Ondoy Videos

UERM

I guess that became the iconic video that stuck in the minds of people the most as far as Tropical Storm Ondoy is concerned.  Here are some more videos that gives you an idea of how bad the storm got.  Especially for the Pinoys abroad, you had to be here to feel the wrath of the storm.  Of course these videos were taken from areas where people still had the luxury of videotaping the scenes.  In the truly devastated areas, we can only imagine the horrors the victims faced.

San Mateo River, Rizal

Quezon Boulevard Underpass

Katipunan Avenue

SM North EDSA

Quiapo Underpass

Marikina

Parkway Village

“On my way home”

Live Like We’re Dying

The Script

Kris Allen

It’s very interesting that Kris Allen’s choice for his very first single outside of the American Idol coronation song, is a cover of a song by The Script.  It’s not in the The Script’s debut album, this song was the B-side of their first single, “We Cry”.  So it’s pretty hard to find a copy of the song.  It’s interesting because although The Script was wildly popular here, in the U.S. they were widely overlooked.  Their biggest hit in the U.S. was their monster hit here, “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved”.  It went only as high as a measly #114 on the Billboard Hot 100.  So it’s really an odd choice for Kris who could’ve very easily sung an original composition from a slew of songwriters available to him.

But all that said, whichever version you prefer, the song is a beautiful composition.  It basically talks of how we only appreciate life when we’re about to lose it.  It’s very fitting for what the whole country went through last weekend.  After many have lost lives and property, everyone seems a little more thankful for what they still have.  It’s sad that sometimes it takes a tragedy before we stop and count our blessings.  We’re all guilty of this in varying degrees.  So it’s a nice way to capture the spirit of rebuilding what was left by Ondoy.  It’s a good way to live, to live like we’re dying.

Live Like We’re Dying

Sometimes we fall down and can’t get back up
We’re hiding behind skin that’s too tough
How come we don’t say I love you enough
Till it’s to late, it’s not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won’t come
We could make a feast from these crumbs
And we’re all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you
What would you wish you would’ve done

Yeah… gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying

And if your plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbyes
Should be so careful who we live out our lives
So when we long for absolution
There’ll no one on the line

Yeah… gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we’re dying

Like we’re dying oh– like we’re dying [x2]

We only got
86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live — like we’re dying

We never know a good thing till it’s gone
You never see a crash until it’s head on
All those people right when we’re dead wrong
You never know a good thing till it’s gone

Unbelievable.

***(Update: Apparently, Jacque Bermejo has come out and gave her side of the story.  She said her account was hacked since way back and has reported it to the authorities. Check out the various links supplied in the comments section.)

As the country is reeling and scrambling with the calamity of Tropical Storm Ondoy, already Twitter, Facebook and Multiply are flooded with reactions spreading like wildfire about a certain Jacque Bermejo who posted the above statement on her Facebook account.  I visited her Multiply account and I’ve never seen anything like it.  The comments box was going crazy.  The comments were coming in a rate of almost one comment per second.  Unreal.  The idea of people deserving to die is ridiculous.  To say the victims were sinners that’s why they died is outright vicious.  Anyone who’s lost a loved one to a calamity, an accident, or even a disease will bristle at the invocation of dying as a direct result or “punishment” from a divine provenance.  Obviously not much thought nor heart was put into the comment.  It was heartless, insensitive, disrespectful, and downright cruel.

That said, I must say I also cringed at the amount of hate the comment generated.  I was reading a mere sampling of the hate mail she got and it was replete with invectives, odium, and even death threats (whether real or merely for effect).  Her careless comment hit a nerve in me when I read about it.  My heart has broken many times over as I hear news or watch on television or hear from friends how many people have been fighting for their lives.  Some won, some lost, while some are still fighting tooth and nail to survive as we speak.  So for someone to say this is like spitting in the faces of the thousands of people affected by this calamity.  Whether it’s the victims, or their loved ones, or their rescuers, or even the people who have donated in whatever form to the victims.  So anger was my first reaction.

