I’ve been searching for some cogent entertainment industry analysis of the AlDub phenomenon and in a Eureka moment, I’ve found it. It’s an article by Veronica Uy, senior editor of Interaksyon — and it’s an article that is built upon two interviews, one with advertising executive Vincent Pozon, and one with former GMA writer Elmer […]
More evidence that “AlDub” is making waves internationally — the venerable BBC has just published a lengthy article entitled: ‘AlDub’: A social media phenomenon about love and lip-synching
Here’s what it says:
It is a surreal and wildly popular show which has smashed global social media records. But few outside the Philippines have […]
Well, while we’re on the topic of AlDub and Filipino pop culture. . . as a foreigner with a longtime relationship with the Philippines, I still struggle a bit keeping up what’s going on in Manila, and so just as I was getting comfortable with Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards and all that’s going on with them — […]
Here is the next installment of Frank Kresen’s biography of John Stewart.
John Stewart 4th Installment Ch 1
and previous installments if you missed them:
Prelude: Flashback and Foreshadow Introduction: “On Becoming a Household Name” — or, “One Amp Short” Johnny They Hardly Knew Ye by Frank Kresen
“Eighteen months have passed since Haiyan hit us, and we are still like this,” he told ucanews.com, referring to a powerful typhoon […]
Frank Kresen and I share a deep, lifetime affection for unique songwriter John Stewart, who died six years ago on January 19, 2006. Frank is writing a book about John, and we will be publishing it here in installments. This is the third installment – enjoy! You can click on it and read it online, […]
Frank Kresen and I share a deep, lifetime affection for unique songwriter John Stewart, who died six years ago on January 19, 2006. Frank is writing a book about John, and we will be publishing it here in installments. This is the second installment – enjoy! You can click on it and read it online, […]
Three months after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, the destruction and relief struggles are no longer dominating headlines — but a filmmaker from Hawai’i is hoping to change that. “Bayanihan: The Spirit of Community” is a documentary film by Antony Begonia which is composed primarily of footage shot by the filmmaker when he went […]
Frank Kresen and I share a deep, lifetime affection for unique songwriter John Stewart, who died six years ago on January 19, 2006. I have written about John Stewart here, and I’m pasting in a link below to a post I wrote two years ago. But the real treat in this post is the PDF […]
January 15, 2014 was the first day back to school at Divine Child Academy in Lawaan, Eastern Samar, Philippines. That is — the first day back after typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) ripped through Lawaan and the other nine “ground zero” municipalities of Eastern Samar that were the first ones to bear the brunt of the […]
One of the most fundamental tenets of rehabilitation after disasters is “Build back better” — yet in the Philippines, due to a massive funding shortfall in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda), the opposite is happening, with Filipinos sifting through rubble for corrugated sheets and nails and other damaged materials as they […]
Can these numbers be real? They don’t seem right. If this is true it’s very, very disturbing.
Rappler and other outlets are reporting that two months after Typhoon Yolanda (International Name Haiyan) ripped through the PHilippines, international promises of aid are failing to materialize, with only 21% of the cash that was promised actually […]
This was online many years ago, but seemed to have disappeared — and now History Channel has put it back up. It’s a great thirty minute overview of the Philippine American War. Highly recommended.
UPDATE: DIOCESE OF BORONGAN & LAWAAN & nearby Parishes From Fr. Neil Gavan Tenefrancia
LAWAAN: For installation at Lawaan Parish Rectory: ONE SET of ICOM RADIO TRANSCEIVER to facilitate communication along the “appendix” towns. (this includes Balangiga) Donation from the Mary Help of Christians National Shrine in Paranaque City through Fr. Chito Dimaranan.
DIOCESE OF […]
Nanie Vallejera Ragay is a DILG Governance Broker in Palo, Leyte, just south of Tacloban. Palo was one of the hardest hit towns, and like elsewhere in Eastern Visayas, life after Yolanda is … well, a little different than it was before. Nanie decided that after a month of sampling […]
This was spotted by TV Patrol in Tacloban — a huge Christmas Parol among the ruins.
Twenty-five years ago I was a young officer at the US Embassy in Manila, and in my “spare time” I produced records in Manila with some really great artists as a kind of hobby and what I hoped would be a bridge to a different future. My first project was an album by Odette Quesada […]
by World Vision Philippines
The Philippines has the longest Christmas celebration in the world. As early as September 1, you can hear Christmas songs over the radio. People start to put decorations in their houses, commercial and business establishments. Everyone looks forward to the holiday, but children are the most excited.
In the communities where […]
Normally when hired to make a promotional video for a Hollywood feature film, you focus on promoting the film. Instead, filmmaker Casey Neistat spent the entire $25,000 budget he was given to promote “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” to fly to the Philippines and help the victims of the recent typhoon which devastated the region. […]
Following is an update as of December 14, 2013 on the Maslog Relief project being spearheaded by native daughter Josie Advincula Desmond and her husband Tim Desmond, and Ocean Adventure Marine Park of Subic Bay Freeport. I want to put the report’s summary right up front: “We have raised and spent over $40,000 to […]
A question that is starting to take shape as we begin replacing fishing boats in Samar and Leyte that were lost to Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) is — does it make more sense to replace the boats locally, with motorized bancas constructed locally in the traditional way, or replace them with fiberglass motorized bancas which, unless […]
Since Yolanda hit, I have been in awe of the way the Estahanon — natives of Eastern Samar–around the world and in Eastern Samar have come together in extraordinary ways to help those whose lives and livelihoods have been put in jeopardy by the storm. Today, as I woke up and began through social media […]
This is a curiously compelling little video by Gloria B. Sommer I found on Youtube of an early morning walk through the seaside barangay of San Miguel in Balangiga, Eastern Samar. Moreso that most videos like this — this one really makes you feel like you’re there. Interesting, and sad when you think about […]
Yesterday the news came from Nicole Reichenbach that her father and my great and true friend Bob Reichenbach died on December 10th from complications from the stomach cancer he’d been fighting with incredible grace and courage for the last year. I knew this was coming — but it has come too soon, and too unfairly. […]
As reported previously, we are engaged in a pilot project to replace the 28 fishing boats of our home barangay of Guinob-an, which were lost in the storm. We have ordered the first five and building will start in the next day or two. Meanwhile, although helping the fishermen of Guinob-an helps our family […]
There are times when you really have to pause, think, and DO THE MATH. This is one such time.
The Philippine government on December 11 announced the release of P238.6M ($5.6M) for housing aid for Typhoon Yolanda victims under the Housing Materials Assistance (HOMA) program, saying that this program will provide P5,000 in housing materials […]
Via Philippine Information Agency. MANILA, Dec. 11 — Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad has released P238.6 million to the National Housing Authority (NHA) to support the Housing Materials Assistance (HOMA) to victims of Typhoon Yolanda under the agency’s Emergency Housing Assistance for Calamity Victims Program (EHACVP).
The release—sourced from […]
In its situation update for December 10, 2013, the Phiilppine government’s National Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) completely destroyed 593,787 houses and damaged another 598,306. The number of affected barangays is now reported as 12,122.
Full statistics and information from NDRRMC:
Effects
*Casualties
5,936 dead
27,022 […]
The Philppines has been buzzing all day in reaction to testimony given Monday in the Philippine Senate by Tacloban City Mayer Alfredo Romualdez that included tearful accusations that DILG Minister Mars Roxas and President Benigno Aquino had withheld vital support for Tacloban during the worst of the disaster on political grounds — “You’re a Romualdez, […]
