search and find.

One cool thing about WORDPRESS is that you can check how many people visit your blog, what they’re looking at, and how the fuck they got there.  I copy and pasted what people typed in search engines to find my blog from the past two days.  It’s not any different than it was any other two days since I started laowlaowpantzing, I just never thought to post it:

Today

Search	Views
laowlaowpantz	3
famous vegetarian nudes	2
nude girl only in saree	2
philippine inquirer	1
filipina women nude	1
alcadev	1

Yesterday

Search	Views
nude peta girls	2
nude girls	2
nude body art	1
laowlaowpantz	1
battle of the year 2009 gizmo	1
swim nude	1
filipina girls	1
nude emo girls	1
whats momol in tagalog	1
nude advertisement	1

oldeyorke.ca

one4pops.

the one that makes my mom's fake smile look like a beam of sunlight, that's my dad.

It’s my Dad’s birthday.

Hmmm.  Write about my dad.  Ok.  Fuck it.  Let’s go!

Luis turns 60 today (October 14th), which officially makes him old.  Not THAT old, but our birthday’s are only four days apart and where people are always telling me I’m a baby with my whole life ahead of me, you’d be insulting my Father’s intelligence if you tried to tell him the same.  After countless conversations in the car, just us, where the silent parts are more profound then the words spoken, I learned we share the same view on life.  That’s that simply existing can often be a pain in the ass and that having to do it mostly in the presence of other people is more a chore than a pleasure.  So you gotta give him props for making it this far.

When we immigrated to Canada I was 6 months old, my Dad left the up and up lifestyle he could have been living in Manila.  He was a journalist.  And that’s the coolest job you can have in The Philippines, because all the great ones were journalists or writers.  In the 70s and 80s there was a hint of danger added to it because the great ones usually got jailed or were already martyrs.  I stopped thinking Pops was cool when I was around 14, so it was great to go back to his hometown and hear people tell of what a smart and good-looking guy my Dad was at my age.  The chicks he got and his cool job.  He was the kid from the small-town that moved out to the big-city.

Then he became the man from the third-world moving to the big-shiny first-world.  I learned a term today used at the University of Toronto, instead of saying third-world they say “Global South”, which is like saying the “World’s Crotch/Ass”.  And Pops might as well have come from the Ass of the world, because for ‘THEM’ <— interpret that however you want- to consider him on the same level, even after all his top notch big-city education and experience, he had to go through parts of high school and all of University all over again.  We’re talking about a guy who speaks perfect english, reads EVERYTHING and had to live with my Lola as his mother-in-law who was pretty much the smartest-meanest woman alive.

So he worked odd jobs during my infant and toddler years.  The story goes is that he used to bring me along to interviews because there wasn’t anyone to watch me back then.  One of the odd jobs was being a busboy at the now defunct Montreal Bistro (legendary jazz bar in Toronto).  A gig he’s particularly proud of and one that mirrors my own journey through Toronto.  He finally ended up working a desk at Air Canada for around 20 years.  Nothing exciting really happened during that time.  I guess that’s where ‘existence’ got him.

I owe a lot to Pops.  I owe my near obsession with Filipinoness to him.  When he taught me that basketball was a Filipino’s favorite sport I made it my own.  He taught me how to shoot on a net he set up in my room.  Gave me loonies to blow on basketball cards.  Drove me and my friends to our games.  And didn’t deny me my dream of being the first Filipino in the NBA, even though he knew I sucked ass at sports and he really wanted me to be nerd like he was.  But back in the nineties, we were the only two people who knew that Micheal Jordan wasn’t the best shooting-guard in the league, it was Joe Dumars.

He still never denies me my hopes and dreams, even when he thinks they’re a bad idea.  Like this trip to the Philippines.  And he’s always bailed me out of the shit when I needed.  Which is probably why I walk through life happy go-lucky and seemingly invincible because I know I can always fall back on my Father when I’m bound to fuck up.

