5 Minutes of Fame For Those Sentenced 5 Years to Life

Hardened criminals turned into You Tube celebrities. Petty and professional crooks in the southern island of Cebu became the toast of the internet world after their "Thriller" production number became the novelty act of 2008. Quick to capitalize on the death of Mr. Jackson, Hollywood flew to the island and made this video which they plan to include in a commemorative album for the "Gloved One". I just hope the Gringos paid the city government enough to better the living conditions in the Cebu pentitentiary. The Philippines as a whole has uber deplorable jail system. Here's hoping something positive comes out of this stunt.

Last night, my company participated in the world-wide observance of Earth Hour. This entailed diligent coordination with our Operations, Engineering and Housekeeping departments. We turned off our lights from 8:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Customers had to endure very minimal lighting for an hour but its all good because they know it was done for a great cause. This event was replicated by several households, companies, communities, municipalities and cities around the Philippines, and is also being implemented in major cities around the planet. It's a call for awareness and decisive action against climate change. We sent out advisories to our tenants asking them to switch off their lights on the appointed time. Our lobby and guest hallways went dark. The only source of light were solitary candles in the hallways. Beside each candle was a tentcard with the earth hour logo with an explanation of why our company is supporting this effort. One of our function room was set-up with a projector, a giant screen and sofas where people can lounge and watch Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth". I sat through it and got a chill up my spine. Mr. Gore's movie is a warning to us all. Humanity's greed for power and profit is taking its toll. We are on the verge of environmental havoc and demise of our civilization if we do not take action. I wish for our leaders and our children to see this so we get off our bed of complacency and take part in restoring our planet back to health.

Hotttttt!

I do not remember a summer that's hotter! I am in my room right now bearing the heat. It's 10:30 pm but it feels like 12 noon. I have two electric fans running currently. One fan is blowing air at me, while the other one has the job of circulating a tepid breeze in my room. The national weather agency says to brace for higher temperature, like 40 degrees. Room temperature right now is 35 degrees. Arrgh!! This must be what hell is like.

My friend has cancer?

What does one say or do when a close friend is diagnosed with cancer? I got a text message from an old college friend. She said one of the girls in the gang just went through a mastectomy. True to her quiet, unassuming nature, this particular friend went through the procedure without telling any of us.Had it not been for a friend of a friend, we wouldn't have known about the operation.

Once a upon a time, about twenty odd years ago we were a tight-knit group of 18-year olds enrolled in pre-med vying to be the next doctors of the land. We were inseparable bonded not only by our dreams and our course cards but also because we had common interests. We all dealt with stress of college life by laughing at each other's jokes, and spending our parent's money watching movies at Harrison Plaza, playing Where in the "World is Carmen San Diego?" in the computer store across our campus and eating in restaurants that stretched our meager allowance. Once, we ate in this Chinese restaurant in Roxas Boulevard. For the life of me, I do not remember how we convinced ourselves to eat and order up a storm knowing the limitation of our individual budgets. We ended up counting pennies (literally) just to pay the bill. It was such an embarrassing moment especially when the other patrons of the restaurant saw us emptying our wallets of coins to pay up a visibly annoyed and impatient waiter. We went through crises big and small. Crushes, annoyances, intrigues, back bites, snub fests and the like but we managed to grow and accept each other's idiosyncrasies and grew up together. Through the course of finding our individual selves some, like me, found out that my calling was not in medicine but in arts and communications. I left the circle and charted a different course. Most of them remained on track and enriched their lives further in medical school, residency, love, marriage, and career specialties. Through it all we remained in touch. And as we evolved from building our careers to building relationships and families we kept in touch knowing that our bond of twenty-years or so will always keep us at arms reach for hugs and understanding.

The suddeness of cancer makes me think about these things. The randomness of who it chooses to afflict scares the hell out of me. She was one of the prettiest, humble, the most unassuming of us. I pray and hope for the best.

Pfftt!

Destroyed. Wasted. Beat to a pulp. Blasted to smithereens. My bank account. One that I've been painstakingly building up for a grand vacation was eaten up by the demands of an ailing 12-year old car. I'm down to a measly eight grand. Efforts to revive will require something akin to a European Marshall Plan. There's no use crying over it. Time to re-build. Damn it!

Pizza, Chicks n' Chips After Flood Disaster

The family gathered over boxes of Shakey's Pizza and Chick n Chips tonight. A quiet celebration of sorts meant to shake off three days of anxiety.

My sister Mia, and her family, including my one-year old niece, were stranded on the second floor of their home in Riverside Pasig. No phone, no electricity, and no means to communicate to the outside world. My brother-in-law's text on Saturday, at twelve noon was a plea for help because the flood waters were rising and about to reach the second floor. There was no communication after that.

My parents were beside themselves. Not knowing what to do. It was foolish to go to them, especially when radio and television report of epic destruction (and even casualties) along the long road to Pasig. Even the driver was dealing with his own crisis, a house also submerged in violent waters.

Another sister, Janet, was dealing with a monstrous traffic jam while bringing home her husband who has just been discharged from St. Luke's after minor surgery. Theirs would be a five-hour journey from the hospital to their home in Donya Carmen Subdivision. Her child, my two year old niece, was at home. The yaya phoned to say that flood water was slowly creeping into their house as well.

My sister at Riverside recounts days of waiting in fear, especially at night when it was pitch black. The residents in that townhouse complex slept with one eye open, hoping to hear the sound of rescue workers. My brother-in-law saved a drowning puppy, a dachshund. It was their neighbor's. It died a few hours later. It could have been the shock, or ingestion of dirty water, he said. Potable water became scarce and my sister decreed that whatever remained will be kept for the baby. The parents and yaya were ready to drink from the faucet if it came down to it.

Meanwhile my parents are crazed with worry. Hoping to hear from Mia. No one recalls their address, or her husband's next of kin. I check Facebook regularly, hoping to read an update. I sent messages to my brother in law's FB account but got no responses. Sunday, rubberized boats from the Philippine Navy arrive at Riverside and assessed the damage. Yet, no rescues were made. They arrived a few minutes later with relief goods. My sister lifted her baby for the rescuers to see. That merited an extra supply of food. It was straight out of a disaster movie. But it was real. This morning we got a call from my brother in law. The flood has subsided. The house in shambles. But at least they are all right.

The family gathered over boxes of Shakey's Pizza and Chick n Chips tonight, at Fonda Street. The two nieces are noisy. They like playing with each other, and watching Elmo and Sesame Street. The adults wolf down slices of Garlic n Cheese, Pepperoni and Manager's Choice. We kid around, debating on who gets the bigger slice, we horse around on who gets the heftier fried Chicken. Sister Janet says jokingly- it’s like Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn't agree more.

"I'm Six Year Old Today! " from Sesame Street

On my 6th birthday, back in July 1975, I remember re-enacting this bit infront of my bemused parents. I just turned forty right now and I still remember that morning. Just goes to show how Sesame Street became an integral part of the childhood of our generation. We were called "Martial Law Babies" because we were born shortly before or right after the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines. Our parents sheltered us from the realities of what is now considered the most tumultuous period of Philippine history. Our generation grew up in sheltered environments, singing the songs churned out by the Children's Television Workshop while the people outside our comfortable periphery fought the conjugal dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.