December 2012
2 posts
the morning after the sixth round
The magic of possibilities
by Jo Anne Villarosa Coruña
It was a clear Sunday morning, but over the Philippines, the clouds seemed darker than usual, despite the glaring sun. The impossible seemed to have happened: Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao got knocked out on the last second of the sixth round in his match against Juan Manuel Marquez. That split second replays in my mind and chokes me a little every time. We all felt that punch, we all felt our knees buckle, and we all fell down, face flat on the floor. Even if it just happened yesterday, in our minds, it has already been immortalized as being “that day” - that day when The Pacman fell, that day when the whole nation was stunned and in shock, that day when the impossible happened.
But. The reality is, Manny Pacquiao has given us more - so much more - than that day. To begin with, let us not forget the ten world titles in eight divisions that The Pacman has brought home. More than that, let us not forget the high-fives, the pulutan and the beer for breakfasts, the silent streets bursting with cheer and shouts of victory, the family time spent together watching the Filipino icon land every mighty punch, the high of the knock out on that second round, those long and suspense-filled twelve rounds, the unbelievable speed in every fight, the rush of hearing the Eye of the Tiger blast in the arena, in restaurants, and in our homes. Even more than those, for every match, there was always the anticipation of a good fight; the excitement shared by every Filipino everywhere - in the Philippines, in the US, in Italy, in Dubai - literally everywhere; the hope that permeated each and every Filipino heart; and the solid belief that we can win, that it can be our fight, and the countless times The Pacman has made that belief an actual reality.
The true magic of The Pacman is his ability to bring Filipinos together. The magic that for one day, wherever and whoever you are, whatever your station in life, if you are Filipino, you are rooting for the same man, you are hoping for the same win, and you are feeling the punches, both given and received. For one day, for a brief few hours, a pedicab driver has his eyes on the same prize as the guy who drives a Porsche. For those few hours, it doesn’t matter if you’re watching the fight in a room full of strangers, or in the comfort of your own home, or in a gymnasium with a projector. For those few hours, we are all watching as Filipinos and as one nation. And we are all hoping for the same thing, the same win.
And if the win doesn’t come - like it didn’t yesterday, we are all indeed heartbroken, yes, but we are also all still holding on, not giving up, slowly getting up. And this, this shared mindset across the nation and across seas, among Filipinos, this is the true magic, this is what we truly need. The pride of being Filipino must come with the pride of being one with Filipinos. It must come with the pride of sharing a culture with fellow Filipinos. This shared mindset must extend to shared hearts - amidst tragedy, calamities, poverty. To be a proud Filipino is to be compassionate towards your fellow Filipino. To not only sympathize when bad things happen to the country and our people, but to empathize and actually feel those bad things ourselves and do something about them, however small. To be a proud Filipino is to be proud of a fellow Filipino’s accomplishments, to offer support and root for your fellow Filipino’s success, without any hint of envy or destructive criticism. The pride of being Filipino must not focus on the individual, on the self, but on the collective experience of all Filipinos everywhere.
The magic of The Pacman is this shared experience that brings all Filipinos together. The magic of The Pacman isn’t that he always wins every fight; the magic is the way he fights - all heart, with much humility, and grace in the end, whatever the outcome. The magic is the truth that every Filipino is capable of such. Beyond politics, profits, and promoters, The Pacman teaches us all one thing: when you fall, you get up, and you go back to training, you go back to fighting.
I would like to think that the seeming impossibility of Manny Pacquiao’s defeat has paved the way for the possibility of a more unified nation, a deeper bond among all Filipinos, and even more strength and hope to carry on and face every fight. Let’s root for each other. Until we can all share in one sweet victory, in and outside the boxing ring.
November 2012
2 posts
PhilDev Tumblr →
phildev.tumblr.com
The Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev) is on Tumblr! Follow them for posts on science and technology, startups, innovation and entrepreneurship.
[PhilDev is a nonprofit organization registered in the US and the Philippines. PhilDev helps create a robust ecosystem of science and technology in the Philippines for long-term economic development. Their strategy: Education, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.]