I never asked him why he came to Canada and what it cost him, I imagine it was a great deal.  I have to thank him for doing it because being Canadian grants me the opportunity to be a fuck up all around the world and makes ‘existence’ more of an intellectual pursuit and not a matter of survival.  We don’t talk much, so I can never be sure if he’s ever been proud of me.  I’m sure when he used to take me along on those interviews, put his palm on face, and tell me stories of ‘back home’ he never intended on me becoming this strange less-serious cartoon-version of himself.  To that I say “maybe you shouldn’t have left all those dirty garage sale novels lying around and maybe you should have insisted I study harder instead of telling me to marry a rich girl.”

Just kidding, Pops.  Congratulations, you made it through another one.

peace,

-mlv aka BOOM-BOOM

around quezon city after ONDOY.

I’m assuming that if you’re one of the five people that read my blog, you’re probably one of the five that follow my facebook.

If you want some background on some of the shots go here:  BAITBOOK!

I can’t be fucked to write that shit again.

for information on how to DONATE or VOLUNTEER please visit:  http://tfchildrenofthestorm.wordpress.com

peace,

-mlv

TYPHOON ‘ONDOY’ | TF: CHILDREN OF THE STORM (1st week relief ops)

http://tfchildrenofthestorm.wordpress…

THE WEEK AFTER ONDOY: WHAT WE DID AND WHERE YOUR DONATIONS WENT | http://wp.me/pF4zk-1z

For further updates on our work and ways you can help please visit our blog:

http://tfchildrenofthestorm.wordpress…

i suppose i should say something.

the kids.

I dunno what it's like for normal people
but whenever i hit that 'new post' button
I get a tingle in my gut
and it's like "oh, shit here we go again"
especially when I'm going through
one of those parts in my life
where I'm aware that shit's going on
and I'll later refer to those moments
collectively as "one of those parts in my life"
who the fuck actually knows
the right things to say
while they're changing?
and to BLOG about it?  fuck!
when I get back home
EVERYBODY is going to ask me
"how was it? how was your trip?"
and I'm going to wish I was in bed.

-mlv

VIDEO: relief ‘effort’ (aid to the philippines)

a short video i made during the big scare last night as a second typhoon past over the city.  something light while i work on the ‘official’ video.  hope people get my sense of humour.  i figure a city-boy balikbayan that doesn’t know how to dredge through the mud is good for a laugh.

representatives from several child right’s organization circled the Olandes, Marakina community taking down family names and distributing stubs.  prioritizing families with small children.  one per family.  then they were given a time and location where they would be able to pick up a relief package.  this system was used in order evenly distribute relief.  the first waves of relief were distributed by trucks that would stop by the side of the road and hand out on a first-come, first-serve basis making it difficult for families and individuals deep in the middle of the community to receive packages.  as you can see in the video it is not a treat walking around the neighborhood.

after 3 efforts, with the help of students from the UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, we were able to distribute packages of clothes, hygienic, and non-perishable food items to 1100 families.  there are approximately 3000 families in the Olandes community alone.  so prioritizing was necessary until we are able to accumulate enough goods and relief to cover the whole community.

Volunteers and community workers also participated in cleaning homes and the Batibot Early Learning Centre.

Of course, relief is exactly what it is, relief.  The ‘effort’ doesn’t stop there.

to help in toronto : kapisanancentre.com

in the philippines:  childrehabcenter.org

salinlahiphilippines.org

lighter note.

Well, it’s my mother’s birthday.  That’s her photo by the way.

So I’m going to get off the urgent appeal’s for a second to say “hey” to Ma and “happy birthday” and stuff.  They’re probably gonna go out to eat at some shitty chinese restaurant (cause Ma knows that the shitty ones are usually the good ones) and spend no more than 30 bucks feeding 5 people.  She always gets a kick out of seeing that bill.

Unfortunately, I’m not in the same country, so can’t be with her on this day.  And I probably won’t be able to even call.  But she knows what’s up.