But after a while, I realize that hate is the last thing we need in times like this.  The energy put into tearing her down is unhealthy even for the aggrieved.  This is her deal.  What she does with her words speak more for her than it does for others.  To engage ourselves into her hate is to be sucked into her negativity.  The last thing we need right now is to generate more hate, an emotion that sucks us dry of life and good energy.  Let this be her cross to bear.  Let her find her own lessons in all this.

As for everyone else who disagrees with her, who actually bleeds for the victims of this natural disaster, let us instead pool our energy and resources into the ongoing battle for survival.  Many people are still fighting for their lives long after the rains have stopped.  Many who were rescued now need help in evacuation centres.  Many have lost their homes and livelihood.  There is still a lot of rescuing and rebuilding to be done.

Donate to Red Cross thru txt. Snd RED (space)<5,25,50,100 or 300> to 2899 (Globe) & 4483 (SMART).

mas kelangan ng red cross qc ng donations kesa volunteers. andaming gusto tumulong pero walang marepack.

ABS-CBN needs volunteers for Sept. 28, 29 & 30. Shifts are 8AM-12NN; 1:00-5:00PM and 5:00-9:00PM. Call 924-4101 loc. 2603, 2579, 4759.

CFC Center in Ortigas is receiving donations in cash or in kind. Call (02)7270682-87 or 09195359036.

We need more goods.Pls drop at LUCA BRANCHES Shangri-la (near Mango)& Rockwell (Archeology) and if Eastwood mall is open tom

if ur a nurse & u wish to volunteer : richard villena of PNRC Port Area 09178714515. Alex 09175093061 thank you !GB

URGENT! More Boats needed for ongoing rescue operations. Please contact Cielo @ 0918-8824356, asap!

ALABANG – DLSZ Relief Goods Collection Center open 8AM-6PM. Grd Flr Gym 5. Donors & volunteers pass Gate 7 (Molave St).

Kapuso helpline for pledges/donations @ 9811950 to 9811959.GMA Kapuso foundation is now accepting your donations.Pls help.

ACCEPTING RELIEF GOODS IN SOUTH AREA. pls contact 09152854240 LUK 4 ANNE.

Donate to Worldvision Dev’t Foundation: BPI Savings Acct #4251002415 or BDO #270043411. For $ BPI US$Acct 4254-0050-08. Tnx!

MAKATI DROP OFF: 5729 Calasanz St., Olympia Makati City or call for pick up at 501-7405 or 729-0530 c/o Omel Santos

Assumption College San Lorenzo is nw accepting donations. Please drop them off at the AC guardhouse. ThankS. God bless.

For those who want to volunteer to Worldvision, pls txt or call Pam 09178623209.

The above are just some RT courtesy of @miriamq, follow her on Twitter for one of the more intensive updates on the relief efforts.

Typhoon Ondoy

Oh. My. Guard.

I just got home after more than an hour on the road.  Not so bad, unlike many unfortunate others, who are still probably stuck on the road, but this is incredible given that I live about 5 minutes away from work.  I get ahead of myself.

When I left the house around 5:30 this morning, it was raining, but I had no idea we were on the precipice of the worst storm to hit Metro Manila in so many years.  Since I started as a DJ 19 years ago, this is only the 2nd time that I was stranded at RX.  The first was way back, when the problem was more of the strong winds than the rains.  When I finally decided to brave it, as I waited for the traffic light to go green along Ortigas going towards Rosario, the lamp post right beside my car suddenly snapped, crackled, and finally popped!  There was a bright flash of light, a sizzling sound, and finally an explosion of electricity and sparks!  There were sparks spraying on the hood of my car as the succeeding posts also started exploding.  I was so scared I almost peed in my pants.(I know, TMI).

