our blessed Savior be... 



There must our God dwell... in the kind of heart that enlightens other hearts. 

In the smile that penetrates into the soul, in the joy that even for a moment lifts up the sadness and gives hope to the witnessing of our faith, we might be seeing glimpses of Christ Jesus' own smile.

My life ain't problem free. I used to think my lot is better or worse than the next bloke. But hey, the truth out there is everybody in the world faces challenges daily. And I can not face mine eyes sideways. 

Or live my life with an absent heart; one that looks back to what bitterness there was instead of shining into what hopes there could be.

I think the heart that listens is a heart that is steady and sure. It stirs not with the stirring of the world. But hearkens to the silence that calls to the soul from within... in the stillness, in that stillness..., a heart that hears is a heart that sees...

Lolo Kiko when he smiles is in his moment. 

Consider when you laugh, how we feel - when the many constraints that hold us a prisoner to our own fears momentarily lifts... dispelled by the joy in the now - how good it is to be in that moment!

I'm talking here about the effects of a good and wholesome humor. 

I am not referring to the garbage jokes that sell your soul bad, bitter, and contemptuous spirits. Hey, love the comedian or comedianne, but maybe sometimes, discreetly discard some of their jokes.

Indeed, laughter - born of good spirits - seem to make the darkness disappear: Fear of an imagined future time laughter dissipates, excessive concerns over present troubles it likewise dispels, even the pain of past things yet unreconciled to the heart laughter momentarily relieves from our feelings...

Truly, good laughter is good medicine.

These things are also in a smile... in our smile and in the smile others is the abiding sense of the joy of those moments... in every smile is the gentle reminder that life will not always incline our feelings toward sorrow, and our thinking toward fear - especially fear of a future yet unwritten...

This is how I feel when Lolo Kiko smiles or even when I think about him smiling... because through the joy in his heart, reflected in that shining moment... I regain sight of my own hopes.

How good it is to be in that moment!

Thank you Holy Father Francis, I may not always be that good of a follower of our Savior and Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, but you are in my heart and shall be in my prayers always! 

Please pray for us also, this nation who loves you, whom you have sent. Pray for us so that peace may fully reign in the soul of our Country and justice and good will may dwell in the hearts of all Filipinos...

We love you, Lolo Kiko, mabuhay po kayo!
---<--@

A movie trailer we'd like to see...

Pacific Rim

If you can't laugh, you can't win...

Like Selling the Vatican

I recently finished reading "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee". It's Sarah Silverman's book about her life and comedy career.

Personally, I think it is a nice read.



In the book, she wrote about a video she produced, "Sell the Vatican, Feed the World". It's on YouTube. I haven't really seen it myself. I don't think I really need to. If I get around to it, I'll see it. But I do not have an overarching need to see it. Sarah's art is way too graphic for me sometimes. But Sarah herself to me is cool.

Anyway, she immediately got Internet-whooped about "Sell the Vatican, Feed the World". Most netizens launched relentless tirades against her Jewishness, a fact that, she confided in her book, confounds her.

None of those aforementioned comments that she included in her book recognized what question she was actually posing and the fact that it was all being done in the name of comedy.

Why so serious, people?

Anyway, I wrote Sarah my own reply:

Sarah, speaking to you as your fellow human being, it's not as easy as it looks!

You know, there are also people within the Catholic Church and within Christendom in general who voice the same opinion - why don't we sell the Vatican and feed the world? 

Most of the treasures over there possess a profoundly religious and cultural value such as priceless works of art, ancient books, rare manuscripts and Christian artifacts. There are also many items used in our rites and have resonance in our history and our memory. All of them the Vatican keeps in behalf of the whole Church. All of them have the weight of sacred tradition.

If they didn't we'd have auctioned them off ages ago, I think.

Plus, the Vatican is the seat of our Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome.

It's a fine thing, your sentiment. And in essence I feel you, I see what you're saying. I also see in the humanity of others, the urgency of the need to raise many of us who are trapped in poverty to the dignity proper to the human person. But we should be wary of simple solutions to complex social problems, I think.

Perhaps you too have become quite frustrated about the widespread hunger problem we face as a planet, because truly, it can be very daunting. Here in the Philippines, religion is a reliable ally against it, and rallied properly, is a powerful force for positive change.