I love my mother, everybody fuckin knows that.

One time her friend asked her for the recipe of a roasted chicken she once prepared.  My mother doesn’t really cook with recipes, she just makes shit up so it’s different everytime.  “I dunno?  which one?” my mom asks.  “I think it was like Drunken Chicken, cause you put beer or wine in it, remember?  and it was butterflied down the middle” her friend reminds her.  “oh, that one!  That one is called Prostitute Chicken cause it’s legs are open.”

Today I was at Olandes, Marakhina in the Metro Manila area helping out and documenting the Typhoon Aftermath caused by Typhoon Ondoy.  This giant 9 year old kid was complaining to the teacher that brought him along.  He had already fell in the knee-deep mud once, and his flip-flop popped and he probably spends most of his time online gaming.  He understandably didn’t know if he could take anymore.  There’s garbage everywhere, you feel shit swim past your feet, it smells . . . The teacher was telling him that he can’t whine like that because there’s kids that have it much worse.  You can’t play basketball or dick around on the computer while these people are struggling to live.  This teacher is a bit of a spark with a gift for putting things lightly, she ended her lecture saying “if you’re going to be like that, then you better just die.”  The room gasped.  But  the way she said it so casually reminded me so much of how my Mother spoke to me, I burst out laughing.  It made the fat-kid cry.

Had to slip that in.

Happy Birthday, MA!

-foofy

help with the flood:

URGENT APPEAL FOR SUPPORT FOR THE VICTIMS OF TROPICAL STORM #ondoy (ketsana) in The Philippines: http://wp.me/pvQl-fI

LENDING A HAND FROM THE HEART: your donations at work.

email sent out by Salinlahi | Alliance for Children’s Concerns

thanks to those who’ve already donated or lent a hand.

LENDING A HAND FROM THE HEART:
Child Rights Advocates Work Together to Help Typhoon Ondoy Victims in Marikina City

In the most trying of times, a strong commitment to look beyond our own woes and working collectively with others are proven remedies for coping. Banding together for DAY 1 of the relief operations to Typhoon Ondoy victims, child rights advocates of the SALINLAHI Alliance for Children’s Concerns, Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Parents’ Alternative for Early Childhood Care and Development, the Association for the Rights of Children in Southeast Asia and the BATIBOT Learning Center distributed relief goods to 300 families yesterday, September 29. Aside from pooling together available resources from their respective organizations, relief goods were also donated by the Citizen’s Disaster Relief Center, the Gabriela Women’s Party, La Salle COSCA, some corporations and concerned individuals.

Beneficiaries are families of sitio Olandes, Bgy. IVC in Marikina City. Sitio Olandes sits right between the Marikina River and the more affluent Cinco Hermanos Subdivision (see google map as of April 2009). It is home to almost 3,000 families, 90% of whom live below the poverty line.

When Typhoon Ondoy hit Metro Manila, 99% of the households were completely awash with water AND MUD from the overflowing Marikina River up to the roof level of 2nd-storey houses. On that day, September 26, teachers of the BATIBOT Learning Center were conducting a child rights orientation for the parents of the community. When water levels started to rise, the teachers sent out alarm messages which other child rights advocates responded to by going to the community. Unfortunately, they all were trapped when the water level quickly rose. They had to spend the night on the roof until the water level started to go down.

Next order of the following day, September  27, was to evacuate and rescue as many children as possible, which they did to the best of their abilities. Some child rights advocates had 5 kids clinging to them as they waded over the muddy waters. Other child rights advocates who were not residents of the community volunteered to help clean up houses. In the meantime, appeals for relief goods and other forms of support were sent out and a more organized system of relief distribution was planned. September 28, relief goods started to arrive and a system to repack as well as distribute numbered stubs to the first batch of beneficiaries was done. September 29 came and the child rights advocates of said organizations are happy to note that planning a well-organized distribution system paid off. There was no scrambling for the goods and everyone waited patiently in line knowing that they would all receive their share of the relief goods.