This time, We were having so much fun with the Rushers because they were coincidentally having an EB at the station.  When the rain wouldn’t stop, we realized we were stranded.  We waited it out.  The show ended at 9am, but we didn’t attempt to leave until about past 1pm, when the rains seemed to let up a bit.   Boy were we wrong.  Most of my routes going home (which, like I said, is usually a mere 5-minute drive) were impassable due to high waters.  I know, because I could see multiple cars stuck in the middle of the floodwater, like islands in the stream.  Finally, the sole route that was available to me was clogged with cars.  I spent an hour idling on an approximately 250 meter stretch.  It didn’t help that I was listening to an AM station as they rattled off the places where the people were on their roofs awaiting rescue.  The WORST storm in recent memory.  I’m suddenly glad to be safe home.  My heart goes out to the people still stuck all over Luzon.

As if my ordeal wasn’t enough, I actually set off again after 30 minutes to go to Eastwood to feed my cats.  Turns out there are chest-high floodwater along C5.  We turned back way before we hit C5.  The cars were piling up and we took that as a sign to head back home.

What about you guys?  Hope you’re okay.  Any horror stories of your own?

The Best And The Rest 181

At the time, we did news that Sylvester Stallone wanted to do a movie with Manny Pacquiao.  Looking back, I guess it might not push through, since we’ve never really heard anything about it since.  But who knows, Hollywood has come up with some of the oddest pairings, so why not a Sly-Pacman movie?

January 15, 2009 → The Top Ten Titles For The Stallone-Pacquiao Movie – Jose de vengenge

1. Tomodache – “Pac You!”
2. Pancakes – “Buksingin Mo Ko, Lalaking Matapang (Akin Ka, Balboa)”
3. Pancakes – “Ilyen Birsus Pridator”
4. Alias Pusa – “Manny, Kicking Pinoy”
5. McMaki – “Mani At Rambo-tan (Para Sa Yo Ang Mubing Ito)”
6. Rodel – “Stop, Or Manny Will Talk”
7. Jesse Jude – “Rocky Sibin”
8. Lagendairy/McDenzel/Bobidax – “Hidden Soldiers” (Tungkol sa mga sundalong may balakubak)
9. Pendongs – “Si Rocky At Ang Taling Nagkapilipilipilitpit”
10. The Game – “My Quotes And I” (About Manny and Stallone who plays his coach)
11. Curt Smith/Danyel – “Blow By Blow (Brokeback Boxing)”
12. Simon Walker – Manny And Sylvester (Ay Towt Ay Tow A Putiket)”
13. Chelsi – “3rd Rocky From Gen San”
14. Draco’s Biatch/Ang Manunusok – “Toilet” (Manny and Sly as vampires)
15. Acer – “Let’s Get Ready To Rambo!”
16. Lyra – “Extreme Bok-Sing”
17. Specialist – “Pasko, Paksiw, Pacquiao”
18. PigDoctor – “Akin Ang Gen San, Yours Is Da L.A.!”
19. Mr. Perk – “Pacman Eats Talong”
20. Chito Resurreccion – “You, Me, & Jenky”

Trailers

When watching movies I always try to catch the trailers part because I absolutely LOVE watching trailers.  In case you’re like me, here are some of the more interesting ones that caught my attention.  Whether they turn out great or not, is another story.

The latest from master Martin Scorsese and his muse, Leonardo Di Caprio.  It’s a new twist for him, tackling something he hasn’t done in a while: suspense.  I’d like to see if a director of his stature could elevate a genre not generally considered Oscar bait.

Shutter Island

This looks like a really quirky comedy written and directed by Ricky Gervais.  It would rise or fall solely on the script of it’s star.  It could fall really flat if executed wrong, but I’m rooting for the guy!  And Tina Fey!!!

The Invention Of Lying

The trailer alone took my breath away.  I had a lump in my throat at the end.  The latest from “The Piano” director Jane Campion about poet John Keats.  The film is poetry on celluloid.  It’s the star turn for actress Abbie Cornish, better known as the actress who “stole” Ryan Phillipe from his wife Reese Witherspoon.

