Our family (well, my wife’s family but that makes it our family) is from Guinob-an, one of the coastal barangays of the municipality of Lawaan on the southern coast of Samar. Most of the time when we talk and think about Samar, it’s the coast that comes to mind. But last night I started thinking…
U.S. Embassy Staffers Ride the Pabebe Wave
As some of you know, I served at the U.S. Embassy in Manila from 1986-1989. Have to say I’m tickled to see the Embassy getting into the act and joining in the #AlDub fun. They posted this video of staffers doing pabebe waves and have gotten 210,000 shares on FB. Good for them. A little lightness…
Excellent Analysis of the AlDub Phenomenon by Veronica Uy, Elmer Gatchalian, Vincent Pozon
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…
BBC Comes Out With a Long Article About the “AlDub Phenomenon”
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 even heard…
Supposedly “Shallow” AlDub Fans Explain Themselves — Beautifully
True confession number two about AlDub. When I wrote What The World Should Learn from the Aldub Phenomenon, I was aware, but not fully, of the charges of “kababawan” (shallowness) that were being leveled at the AlDub devotees by certain (not all) people within the Philippine intellectual 1%. I knew that Filipina Broadway icon Lea…
Beginnings — by Lorena Llevado Sellers
My father is a quiet, hard man whose main work for half a century has been to paddle out to sea in a small boat and catch blue marlin, sailfish, and other great and small fish. Even today, at eighty, he is lean and hard-muscled with clear eyes and an erect, proud posture. A few…
AlDub Nation and the Spirit of Bayanihan
When I wrote What the World Should Learn From the AlDub Phenomenon I felt like I was talking to a community of people who have a great capacity for love, for empathy, and for goodnatured joy. And then, as I’ve read the comments coming in, that feeling has been reinforced hundreds of times. People who are moved to…
Warriors of Samar
Warriors of Samar is also available via Amazon at this link — but as with Daughters of Samar, we decided to make it available to read online so if you go to Warriors of Samar, you can read it there. It’s the story of the Balangiga Encounter, told exactly as it happened, and it attempts…
Daughter of Samar — Now Available to Read Online
As many but not all who visit here know — my wife Lorena Llevado Sellers is a native of Guinob-an, one of the barrios of Lawaan, Eastern Samar. Back in 1901 Lawaan was an outlying barrio of Balangiga …. so you can see how my fascination with Balangiga and Samar is tied in with…
Pastillas Girl vs Yaya Dub : A Filmmaker’s Thoughts on Maine Mendoza’s Dubsmash Technique
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 —…
What The World Can Learn from the AlDub Phenomenon
True confession time. I’ll admit it. I’ve just spent a joyous, kilig-filled weekend watching the inspired silliness (but is it really silly?) of the Filipino “AlDub” love team — Alden Richards and “Yaya Dub” Maine Mendoza — as they garnered a new Guiness World Record 41 million tweets, also filling a 55,000 seat stadium for ….…
The Balangiga Massacre: 114 Years Ago Today
For Filipinos, the Balangiga Massacre (or Uprising, or Encounter, take your pick) on September 28, 1901, was a heroic explosion of pent-up resentment; a repudiation of a hated foreign occupier, perhaps even an assertion of nationhood. In America, it was perceived as a shattering, out-of-the-blue assault on an unsuspecting U.S. Army unit that was “peacefully occupying” the port town…
Fourth Installment of Frank Kresen’s Biography of John Stewart
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
Eviction Threat Looms For Homeless Haiyan Victims
by Ronald Reyes, Tacloban City, June 10: Things are piling up, literally, inside the makeshift shelter of Jerico Dulosa, 44, a father of four children in Palo town, Leyte province. “Eighteen months have passed since Haiyan hit us, and we are still like this,” he told ucanews.com, referring to a powerful typhoon that struck the…
Third Installment of Frank Kresen’s Biography of John Stewart
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,…
Goodbye to Mom Tarcila: Feeling the Spirit of Samar Today
My wife’s mother, Tarcila Bohol Llevado, died tragically and suddenly nine days ago, and in a few hours she will be laid to rest. Rena is there in Guinob-an, and I am here in Los Angeles, but I can’t escape the feeling of being there — don’t want to escape it. But more than that,…
Part 2 of Frank Kresen’s Biography of John Stewart
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,…
Video Documentary on Typhoon Haiyan by Anthony Begonia
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…
Johnny They Hardly Knew Ye: Remembering John Stewart by Frank Kresen
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…
First Day Back to School After Yolanda — Pictures from Divine Child Academy, Lawaan, Eastern Samar
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 typhoon.…
Build Back Better? In the Philippines, Thus Far It’s Build Back Worse
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…
Only 20% Of Cash Pledged to the Philippines After Yolanda Has Been Received — a Measly $12M
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…
History Channel Documentary: Phililppine American War
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.
Eastern Samar Update From the Diocese of Borongan
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…
After Yolanda: Cheerfully Rating the Different Brands of Sardines in Palo, Leyte
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 the different brands of sardines,…
Christmas Spirit Amid the Ruins
This was spotted by TV Patrol in Tacloban — a huge Christmas Parol among the ruins. Post by TV Patrol.
Are Filipinos Abroad The Backbone of the Recovery Effort?
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…
Video: A Typhoon Ravaged Family Still Celebrates Christmas
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…
Video: Film-maker Takes $25,000 Budget and Spends it On Typhoon Relief
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.…
Transform Relief Update: Maslog, Eastern Samar Relief by Ocean Adventure and Tim and Josie Advincula Desmond
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…