One can especially take note that children themselves were part of the relief operations by helping repack and distribute the goods. No amount of lecture on altruism can surpass this real and practical experience in giving and helping others….

And what of today? We move on and target more beneficiaries… 500 families in all. Still tomorrow, more families continue to need our help and we are out of rice… SALINLAHI estimates that for a pack of at least 2 kilos of rice per family and at almost 3,000 families needing immediate relief, we will need at least 120 cavans (50-kg sacks) of rice.

For the moment, families in the community are busy cleaning up their houses and washing their mud-drenched clothes. Least among their current concerns (for today, at least) are the medical needs especially of the children. SALINLAHI, CRC, PAECCD, BATIBOT and ARCSEA are planning to organize a medical mission towards the weekend (October 2 onwards) if services of enough medical professionals are available.

In the meantime, relief efforts continue…

related posts:

http://wp.me/pvQl-fI – urgent appeal by CRC

http://bit.ly/crmYm – help if you’re in TORONTO

URGENT APPEAL FOR SUPPORT FOR THE VICTIMS OF TROPICAL STORM “ONDOY”

photo courtesy of salinlahi | alliance for children's concerns

Hiyo.  First, thanks for all the concern from back home.  Both your concern for me and for Manila and The Philippines in general is appreciated and doesn’t go unnoticed.  If however, you feel like turning your concern into action or actual material goods, I know where you can send that energy.   The Children’s Rehabilitation Centre (CRC) is an organization I work closely with along with Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concern (like I eat lunch there and you can find some of the work I do with scattered around my blog).  So if you want to help, but are a little overwhelmed by the number of appeals on twitter and facebook and you’re not sure whether your help will go directly to the victims (or anywhere) please consider this one.

I or someone I know will probably be packing whatever you send.  If you are in the Manila/Quezon City area, I’m willing to meet you or pick up goods and you can give them to me directly, so you know we ain’t fucking around.

It’s not a competition so anywhere you choose to contribute is great.  Just hope you do.

To all my Toronto and western world folks, I don’t want to give you that lecture about 1st World Responsibility.  It’s an idea that is new to me too, but we do have a responsibility.  We have more, we should do more.

I’m still in the ‘really?  did that just happen’ stage as I was luckily out of town when it hit.  But even from where I was I could feel the need and the subsequent call to action in Manila.  This is very real.  And it’s ugly.  Cause I was thinking Manila was in pretty bad shape before the storm, and now . . . well, I’m stuck.  This is the first time I’ve been so near anything this heavy, this horrible.  From here I can’t really change the channel, log off, or turn my head.  I can only do what I can now.  This city that’s showed me so much.

Hope you do what you can too.

Huge love out to all the Manilenos, native and landed, coming out in hordes to help out on the frontlines.

Any questions, confirmations, want me to give a family member a hug?  Holler, I’m bout it.

-mlv

REEDIT:  all my Toronto Folks the most righteous Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture is holding fundraiser/drop-off centre at their location on 167 Augusta Av. Toronto, ON in Kensington Market.  They’re allocating goods and monetary donations to a number of causes related to the flood.  Including to this one that I’m involved with.  And I’m sure they won’t punk if you decide you want to stick around and help pack the goods.  Go their website and read the info here:  http://bit.ly/crmYm

Here’s CRC’s APPEAL:  Contact Info and a list of needs is at the bottom.

URGENT APPEAL FOR SUPPORT FOR THE VICTIMS OF TROPICAL STORM “ONDOY”

September 26, 2009, around 10am, tropical storm “Ondoy” landed in Luzon and hit 25 provinces. Heavy rains continued to pour causing the rivers to overflow at about noon, severely flooding the urban poor communities surrounding it.

One of the areas affected was Sitio Olandes, Bgy. Industrial Valley Complex in Marikina City which is located near the banks of the Marikina River. Sitio Olandes is home to about 3000 families and the Olandes Batibot Early Learning Center (OBELC), a network organization of the Children’s Rehabilitation Center.