Bright Star

What a dream pairing.  Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker.  Again, there hasn’t been a romcom in a long time that really impressed, so this too, is a bit scary.  But there’s some promise…

Did You Hear About The Morgans?

Wow, this I’m so excited to watch.  Aside from the all-star cast, it’s from Jim Sheridan, 6-time Oscar nominated director of killer dramas like “My Left Foot”.  The premise is harrowing, and the performances are all potentially tour-de-force.

Brothers

I’m more scared for the comedies than the dramas.  Meryl Streep is my absolute favorite actor or actress EVER.  So a pairing up with Emmy favorite Alec Baldwin seems like a match made in heaven.  But I’m not a fan of director Nancy Meyers.  To me, she’s like, Nora Ephron lite.  I have yet to watch a Nancy Meyers film that really satisfied me.  So I’m crossing my fingers on this one.

It’s Complicated

The awaited film from LOTR director Peter Jackson.  This movie hearkens back to his old style in the days of “Heavenly Creatures”, so it’s REALLY promising.  No more epic feel like LOTR or King Kong, but more like a small creepy film that seeps into your pores.  Plus it’s got Saoirse Ronan!

The Lovely Bones

Again, killer cast, and one of my all-time favorite actors, Robert De Niro.  For De Niro alone, I’m already in.

Everybody’s Fine

Hilary Swank is probably my LEAST favorite A-list actress today.  But I must admit, the trailer is captivating.  Plus, it’s directed by Mira Nair.  How I wish it just starred somebody else.  Cate Blanchett? Jodie Foster?  Charlize Theron?  Anyone else BUT Hilary Swank?  Oh well…

Amelia

I had goosebumps watching this.  Even dead, Michael Jackson gets your attention like no other.  And to think the whole movie is just about rehearsal footage.  It will only be shown for 2 weeks.  So expect the theatres to be packed.

This Is It

Of all the trailers, this is the one I feel strongly about the most.  It’s a documentary on the massacre of dolphins in Japan.  I really think this is essential viewing for anyone who has a modicum of interest in wildlife.  The filmmakers risked life and limb to get this story out.  It’s chilling.  I can’t wait to see the whole thing, even though I’m sure I’ll be heartbroken by the end of it.

The Cove

The 56-Year-Old Virgin

I was supposed to post about something else, but last minute, I caught this video and it really cracked me up.  It’s about this woman who thought she was testifying at a hearing about sex education, when in fact it was a hearing on alcohol awareness.  And there she was telling the whole room she was a 56-year-old virgin, when in fact the revelation was a day late because the hearing she thought she was in happened the day before.

What really cracked me up was when she revealed that she was a 56-year-old virgin, “technically”.  So I bet she’s done EVERYTHING, except “it”.  Hehehe, I bet she’s a fully-clothed sexpot.  She did say, through experience I presume, that one could have “sexual satisfaction without taking your clothes off”.  Made me think.  Kinky!

The Best And The Rest 180

Goodness, I’ve been emo for so long that I’ve resolved to pull myself out of this because no one else can do it for me.  So let this be a sign that I therefore resolve to get off the emo train, and take the first trip to happyville.  So let’s repost this emo Top Ten then get it out of our systems!

January 12, 2009 → The Top Ten Signs That You’re Emo – Gorgeous Bitch

1. Ren – If they look emo, they sound emo, but when you ask them, they say they’re not emo. Then they’re emo.
2. Sophia Hanna – He’d say he’s happy when people are around, but once he’s alone he goes, “Huhuhu…people think I’m happy..but I’m NOT.”
   