Science and Technology for Philippine Development
Follow the official tumblr of the Philippine Development Foundation or PhilDev here.
September 2012
2 posts
Mitt Romney, Imperial Apologist. →
tnr.com
Thanks to @ageofbrillig’s tweet I had the opportunity to read The New Republic’s takedown (“Mitt Romney, Latter-Day Neocon”) of Romney’s wayward and antiquated jingoism-tinged view of the United States imperial history. For any student of US imperial history, or at least in my case Philippine history, it’s a groan-inducing, headache-creating, jaw-dropping (yes seriously) presentation of US myth-making at its worst.
The relationship between Americans and American imperial history is a curious one, though unsurprising when taking into context the Cult of American Exceptionalism. However, for those countries (such as mine) that have been on the receiving end of America’s fight for right (as if ‘right’ and ‘good’ is the sole province of Western values). It is hard to deny that while all nations are guilty of delusions of grandeur, only a select few have perfected it as a public art-form to the extent of the United States; and especially by their current crop of neo-conservatives.
While the TNR article focuses specifically on Romney’s repackaging of Henry Luce’s “American Century” ethos, the more worrisome part is the parallels that can be drawn between Romney’s current fervent belief that it is the right of the US to intervene by any means in the affairs of other nations, and public declarations in support of Philippine campaign in the past. Romney goes so far as to recast American imperial history as non-existent, claiming “We have never sought to impose ourselves on others, to seek colonies or to engage in conquest.” For the Philippines and Filipinos that is a patently ludicrous statement that ignores the profound cultural and social injustices that were visited upon us at the turn of the 20th century. It would be laughable if the damage done to our country wasn’t so egregious.
Additionally, Romney’s curious evangelical leanings concerning America is ‘good’ calls to mind the exultations of William Howard Taft and other American politicians that the role of the US is to ‘Christianise” and “uplift” Philippine savages. Kipling infamously referred to it as the ‘white man’s burden’ while American propagandists referred to that mission as ‘benevolent assimilation.’
Most disturbing of all is the sense that Romney and his ilk have not only failed to learn from American history, they are hell-bent on re-casting it as a constant march of American goodness and nobility throughout the years. Margaret MacMillan’s warning that history has been used and abused to..”justify treating others badly, seizing their land…or killing them” rings true.
I have long suspected that the American experience in the Philippines has been carefully edited out of textbooks and American public consciousness because it is one of the glaring examples of the sheer damage that American exceptionalism run rampant can cause. Romney is clearly the ideological heir to Roosevelt and Taft, Luce and others. These are the same men who saw nothing wrong with turning Samar into a ‘howling wilderness’ because the ‘natives’ dared resist foreign intrusion and imperialism.
It seems that the dangerous politics of the 19th century are alive and well in the 21st.
June 2012
1 post
“I suppose what I’m really trying to get at is how we Filipinos must reflect on how we relate to one another, especially to others who may not be within our social circles. Or rethink how we determine who gets to be included in those circles in the first place. I think it would benefit us all if the next time we do our groceries, or enter a parking lot, or buy something at a store, or order something at a restaurant, we remember that we are not merely talking to someone who ‘works for us’ but someone who, just like the rest of us, is earning a living for themselves and their families, who has the same need for rest and recreation, for a vacation, who laughs at jokes and enjoys the company of good friends. Let’s take down the barrier we’ve been putting up with for so long, whoever put them there (ourselves or history). Let’s treat each other as Filipinos, whatever shoes we wear, whatever car we drive or jeepney we ride, whatever accent we may have. Perhaps that is one of many simply good beginnings to a better and more egalitarian nation for all of us.”
—JAVCnotes: Target-inspired
May 2012
1 post
April 2012
2 posts
Girls Who Code Summer Program →
girlswhoco.de
I believe this is also open to non-US citizens. For more updates on science, scholarships for S&T fields, etc., follow phildev.tumblr.com.
