2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,000 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people. Click here to [...]

No miracle this time

There is a significant lack of maturity among voters in Pampanga. Disappointment enveloped my excitement as a first-time voter during the country’s first automated elections because provincial and district posts here in our area is dominated by dark forces. Indeed, Kapampangans are far from learning what ‘good governance’ is all about, and what real ‘public [...]

Earth Day, Starbucks and Climate Change

I opened my planner last April 22 and the date says Earth Day. It was a very typical office day and I never cared much about what the world was celebrating. Of course, I noticed the Google and Yahoo themes which were related to Earth Day (I’m  not stoic!). At around five o’clock, my officemate [...]

Earth Hour 2009

A Truckload of Stupidity

This is about “Ordinance 261 (An Ordinance Regulating the Hauling and Transporting of Sand, Gravel, and other Quarry Materials), which aims to prevent commercial quarry trucks from overloading sand by instituting measures like reducing truck height, removal of truck axle, among others.” Quarrying has been a big issue for the people of Pampanga. The quarry [...]

It’s all in the ‘hood’

Whether you spell it as “h-o-o-d-i-e” or “h-o-o-d-y,” this kind of jacket is worn by every kid in town (oops, even adults). Did the recent changes in weather radically turned the Philippines into an ice-cold country? – definitely not. Boys and girls who strut the outfit joined the craze since early 2008 until today. I [...]

About Trees and November Stuff

About Trees The volume of vehicles along McArthur highway’s San Fernando strip is getting heavier each day. Aside from annoying passenger jeepneys, the number of reckless motorcycle drivers and big speedy trucks is increasing, too. Although I am so pessimistic about the current road situation, I still see a little spark of hope. One solution: [...]

There’s a place for West Side in Manila

Manila’s version of West Side Story was fantastic. I witnessed the final show of this production at the Meralco Theater last October 13 and I felt lucky because West End’s Joanna Ampil was the one playing Maria for the night. This production by Stages made “my date with mom” a remarkable experience. Awesome Audie I [...]

What’s up (or down) with the Chinese?

After showing off during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese citizens are in the news again. The recent ‘melamine’ scare has been so sensationalized that whatever chocolate, milk, or food product that has a Chinese encryption on it is considered as poison. Two weeks ago, just before the melamine outbreak, I bought a lot of [...]

An Obama Nation or a McCain Country?

Will US have its first African-American President or first woman Vice-President? The upcoming elections of one of the world’s super powers will be as complex as the distress we are experiencing here in the Philippines. I listened to Barack Obama’s speech during the Democratic Party Convention yesterday and his words were very compelling. In my [...]