3. Ice/No name/KeyArena – All black, head to toe, pati kuko, with matching blade necklace.
4. Manuel Lomotan/Mr.NetworkFreeze/Joltino/Rogue/Geyp – Emo people are cutters.
5. No name – They cover their faces with their weird hair.
6. Rogue – When your geography teacher asks: “Where is the coldest place on earth?” And you answer: “In my heart.”
7. Yves – After writing your diary, you mutter: “Only my diary understands…”
8. Ang Manunusok/Geyp – You text them: “Wer na u?” At ang kanyang sagot: “Hindi ko mawari kung saan. Pakiramdam ko’y nasa gitna ako ng bangung0t at deluby0.”
9. Pancakes – When you stick your hand in a jar full of gumballa and cry because there are so many pretty colors.
10. Boknoi – If he secretly writes a lot of poetry and uses the terms “sadness”, “darkness”, “loneliness”, and “sorrow” frequently in his poems.
11. Ang Manunusok – If you ask them: “Who are you?” They answer: “Nobody.”
12. Oedie1_kenobi - The skinny jeans and hooded sweat shirt.
13. Astroboy/SC- Pag tinanong siya ng saleslady: “Ano pong hanap nila?” Ang sagot niya: “Konting pagmamahal at pag-unawa.”
14. Ang Manunusok – Emo Rusher: “They hate me, that’s why I never make it to the Top Ten!”
15. Dru – Lahat ng emo may UTI, dahil sa sikip ng pantalon nila, di sila maka-ihi ng maayos.
16. Specialist – When you text them: “Musta na?” Sagot nila: “Eto, umaasa pa rin na balang araw ay masusuklian ang walang maliw kong pagmamahal sa kanya.”
17. ACER – They are always in either 2 states: depressed and asleep.
18. Dru – Deny ng deny na emo, pero ang da-drama naman! Daming baggage!
19. Nico – You watch a sad movie at home, look out the window as a tear falls down your face, then you go: “I am empty.”
20. Spamut B – Sa group pic, lahat naka-smile, ikaw lagi yung naka-simangot sa sulok.
21. Raindrops – They say stuff like: “I’m happy for you…even if I’m not part of that happiness.”
22. JSexy – In a word: Guyliner.
23. Angel Shadowsong – A straight guy friend kissed another guy. When we asked why, he said: “Nanlilimos ako ng pag-ibig, siya lang ang nagbigay.”
24. Alias Pusa/Nini/Oscardelahopia – You look like a cross between an anime character and taong grasa, and you hang out in the Ice Skating rink in SM Megamall.
25. Dru – Pag tinanong sila ng waiter: “Coke or iced tea?” Ang kanilang sagot: “Anything that will drown all the miseries that the universe has dumped on me.”
26. Glenskie – Something allegedly written in a girl’s restroom in a dorm: “Sa laki ng UP, hindi ko mahanap ang sarili ko.”

Weddings

Delle and I have been hosting weddings as much as corporate events, and we really have a soft spot for weddings.  We enjoy doing it because you see the celebration, the goodwill, the professions of love, the happy beginnings.  Of course we never know what actually happens AFTER the wedding, whether it actually ends up happily ever after or the start of the proverbial living hell.  But we don’t stick around for that anymore.  So weddings are such bursts of positivity for us.  At more than once or twice, we were moved to tears by some of the more memorable ones.  I’ve always wanted to post about it, but I never got the urge until tonight.

I just came home from hosting a wedding.  It was a wedding of two successful doctors, one in his 50’s and one in her 40’s.  And the bride was stunningly beautiful, smart, classy, successful, warm, articulate, sexy…you name it.  You really wonder why someone like her, who’s obviously a catch, would remain single for so long.  For sure, men would’ve fallen head over heels in love with her easily.  So she seemed to me quite a puzzle.  Even she said that she never went beyond infatuation until she met her eventual husband.  Really?  I immediately thought that something must be askew with her.  Then she said something that I really found beautiful.  She said, “I told myself that I don’t care how old I get, but I’ll never get married for the wrong reasons. And for me, there is only one right reason: and that is LOVE.”  She really blew me away.  Then the puzzle was solved.  She is so put together, so wonderful, and so content with who she is, that she doesn’t feel the need to marry for the sake of marrying.  She’s okay to spend the rest of her life alone, because she’s happy just the was she was.  UNLESS she met someone she loves so much that she she’d want to be with him for the rest of her life.

