BarangayAmerika - The Journal of The Filipino Diaspora

It's ALIVE!

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:12:47 -0700

The all new BarangayAmerika.com site is now up!

Yipee!

-kyo-

Upcoming Site Upgrade

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:45:59 -0700

As mentioned sometime last year, we will be migrating to a new/improved version of our content management system.

The main goals for the upgrade are:

provide better integration with multimedia content (MP3s, Flash and Images) and take advantage of sites such as YouTube or Flickr;
improve management of spam/flood;
improve our search engine results position;
provide a more usable interface.

These new features will be gradually implemented and will be rolled out at www.barangayamerika.com. This older version of the site will remain here at home.barangayamerika.com.

Please let me know if you notice any weird or lost functionality and thank you for your patience in this transition.

-kyo-

Golf Anyone?

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:37:00 -0700

I was reviewing my Flickr account when I came across this picture taken during a coverage I made on the Baguio Country Club’s Centennial:

I remembered how this greenskeeper at the Baguio Country Club kept going around in circles while combing the putting green with his low-tech tool to remove the dew that blanketed the manicured grass. I was amazed at his dedication. No wonder the BCC, despite being the oldest golf club in the Philippines, has one of the most beautiful courses in the country.

Later on however, I found out that many of BCC’s workers are paid about $8.00 a day, perfecting the playgrounds of the richest families and their friends in the country. But then again you see a lot this in RP: carpenters building mansions and world-class condominiums only to come home to poor uninhabitable shanties, waiters serving food that they can only taste in their dreams, rich children pampered by nannies whose own children grow up without their mothers' care.

Looking Back

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:25:08 -0700

It has been a year since my last post . Wow, that long huh? So I decided to disturb the inertia, hoping to keep going until an outside force (like a nasty negative comment) puts me to rest again.

Two things gave me the push. The first was a book which title unfortunately, I can’t read because it’s in Japanese (I apologize to the Japanese for my being illiterate in their language, despite having been in their country for almost two years). Showing you the book cover however, will give you more than words.

The second push I got from our fellow blogger Jagcon’s latest post, ‘It’s indeed a small world.’ It amazed me what new technology can do for us. It can actually open a window to our past, which happens to be the topic for my post - looking back.

Let me get back to the first stimulus, the Japanese book. When I saw the cover, it reminded me of an earlier post I made in this site, 'Spontaneity and Responsibility in the Arts.’ The cover picture and my pictures all showed Japanese children drawing on street pavement with chalk. There are differences of course, the greatest of which is that the cover photograph was taken in 1959 by Takeyoshi Tanuma, and my snapshots done in 2006 - a span of 47 years. That length of time is enough perhaps, to consider this form of street art a tradition. A bucket of half consumed Crayola Sidewalk Chalk left on top of our mailbox by neighborhood kids also indicates that the practice is institutionalized. It might be interesting to do an analysis of what children drew then and now, and why, but really….

It's indeed a small world

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 14:50:27 -0700

Since my good old friend googled his name and found me via Jorge Andrada's blog "Half a Day’s Sales", a lot of things have transpired. Not only did I reconnect with him, but also with good old classmates from Saint Louis University Laboratory Elementary School in Baguio City. The SLU LES batch '86 newsgroup was recently formed. A reunion was already in the works before I joined the newsgroup. Now the task is to find most, if not all, of our batchmates.

NPR: Efren "Bata" Reyes

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 10:21:19 -0800

The man many consider to be the best pool player in the world, Efren "Bata" Reyes, is a skinny, almost toothless, 52-year-old Filipino with a slight paunch, an infectious grin and a legion of fans both at home and abroad.

Listen to the segment.

TESTDB.

Free Download: Nokia E62 Mobile Pack 1

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:20:07 -0800

Download Now!

In celebration of the New Year and a recent phone upgrade, I'm posting 35 photos from the archive formatted for the E62's 320x240 screen. I'm also releasing 2 new ringtones I created in mp3 format. »click here

-kyo-

Maligayang Pasko!

