It Breaks My Heart

It breaks my heart to see severed hands on the onset of New Year because manufacturers are still creating dangerous fire crackers. We Filipinos got this madness from the Chinese . I think it is ok. Explosions are said to cast off evil spirits. But the Chinese did not invent dangerous bombs. What they have were these teeny weeny candle sticks that explode on an acceptable decibel levels. But then Filipinos caught on the trend. And we started creating dangerous stuff. Now look what we have. We are simply dumb.

Filipinos and Irish

The thread that runs in the history of our country and Ireland is about dealing with tyrany. We were under the power of Spain who called us 'indios'(meaning unlearned people) . And that's for 300 hundred years! Ireland shared the same fate under British domination. And yes the pain inflicted was the same. When I see a British guy , it makes me want to punch his face. But no no no, I am all for peace. It's all water under the bridge. But hey, we all hate smart asses right? Ireland and the Philippines have more things in common really.

No Apologies for the people(of Bacolod) and Piayas

If there is one lesson Poppy Z Brite taught me , then it is not to APOLOGIZE ever. It's not the end of the world just because you dropped your pants and people saw your butt crack(which happened to me in several occasions and my friend Ryan refer to it as my cleavage).

It is silly to assume that just because you earned a degree or you have your face plastered over tabloids and magazines, people will fall all over you. Whatever your issues or how you see yourself exists in your own universe-alone. Everything moves in parallel.

Today, I want to talk about Piayas. It is a sweetened flat bread stuffed with molasses(the sweet ingredient). I remember as a kid when I used to run after trucks just to wipe off the molasses off their back faucets-for lack of better words. I know it is not clean that might result to stomach problems (which never happened) but I love that feeling of being able to perform a dirty but delicious job. Not to mention licking an oozing exciting sticky sweet substance from our own produce-sugarcane!

Here is a video about making Piayas.

Yay I Passed the Panasiatic Solutions Exams

Am I glad? Of course. I got high scores and it was no big deal. I don't know why they rang me after tossing away my resume. Must be the need for more agents? Bad judgment on the side of HR? I played the game nicely. So to those who posted defamatory comments on my previous article, eat dirt :P Still, I don't want to be a part of this company who hired people who not only to think highly of themselves but also dared to troll on my article. This is no way to defend the name of your company.You're still bunch of....never mind. I was about to say human beings. So you speak better English ? That can be mastered. And it is nothing. NOTHING. Guess why it's a job fare after all...eeeer fair!

But then again I like to play the game... let's see what happens. As I always say in Irish :

Póg mo thóin!

and

An té a chaillfeas a chlú, caillfidh sé a náire.

Discover What's in Sugar Beach.

Check this one uploaded by a couple:



We are blessed with beautiful beaches and laid back sense of living.

Joey Ayala's Ethnic Fusion: A Passion for Things Filipino

Around three years ago, I was at a gig in Old Manila. I was with writer/poet Karen Kunawicz. Joey Ayala was going to perform at a launching of an alternative band. He was wearing a casual attire with his acoustic guitar. He was walking toward me and I said' Hey Joey" and he smile and said Hello back. The atmosphere of the place was really cozy. He sang a few songs in Filipino, mostly old and new stuff. Joey has a charisma that breaks barriers He has always been passionate about the preservation of the environment and also the safety of the natives. This video is called Magkaugnay(which means relatedness of things).

Check out this video about the legend himself.

Panasiatic Solutions Sinkhole.

We went to the Panasiatic Solutions Job Fare. It’s a new call center which hopes to get as much as 3000 employees. I have seen a lot of competitive people around and I know these people have what it takes to make it. We were endorsed to a recruitment officer by the name of Lucky . Upon first glance you would think that this lady is gentle of spirit and is also perceptive. She looks as if she has the sensitivity of a training officer. She also looks like an angel as one of the applicants remarked. Then she asked us to read. It was a surprise because other recruiters did not require it (there were around three recruiting kiosks and we thought we were lucky to be endorsed to Lucky..the name said it all).

After working for eight years in the industry, I know I have the necessary skills and accent to make it. I know I am capable as others should be on the waiting lists. Little did I know that I would be rejected like the rest of the competitive people I know. We waited for three hours on the line at the Government Center ! These guys texted me after. They said they didn’t make it and those people that Lucky hired were actually those that don’t have call center experience and were less competitive. Lucky turned out to be the Unlucky wall before us. Oh well that does it. There are still other s but then again this left me a lasting impression of the kind of people Pan Asiatic took for their recruitment department. And these very same people will be the downfall of the company four years from now.

Will I ever attempt to apply again as what the rejection slip told me to do? With these kinds of people how can I be assured of my tenure ship with the company? Do they make sound judgment? No. And my answer is also no.

Grace Nono II

Yesterday I talked about how I discovered Grace Nono. But I failed to mention that producer/husband Bob Aves is from Bacolod. I also remember seeing her live Tropical Depression ( a reggae band) at the University of St La Salle. All I could think of at that time was that the feeling I got is the same intensity when I listened to the music of Dead Can Dance. There is that powerful excursion in her music as if she is summoning all the elementals and hurling them to you.
I lost track of Grace a years passed. Someone burrowed her second album from me and never bothered to return it. One of the reasons that strike me is her brand of contralto. As what a critic wrote: it sounds sweet but with a kick. Actually it’s quite big and broad for her small frame. She has a way of coloring it, given her background in singing jazz before her venture to this terrain.
I no longer her an eco f her on the radio, given the popularity of Emo bands as well as pseudo lounge acts that makes you long for the days when Filipino music was truly original and not a rip off of Western acts. These days they are doing covers of songs that you know, could never top the performances of their American originals.
I could no longer hear voices like her’s . And there is an urgency in the air…as what my favorite Irish singer Liam O’ Maonlai said, fanaticisms is only brought about by something that is dying. And My God isn’t he right?

Grace Nono

I have followed her career since the 90’s when ethnic fusion was really new. It’s like a renaissance of traditional music in mainstream culture. All of sudden there are folk bands that came out celebrating protest music as well as the usage of indigenous instruments.

It’s a wonder that Salidumay made it to the top 40 pop radio. I began collecting her albums. She along with Joey Ayala became the face of Filipino ethnic fusion. Yes the songs are taken from the mountains and arrange with modern production techniques as well as arrangements.

On the Road

Years ago I hiked with two friends all over the island of Negros . We cheered when we crossed the border of Occidental to Oriental while stars glittered above on an evening. We were at the back of a truck. It was an adventure. It was something I made n between the highway of my youth and adulthood. It is not something that a regular person would do-limited funds in the pocket and all.

I remember how I felt-the burning concrete of the highway under my feet. Months like this makes one remember a lot of things. Like the first time I fell totally with this Norwegian musician who took me to Cebu and then broke my heart. It's fine though. It's part of life.

One has make no apologies because years from now, the only thing that matter I the madness and laughter. Not the what- might- have- been. So I thank Jack Kerouac for the beautiful madness of trying the life on the road. Because it is not something one would do under normal circumstance. Because youth is never about making normal choices.