And when they did their first dance, the photographer quipped, “Wow, this is probably the most romantic wedding dance I’ve ever seen.”  They were dancing as if no one else was in the room.  The bride was hanging on to her husband as if it were the last time she’d be doing so.  They were so in love, that it was breathtaking to witness.  That why we like hosting weddings.  We don’t know them, but it’s light and the energy is good (usually!).  And although many weddings actually turn our grimmer than a funeral, the precious few whose light shine through, are a pleasure to behold.

The Best And The Rest 179

I loved bedtime stories as a kid, especially when I was sick.  My dad would do a little trick.  Instead of him telling me stories, he’d make me tell him stories instead.  For instance when I watched “Jaws” for the first time, he made me recount the entire movie for him while I was sick in the hospital.  It kinda worked.  I didn’t realize much of the pain, trying to remember all the gory details of the tale about the man-eating shark.

January 6, 2009 → The Top Ten Things You Don’t Want To Hear In A Bedtime Story – Astroboy

1. Ice_Wolf – “At night, Aladdin would dream about Princess Jasmine, as he stroked his magic lamp, faster and faster, until the Genie pops out.”
2. Specialist – “Papa Bear saw Goldilocks so he shred her to pieces and ate her for dinner.”
3. Michelangelo – “Gretel shoved the witch into the burning furnace. Since then, she developed an uncontrollable urge to push elderly women to their untimely deaths.”
4. Geyp – “Hansel found his sister Gretel quite hot. And the scandalous incestuous fling that rocked the fairytale world ensued.”
5. Mr. Perk – “Prince Charming found an empty bottle of prescription sleeping pills beside Sleeping Beauty.”
6. Cheyenne – “And when Prince Charming was sure that Sleeping Beauty could NOT be awakened, he ripped her dress off and had his way with her as she slept.”
7. Jorik – Prince: “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair weave…”
8. Eylek – “Ariel slapped Nemo because he swam into her coochie.”
9. Oscar dela Hopia – “Dopey stood right in front of Snow White and said: ‘Gee, your hair smells terrific!’”
10. Astroboy – “Goldilocks looked in the mirror and screamed: ‘Aaaaah! Bakit may Red Ribbon ang hair ko?’”
11. TReiz – “And Snow White finally met the seven dwarves: Sociopath, Bipolar, Narcoleptic, Hypochondriac, Insomniac, Schizophrenic and Manic-Depressive.”
12. Elmer – “And Gaston and the Beast lived happily together in Brokeback Castle.”
13. Dru – “Then, the fairy godmother, who was drunk, told the princess: ‘Honey, happy endings are basically sad endings that haven’t finished yet.’”
14. KiD BuKid – “Tinkerbell and Captain Hook fell in love and they lived happily ever after, even though she had to deal with hook marks on her crotch.”
15. Jose de vengenge – Blue Fairy: “Pinocchio, I will turn you into a real boy!” Pinocchio: “Girl, pwede ba fairy na lang?”
16. Obelisk – “On their honeymoon, Humpty Dumpty’s wife said to him after he undressed: ‘Ang laki pala ng itlog mo…’”
17. Your Highness – “The Big Bad Wolf made Humpty Dumpty into scrambled eggs and the 3 little pigs into bacon, and ate them for breakfast.”
18. Jose de vengenge – “And so Snow White spent the rest of her days as an endorser for glutathione.”
19. Merski – “Pinocchio never became a real boy.  So he lived the rest of his life with a wood pecker.”
20. Frederique – “Fairy Godmother warned Cinderella to be home by midnight, because her vajayjay will turn into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight.  Cinderella said: ‘It’s all good, my date is Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater.’”