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A recollection of my first visit to the Hobbit House, the famous folk club in Manila staffed entirely by dwarfs, where I heard the great Filipino singer/songwriter Freddie Aguilar play, and met Jim Turner, the unique owner of this unique watering hole and folkhouse.
The second part of the BBC audio documentary on Manny Pacquiao is available now, so I’m embedding both parts below — click and listen!
The deep and mystical allure of fishing has been with me since I can remember. I’ve loved the mere presence of the ocean — I could stare at for hours, and be nurtured by it, and calmed by it. And as I watch it form the sore, or a balcony, or a bridge, I’m […]
The boxing blogs are buzzing this morning with discussion about “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire’s 4 round demoltion of 4th round TKO victory of Ukrainian Wladimir Sidorenko in a battle for the WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California yesterday. Donaire had Sidorenko on the canvas three times in four rounds […]
Manny Pacquiao just added an extraordinary new title to his collection — Yahoo’s Most-Searched Sports Star of 2010. Pacquiao landed first on a top 10 list that includes tiger Woods Brett Favre, Lebron James, Danica Patrick, and Maria Sharapova. For those of who have been following Manny’s rise through the years, this is a compelling […]
Following is an article by Ingming Aberia discussing Pacquiao’s now-famous statement “boxing isn’t about killing each other — it’s about entertainment.” Aberia analyzes Pacquiao’s knockout record and concludes that he eases off frequently against outclassed opponents. “Against relatively easy opponents, Pacquiao holds his punches. Against dangerous foes, he becomes a killer.” The article is reprinted […]
I wrote a post over the weekend on the Philppine American War, and this got me to thinking (and hence googling) looking for videos of old, colonial Manila. Here is a compilation of the videos I found. Great stuff.
Marquez’ one-side defeat of Michael Katsidis has set the stage for an epic trilogy bout between boxing Superman Manny Pacquiao and his possible “kryptonite”, Juan Manuel Marquez.
Part 1 of Mike Costello’s Manny Pacquiao Audio Documentary on BBC is out now and I’ve embedded in below at the end of this brief post. In it Costello covers his arrival in Manila, takes a visit to the Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo where he says “I’ve never seen anything like this […]
The gentle charm of the Philippines never ceases to produce moments for me that are very special. I was just roaming on the net and found a very cool little website — Lawaan.com — which is a website about Rena’s hometown and while there I found this — a theme song for the town. […]
There is an excellent article from British boxing writer Gareth Davies in the Telegraph about Manny Pacquiao and a BBC Documentary. One quote from Manny in particular caught my eye: “I love the Filipino people and I’m not only doing this for myself, for family, but I’m doing this also because of the honour of […]
If your spirit is in need of a lift — this is it. Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and “sand painting” skills to interpret the peaceful pre-WWII state of her country — then the tragedy and heroism of the invasion, resistance, and eventual liberation in […]
It has been inspirational to read what Filipinos from all over the world have written in response to What We Can Learn From the Empathy, Humility, and Grace of Manny Pacquiao — 717 responses on this blogsite alone and thousands more on FaceBook and elsewhere. Some comments have moved me to tears — others […]
A dispatch from the “Trenches of Indie Film Warfare”…….
“Opulence, I has it.” By now everyone has seen this commercial, and I suspect there are plenty of people who have come to hate it …. but sitting on the couch I have always found myself looking up from my laptop and watching when this commercial comes on, and this morning after pondering the fact […]
Memo to self: File this in “Why I Love the Philippines”. Seriously, things come up every now and then which seem to me to capture the spirit, playfulness, sense of humor, and imagination of the Filipino people.
Just found this. Doesn’t seem like it’s been seen that widely. There are about 45 items identified as things you need to do to enjoy life properly. I agree with about 41 of them and the others aren’t bad either. Worth a look.
Now I know that the Miss Universe pageant passes by nowadays without causing much of a blip on most American folks’ radar, but those of us who are Filipino or half Filipino or married to a Filipino watch it and root for Miss Philippines to overcome the odds and become a sort of Manny Pacquiao […]
Few Americans are aware that there was a Philippine-American War that grew out of the 1898 Spanish American War, and which quickly deteriorated into a nasty guerilla conflict that presaged what would happen in Vietnam 60 years later. Fewer still know that an issue that stirred debate in America during that war was the use […]
I just came across the story of Freedom, a bald eagle, and Jeff, a cancer survivor. I checked it out on Snopes because it’s the kind of thing that is so fantastic it might be the stuff of urban legend — but it’s not myth, it’s true — the story of an extraordinary friendship between […]
Two Christmases when we visited my Mom I made a project of scanning hundreds of old family photos with the intention of getting them organized in some fashion, and saving them on the web and hard drives, etc. But before I got to do much with it, the hard drive I stored them on crapped […]
It’s been a few weeks since Orange Beach Charter Captain William Allen “Rookie” Kruse took his life. There was a natural tendency to assume that it was the oil spill that had driven him to do it, but he didn’t leave a note and details at the beginning were sketchy. Was it really the oil […]
It’s July 4, 2010, and I’m continuing to reflect on Independence Day and what it actually means beyond hamburgers, hot dogs, and fireworks. Is there truly something to celebrate here, and if so, what is it?
Like everyone, I was taught the Declaration of Independence in grade school and high school, and every 4th of July I give it a passing thought or two. This year I decided to actually take 5 minutes and read it, going through it slowly and contemplating each point it makes. It is truly a majestic […]
I’ve been getting some “did you die?” queries because I haven’t posted here as regularly as I normally do. Nope, not dead yet. My bad for not explaining things previously. For the past month or so (actually almost two months) I’ve been consumed with a couple of new projects that have taken all my blogging […]
All day I’ve been struggling to communicate to “regular” people who aren’t connected to Poland, just what the plane crash this morning that took the life of the Polish President, First Lady, and political and religious leaders means to Poland. The NY Times just came out with an article that does it far better than I can.
The plane crash this morning that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and members of his country’s military, political and church elites is an almost unspeakable tragedy to anyone who contemplates why a planeload of Polish elite were flying on a Soviet era airliner in the first place
The full Masters Theme Song and Tiger Woods’ Famous Chip-in
Day 1 at the 2010 Masters has to go down as the most compelling first day in the storied tournament’s history, with so many storylines to follow that Tiger Wood’s much ballyhooed return to competitive golf may have been dwarfed (or at least put in perspective) by 50 year old Freddy Couples who took the tournament lead at 6 under, and 60 year old Tom Watson who was just one shot behind. And then, to add a bit more ageless zip to the proceedings, there was 70 year old Jack Nicklaus joining 80 year old Arnold Palmer to hit the ceremonial first ball. It was feast for the boomer and beyond crowd — and then of course there was Tiger Woods, beating expectations by shooting his lowest first round ever at the Masters and placing himself firmly in contention, two shots back at 4 under par.
Naturally I have various google alerts about Manny Pacquiao and the Philippines and so I woke this Easter morning to a headline from ABS-CBN News that read: “US Comedian Calls Pacquiao ‘illiterate’, bashes Pinoys”. As I read the article in question I did have a bit of anger rising up inside me, but mostly I […]