As floodwaters rose up to their roofs in a matter of 3 hours, women and children were crying for help on their roofs, waiting desperately to be rescued. OBELC was submerged in flood waters causing damage to the center, including books, school supplies and other things used for their daily operations.

Our network organizations, from other urban poor communities of Quezon City and City of Manila, are also affected. In Sitio Talanay, Barangay Batasan Hills in Quezon City, the houses were washed away by the raging waters. The day care center, an extension of the Busilak Learning Center (BLC) program in Sitio Veterans, Quezon City, experienced severe damage similar to the OBELC.

The same effects of “Ondoy” were also experienced in Bgy. Tatalon, an urban poor community in Quezon City perennially flooded during storms. The houses were also washed away by the fierce flood currents. The residents, who still have their houses also stayed on the 2nd or 3rd floor or on the roofs to avoid the rising flood waters.

In Vitas, Tondo,in the City of Manila, one of the areas organized by the Samahan ng Maralitang Kababaihang Nagkakaisa (SAMAKANA) or the Association of United Urban Poor Women, the residents, especially women and children were also severely affected by “Ondoy’s” wrath.

Tropical storm “Ondoy” left serious damage on properties and even deaths in some parts of Luzon. The areas that were hit the hardest are the cities of Marikina, Quezon, Manila, Pasig and some areas of Rizal like San Mateo, Cainta, Taytay and Antipolo.

With these numbers of families affected by the storm and the floods, Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) is trying to extend its help by providing immediate assistance like relief goods and financial support. This is necessary as efforts of the local and National government are inadequate and slow, especially with the large number of victims needing immediate assistance.

Through the help of our fellow child rights advocates and other child focused organizations, a rescue operation in Sitio Olandes, Bgy.Industrial Valley Complex, Marikina City was conducted last September 27. CRC is currently part of a Task Force overseeing immediate relief for the families of OBELC. About 4 families are temporarily housed in the office where they were immediately evacuated.

The victims call for:
Immediate assistance for basic needs like food, drinking water, clothes and shelter.
Donations of books, school supplies and equipment to the OBELC and BLC for their operations.

Relief goods and materials may be dropped off in our office, #90 J. Bugallon, Barangay Bagumbuhay, Project 4, Quezon City. You can contact us at (+632) 913-9244 or 439-1053 and look for Malou or Sarah.

For financial donations, you can deposit at:
Account name: Children’s Rehabilitation Center
Bank name: Bank of the Philippine Island – Kamias-Anonas Branch
Account number: SA 3323-2050-85

Please notify us of your deposit for your official receipt.

CHILDREN’S REHABILITATION CENTER
September 28, 2009

Children’s Rehabilitation Center
#90 J.Bugallon St. Project 4
Brgy Bagumbuhay, Quezon City
Philippines
www.childrehabcenter.org

salinlahi on facebook

salinlahi on twitter

a letter to a lady.

Dear Manila,

Sweet Pearl.

As if you haven’t been here before.  Maybe you’ve seen worse.  Your history is a testament to your resilience.  Whenever fate conspired to fuck you, you’ve always found a way.  If I learned anything from your sons and daughters is that there’s always a way.  I’m sure that this time will be no different.

You know?  You can be a really needy-bitch sometimes.  And we have a tendency not to listen.  Maybe you’re just being maarte and it can get annoying.  We figure you have enough children to quiet your cries.  While the rest of us suck at your tits for all they’re worth.  Uninterrupted.  Not leaving much for the rest.

Many of us fell asleep at your bosom.  Well, we’re awake now.  It was a rude one, but I guess that’s your style.

We’ll try not to sleep again.

Now . . . let’s get you cleaned up.  You’re a horrible mess.  But I guess that’s your style too.

Love,

-mlv

p.s.

I never thanked you for taking me in.  So thank you.