Losing the Vatican would be devastating to us Catholics, Sarah. The local effects here in the Philippines of selling the Vatican would be very sad and very real.

Our Church is not perfect, I admit. Even some priests these days find themselves losing their own faith. They fall (as we do in the Laity) and at times they fail, some priests as you know, fail so terribly that it scandalizes the whole Church. But of the bad ones, we also have good priests - and one good priest in a parish is worth a dozen rotten ones, maybe even more. I know this. I thank God each day I remember how blessed we are by the good and faithful priest who serve in our parish.

It's a nice thought to sell the Vatican and immediately get the funds to alleviate the hunger over here - but it's an escapism. You made it funny, even crass to the point its funny. You're you, what can I do - I take you as you are. No two persons are ever the same. We're like cats that way.

Your point is not a moot one though. It has resonance. We're looking at the same point in the horizon but our compass bearings just don't match. You you. Me me, Sarah. No two cats are ever the same.

I hate and regret it that religions have had to trade blows over a problem so universal that it is obviously best approached in an attitude of humanity and togetherness. I respect that you are an agnostic. I also understand your Jewishness.

My bestest girl-friend is Jewish. My Savior chose to come to our hearts through your nation and my religion is descended from its faith. How some of my co-religionists so easily forget is beyond me. I can only speak for myself, Sarah.

I guess some cats like to run around in circles. I apologize for their dizziness.

They say most of the Nazi leadership corps are Catholic or had Catholic roots. So too did Judas follow Jesus before he turned against Him. I would never leave Peter or Paul for Judas. I will not become evil-inspired by the lingering malaise of Nazi thought and deal a double blow against our memory.

I just want to add that thought above because some Christians become bitter or jaded by the myth of bad Christianity. Many of us throw it all away without even trying to discover its true gift. I do not think there is any such thing as bad Christianity. Bad Christians, yes.

Evil cloaks itself in light all the time - in all religions.

I love the Church from whose bosom I have in God been nurtured and brought up, Sarah. I may not always agree with the particulars but the greater truths we hold to are one; and they all ascend to the One. We are one Church after all, made up of people - of living stones. Church with a big "C".

I am not referring here to our church buildings whose bricks are incapable of intelligent thought or any form of human sympathy. That would be spelled with a small "c".

I think the cause of world hunger will be better served by small kindnesses. I am sure you along with many other good people around our world do this everyday, some without even thinking about it. I don't want to say I know you, Sarah, but from what I can gather from your book, I think you're a really decent person up close. And cute.

If we can inspire people from the many nations who do small acts of goodness everyday, and raise their awareness about the pressing need to defend our communities from hunger, it would add up to a big, big thing, don't you think?

It would be like selling the Vatican.
---<--@

=^.^=

Thank you for the Laughter

This is how I want to remember Robin Williams - as Mork from Mork and Mindy and also as the voice of the Genie from Disney's Aladdin. Boy, that Genie could talk.

I remember the 80's as a decade when TV helped bring families and friends together.

We watched our favorites TV shows with family at home. Then we talk about them at school with friends.

I'm an 80's kid. So I want to remember a great artist, who gave me a few of my laugh lines, a master of his craft... and not the crappy politics some people seem to be spouting in the wake of his loss.

Too much tragedy in our times, I think... large, looming, scary.

We need more comedy.

I have learned something true about great comedians. Their comedy is usually more or less proportional to the tragedy in their lives. Their comedy is good to great because have learned to deal with tragedy as a reality in their lives. They live or have learned to live with a sense of tragedy.

They are authentic people. Authentic people tend to produce real comedy.

People cry when they hurt to help them deal better, I understand. It helps us breathe better. I do it too.

But those who can afford to allow themselves some laughter, momentarily can forget the pain. The essence of comedy is contained in these small moments, I think.

When laughter is the matter, everything large about life seems to momentarily flee the scene...

For some people, it means a lot to be able to laugh. It's mostly free and when taken properly, is as good as any pricey mental health medicine.

People like me.

I value comedy. I can deal with the drama but not the saga.

Speaking of laughter though, as a willing recipient of other people's good humor is different from being the one dealing it out on stage or screen. It is a lot harder I think when you're the one telling the jokes, especially if you're one of the best.

And more so I guess, when you're in pain.

So thank you, Mr. Williams - via con Dios. Salamat po. Sorry I used to mistake you for John Ritter from Three's Company for some reason...