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 08:39:27 -0800

Paalam Sampaguita

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:25:39 -0800

Siyempre alam ng mga kabarkada ko noong college na paborito ko ang Eraserheads. Incidentally, isa sa mga kanta nila dati "Tindahan
ni Aling Nena" ay tungkol sa isang binata na napa-ibig sa isang dalagang lalakad ng Canada sa loob ng tatlong araw.

Noon namang high school, no doubt "The Dawn" ang paborito namin. Sobrang kaunti pa lang kasi ng mga banda noon di tulad ngayon. A few years later, siguro nasa college na rin kami, ni-release nila ang "Talaga Naman".

Isa ata sa mga pinaka-madalas na tema sa musika ng mga Pinoy ang pakikipag-sapalaran sa ibang bansa. Hindi nakakapagtaka na may sinulat rin ang Yano sa topic na ito. Coincidentally, wala na ata ako sa Pilipinas nang lumabas ang pangalawang album nila "Tara" so hindi ko alam kung sumikat ito (upbeat ang rhythm pero malungkot ang istorya) ...

Paalam Sampaguita
Yano

Chorus:

I love my Canon PowerShot SD600

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:50:49 -0700

Must be the best toy purchase I've done in recent memory. Instant gratification with pictures. No need to get the film developed (yeah, I know, I'm behind the times). I bought it 3 weeks ago in amazon.com. Just checked the price right now and is even cheaper. Haaayy! But then I wouldn't have known they were lowering the price. Now I just need to learn how to make quality photos...

Two in One: Kamusta na Ayos Pa ba?

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:46:14 -0700

Natatawa ako kahapon at napakinggan ko ang isa sa mga paborito naming album noon sa college, ang debut album ng Yano. Hindi lang yun, Two albums in one pa at ni-redesign ng batikang si Arnold Arre ang cover. Napabili na rin tuloy ako ng Color it Red (Fool's Circle + Hand Painted Sky) atsaka FrancisM's (FreeMan + FreeMan 2). Ni-rip ko na rin agad sa iTunes Apple Lossless Format.

Solb na solb. Mabuhay ang Iskolar ng Bayan.

-----------------
KAMUSTA NA
written by Dong Abay and Eric Gancio

Kumusta na, ayos pa ba
Ang buhay natin, kaya pa ba
Eh kung hinde, paano na
Ewan mo ba, bahala na?

Napanood kita sa tibi, sumama ka sa rali
Kasama ang mga madre, pinigilan mga tangke
Umiiyak ka pa sa harap ng mga sundalo
Namigay ka pa ng rosas na nabili mo sa kanto.

Repeat Chorus

Dala-dala mo pa, estatwa ni Sto. Nino
Eskapularyo't Bibliya, sangkatutak na rosaryo
At sa gitna ng EDSA, lumuhod ka't nagdasal pa

What's UP, Los Banos?

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 09:23:47 -0700

Found this blog about my birthplace, hometown and alma mater:
http://whatsuplb.blogspot.com

Recent posting is on the aftermath of typhoon Milenyo.

-kyo-

Last Days of Summer 2006

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:01:34 -0700

Click Here for "Last Days of Summer 2006" Blog

Stanford-Portola Valley-Miyake Loop

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 11:49:47 -0700

September 9, Sand Hill Road

We found this "trail" in Foghorn Outdoors' "Northern California Biking". The 15 mile loop starts out at the mall parking lot in front of Nordstroms and was capped by a late lunch at our favorite Japanese joint on University Ave: Miyake. We were so proud of Kamille when we finished it.

The Miyake leg is not really in the book but since you're around the area, it's the perfect motivation to burn all those calories. Yum.

-kyo-

kamkam`s adventures

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 19:17:46 -0700

on friday to sunday i went to yosemite and went hiking for 3 miles. i went to vernal falls.