Pala-isip

"Come on down", that's one of the most familiar phrase on TV. Bob Barker, host of TV's "The Price is Right" is retiring after 50 years in television. The TV legend will be 83 years old on December 12 has decided that he will be retiring on June 2007. That will be his 50 year on television and 35 years as host of "The Price is Right". He said that he decided to retire while he's still young. I used to watch this show when I was younger and it's my grandmother's favorite show. It was a dream of her to watch this show live and hope to become a contestant there. She got her dream when my uncle brought her to the show. Although she wasn't called as a contestant, she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's nice to see someone who has such longevity, kind of like George Burns. In these times of 15 minutes of fame era, you hardly see anyone last so long. Thanks of the wonderful time Bob, cheers!

“When I born, I Black, When I grow up, I Black, When I go in Sun, I Black, When I scared, I Black, When I sick, I Black, And when I die, I still black.. And you White fella, When you born, you Pink, When you grow up, you White, When you go in Sun, you Red, When you cold, you Blue, When you scared, you Yellow, When you sick, you Green, And when you die, you Gray.. And you calling me Colored?!”

Last week, my son wanted to buy the Star Wars Transformer he's been eyeing for the last month. My wife finally relented and they went to Toys 'R Us. My wife called me up and told my son to talk to me to see if I'll allow him to buy it. I told him that he can buy it as long as he pays for it. Being 4 years old, he doesn't really understand the concept of money and exchange yet. But I thought this might be a perfect way to teach him the value of money. So my wife paid for it and I told him that I will take the money he spent for the toy from his piggy bank. So last night, I sat him down and we counted out the money he spent. At first I took out the the Dollar coins and quarters, but when I counted out $22 worth, it barely reduced the content of his piggy bank. Since he's only beginning to learn how to add, it's a little difficult to get him to understand if I took the actual amount. So I decided to count out the pennies and nickels instead, now we're talking!...

We've all heard the bruhaha regarding Jim Paredes migrating to Australia , with people saying he has abandoned the Philippines (although Jim Paredes says he's only taking a break from it). Who's this artist? None other than Dingdong Avanzado and wife Jessa Zaragosa . They migrated early this year to the U.S. living in Vallejo, California. With them is their 3 year old daughter Jayda. When asked why they migrated, they said that they were scared as their comfort zone is in the Philippines, but they're doing it for their daughter so that she'll have other options when it's time for her to pursue her dreams. Hmm...isn't that practically the answer of everyone who migrated out of the country who have families? That's the answer my Dad gave me when we asked why we're migrating. That's the same answer given by my friends and their parents. Is it really that hopeless in the Philippines? Do people really not see a good future for their children if they s...

In any culture, when people feel that everything seems to be hopeless, when nothing seems to be going right, there's only one thing to do. Laugh at it all! Even in conservative Iraq, with curfews and censorship. People turn into humour to laugh their problems away. Here's a report from the NY Times about a show in Iraq satirizing everything that's happening. From the American occupation to the Ministry of Water and Sewage planning to change its name to the Ministry of Sewage because it has given up on the water part. The show is the Iraqi version of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". I guess it's not only Filipinos who laugh at everything. Here's the report from the NY Times .

We all know the Philippine government is corrupt. But I was curious as to how corrupt it really is. Here are a couple of cases I found so far from the Office of the Ombudsman and other sources. I'll try to arrange them from the most recent going back to after Marcos was ousted. 2006 - P5 Billion - Dep-Ed Feeding Program (still under investigation as of this writing) 2004 - P1.3 Billion - Poll Automation Deal 2004 - P38 Billion (US$683 Million) - Recovered Marcos Wealth 2004 - P303 Million - Major General Carlos F. Garcia 2003 - P1.1 Billion - Diosdado Macapagal Blvd 2.3Km of road 2003 - P16 Billion - RSBS (Retirement and Separation Benefits System) 2001 - P130 Million - DPWH Vehicle Repair Scam 1998(?) - P5.3 Billion - Tax Credit Scam 1998 - P167 Billion (US$4 Billion $1=P41.97) - IPP Contracts 1995 - P3 Billion - PEA (Public Estates Authority) - Amari Scam 1991 - P10 Billion - Fort Bonifacio Land Scam Total money lost or unaccounted for P247.133 Billion. P247.133 Billion / 89,...

Boy, the fight between Malacanang and Mayor Binay is looking more and more like a Texas Showdown. I can just imagine it, Binay as the town's sheriff and GMA coming into town with a bunch of goons. As much as I would like to say that it's a case of the big guy trampling on the little guy, but I can't really determine which one of them is the little guy. :) But seriously, what is going on? Suspending 18 city officials in 1 day? Who do they expect to run the city? The opponents of mayor Binay like Brilliante? Or Lito Lapid? They were never elected for the post! Then again, I guess GMA thought that since she was never elected for the post that she can just put anyone on any post. Why can't there ever be anything good on the news like someone or the government doing some good for the country? Why is it always these bickering and political fights? Aren't the Filipino tired of these? Why don't these politicians do something else for a change.....like their jobs! By the...