And to all great comedians, love and admiration.

---<--@

Life here on this world is a tragedy. But contained in this life, are moments of relief. Small moments.

We find solace in these small moments. Laughter itself conceals its own small moments. And hidden in these small moments, after the wind, the shaking, and the fire, a silence...

Pusang Paimbot

Mga ibon, mga ibon sa langit,
kayo ma'y sa hangin ay magalit...

Mga isda, mga isda sa dagat,
kayo ma'y sa tubig ay magulat...

Mga pusa, mga pusa dito sa lupa,
sa ibon man o sa isda ay di magsasawa.
---<--@

Aral kuting: Maging totoo sa sarili at sa kapwa. Intindihin, mahalin sarili at sila dahil kaya. Hindi dahil sa inggit o gaya.

Pusang Putot

Pusang putot na hindi nagpapalungkot,
nabubugnot, naiingit sa mga puno ang buntot!
Sabi man nila sa iyo'y pangit at pawang balubaluktot
darating at darating, papalarin ka rin sa pag ikot ikot ikot.
---<--@

Aral kuting: Ikaw ay ikaw, umikot man ang mundo, huwag magpahilo. Huwag madaling magpadala sa sabi-sabi nang iba.

No Words Necessary

The Global Pinoy...

...is a proud citizen of the world.

Let's try to build them a home they can really be proud of.

Only in America...

Local cats panic as tigress walks into a 7-11 looking for complaints desk.

Reminds me of my own stint at Longs Drugs #3... those were good times!

Remembering Tado

People say comedians are inwardly sad, that the reason for the brilliance of their comedy is a deep and personal familiarization with tragedy. I tend to believe this. Humor often conceals difficult truths.

I always wonder now how much we've lost with the passing of Tado. I feel he was working for the genuine betterment of our people to the North of Luzon when his life was cut short. 

I feel that he left us something to complete... 

I too feel strongly for the preservation of our indigenous tribal cultures from Batanes down to Sulu - theirs is a knowledge that is fast becoming rare in a globalizing, urbanizing planet - profitable for its ageless, proven wisdom - and am conceiving a "Council of the First Filipinos" to represent the Lumad ways of life as a force of good in the Republic. They too are citizens not unlike a city slicker like me.

Arvin "Tado" Jimenez (19740324-20140207) via con Dios.

Awesome vs. Not Awesome

Estee Ackerman is awesome.

This dude ain't.

Election Season...

It sure is.

---<--@

Mang Dolphy

You know, the thing about Mang Dolphy is his ordinariness. 

I never got the hoity-toity air that some people put on when they reach the peaks of their profession from him. 

In the midst of all that temptation, there seems to be nothing vainglorious about him.

He must have been a man of substance.

In his shows, like Home Along Da Riles, he tended to disappear with his cast-mates, supporting them and blending in with them instead of standing out.

He must have been a good team mate.

I never knew the man personally and I never had a special affinity for Mang Dolphy but I sure loved his friends and some of them, I can almost certainly suppose, he had helped quietly along in their own careers.

He must have been a good friend.

Mang Dolphy delivered to us his art consistently for 60 years. For six decades, he worked to bring laughter to the people; a welcome relief from the many vicissitudes of everyday Filipino living.

He must have been driven by a sense of affection for the nation and now that same nation mourns the passing of an era...

He must have been a good Filipino.

Indeed, he must have been led by a certain love for his family, his friends, and his national community, and the outpouring of this very same love that was freely given to us now stands as a testament to the wonder of his life.

For by this giving, he has come to own a part of us forever.

I am sure many other things can be said about Mang Dolphy, good or bad, true or false, but of the things I have come know, there is enough for me to remember the man as he is so that after the tears - 

I know the laughter will come again.
---<--@

Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr. (19280725-20120710) - via con Dios.

Based on Presidential Proclamation No. 433, TODAY, July 13, 2012 is a National Day of Remembrance in honor of the late Rodolfo "Dolphy" Vera Quizon.

Ordinariness in humility clothed
the soul against the heat of gold,
and the heart from vanity and cold.

Salutation #109

A scorpion can be rendered harmless BUT only without its sting.

In likewise manner, irreverent humor can be made to be funny BUT only when it is free of direful contempt.

BE MINDFUL of the comings and goings of thy heart!

(Noynoying)

NOYNOYING is nothing more

than a reflection of how harsh we can be

(meaning it is a choice made

and one which can be unmade)

toward each other.

Come alive to it and listen,

those of you with hearts to listen!

We elect a president

so that we can mock our own choice?

If the voice of the people

does not emanate from the heart of the people,

where are we?

Who is this people?

If the voice of the people

is not accepted by the same people

as an able representation

of the will of Divine Providence

in our Country - then -

Who defends our choices?

Instead of building up, we tear down.

Is this how we wish to utilize our hard-won freedoms?

Where is the spirit of our remembrance in all this?

So what if President Noy isn't doing a stellar job at the moment?

Is this entire Country run by just one man?

Does one man sow and reap, pasture and tend,

sew and rend, buy and sell, nurture and raise,

counsel and lead, labor and toil, craft and teach,

paint and color, love and serve, laugh and play -

here in this, our one Republic of the Philippines?

To each of us is entrusted the responsibility

to better govern ourselves as individuals - and -

as citizens to serve each other freely in the nation.

Are we not a nation of millions?

Are we a nation (among nations) truly fit

only for the cruel yoke of a dictatorship?

NO, my beloved people,

we should never again tempt fate!

The person of every President belongs

- to the one Office he or she represents -

do we judge the person with the Office

or do we judge without understanding?

To where or to whom

do we properly owe this irreverence?

Let us ever be aware of ourselves as ourselves!

- selah -

I think those people

who spend their time

crafting clever mischief

- like "Noynoying" -

are lot worse.

In a democracy, we all must pull together!

We must pull together

so that even the most lackadaisical soul

shall feel the fervor of our will of Country

- and feel it so strongly -

so as to be inescapably inclined

to bend to the building of the times!

And what of other nations?

In their eyes,

this "Noynoying" must appear to be

the very judgement we heap on our own selves.

And what of the eyes of heaven and God?

For the LORD requires

compassion and kindness,

and mercy tempering the truth.

Christ Himself spoke of it!

- selah -

Indeed, we have a long way to go.

(But we will get there,

my beloved brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we will reach that promised shore - together this time.)

Mabuhay, God bless the Philippines!

---<--@

Laughter Does Not Defeat

20110401

April 1

I am not one to say that April 1 is a day for fools. I think it would be a reckless thing to say so. I understand this day to be a day of humor - it is a time to smile.

I once had to answer a question, "what makes you laugh"?

Practical jokes!

What makes me laugh is the unconscious realization that I (and my friends) instantly have when something really unpredictably and harmlessly silly has just happened to someone who does not expect it.

In retrospect, I guess that's just one of the many facets of humor. Because there are many kinds of humor. Some of them are not to my liking. Some are downright crass and repulsive.

There is a limit to what is funny.

They say laughter is the best medicine. But laughter may only be considered medicinal if it does no one any harm. If the humanity of either the source of the humor or its intended recipients is left distorted or embittered, that is not humor.

I think humor is a form of communication. It is either written, spoken or expressed wholly in bodily gestures. But it goes deeper than that. What it conveys is essentially a return to innocence - the original essence of play. We are all creatures of play. Deep within ourselves, we all have a profound desire to return to a child-like state. It is an innocence we can never really outgrow; a certain sense of agelessness we receive from Beauty.

When God smiles and we are able to smile (or even laugh) with God (and with each other), that to me is humor. Therefore, humor is an art. It adds to the color and the wonder of living.

A wholesome sense of humor imparts in us a refreshing lightness that allows us to smile and to laugh from a heart that cares; a heart that is able to smile and to laugh with us - even at us, at me.

Like all of Sacred Life this humor is perennial. It is the spark from which arise all hearts of good cheer. It is like love, patient as well as constant. Its laughter is like a break in the storm; a pause of quiet realization in the silence of our unconscious skies, a moment's respite from the heaviness of this weary earth - echoes of a promised return into the realm of an everlasting happiness.

As an aid to our common human hopes a wholesome sense of humor is meant to help wear down animosities, grind against divisions, melt away discord and renew the perseverance of the human spirit.

---<--@

Mabuhay po tayong lahat! God love all nations.

"From somber, solemn, serious saints, deliver us o, Lord."

Saint Teresa of Avila

Smile.