A summer program for incoming high school sophomore girls who want to be in tech! Application deadline: May 15, 2012.
From their site: “Founded in February 2012, Girls Who Code is working to educate, inspire, and equip underserved girls aged 13-15 with the skills and resources necessary to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The Girls Who Code program is an eight-week summer program in New York City designed to introduce high school girls to basic software development skills and is accompanied by yearlong outreach initiatives, mentorship programs, and internship opportunities to realize each participant’s potential.”
PhilDev Tumblr →
phildev.tumblr.com
The official tumblr of the Philippine Development Foundation or PhilDev. Follow them for current news on science and technology, scholarships and other programs for scientists and engineers, and interesting bits of info related to S&T in the Philippines and elsewhere.
March 2012
1 post
February 2012
1 post
The Tyranny of Bad History and the Unmaking of EDSA →
propinoy.net
I know I haven’t been attending to this space, but soon I will. For now, read up, folks.
The power of well-written and researched history, by professional historians aware of their vast responsibilities, is that it provides the tools needed craft a better future for all. In Margaret MacMillan’s conclusion in The Uses and Abuses of History she wrote “…a citizenry that cannot begin to put the present into context, that has so little knowledge of the past, can too easily be fed stories by those who claim to speak with the knowledge of history and its lessons.” That is the situation extant in the country today. It is a situation that fuels many of the social, cultural, and political problems that we still face. One of the things that history teaches is to challenge dogmatic and sweeping generalizations, especially those that purport to have all the answers, to be the one true interpretation of the past. History provides us with the tools necessary to question and question some more, while bad history (and its application) does little more than mislead and obscure; usually for purely political or selfish interests.
A little self-serving is allowed now and then right? Please click through to read my little essay on bad history and how it is affecting our understanding of EDSA 1.
January 2012
4 posts
Random Assortment of Third Sector Goodies
Hello, everyone. I have been busy with “real life” as of late, so my apologies for not keeping up with the ‘resolution’ of bringing you interesting randomness regularly. Also for not having a ‘passionate person profile’ up yet (that one I hope to remedy by next week; title for the feature included in things to fix).
Knee deep in researching and analyzing how to present a case involving organizations I care about, I find it apt to post about a few groups that instantly come to mind when I think of the Philippine Third Sector:
World Wildlife Fund Philippines (WWF-Philippines)
Not really needing a description (since anyone who doesn’t know what this organization does must be living under a rock - and maybe should stay there to save the planet), let’s just say that WWF-Philippines works to conserve and protect the natural beauty our country possesses. From the Donsol Whale Shark Research and Ecotourism Sustainability Program (w/c contributed to TIME Magazine citing the Bicol Region as ‘best animal encounter destination in Asia’) to the Coral Triangle Support Partnership Project, WWF-Philippines has programs that you may want to support.
Here’s a WWF video that went viral a few months back:
Philippine Eagle Foundation
I have yet to go to Davao to see this organization in action in person, but I’ve talked to one of their staff more than a couple of times and a few other people who’ve been to their facility, to know that they’re doing great work. I believe I’ve featured this organization here already before, but I have to mention them again, if only to have you go to their website and see how you can help an eaglet.
TEN Moves! (The Entire Nation Moves) Campaign
While not an organization per se, this campaign was brought to my attention by a director at the Ayala Foundation, where I used to work and the org that manages this campaign. Its strategy is to have 2 million people donate P10 per day for 10 months. For a population nearing 100 million, the Filipino people shouldn’t find it too hard to make this public fundraising initiative a success. And what’s the money for? To build 10,000 classrooms for public schools all over the Philippines. Sabi nga nila, “Barya lang po. Para sa classroom ng mga bata.”
See ways to help here.
—-
Well, that’s it for now, folks. Need to study some more.
Join the fun. →
morefunmaker.com
#itsmorefuninthePhilippines
A Call for Passionate People
Hello, dear readers. Part of regularly and more thoughtfully updating this tumblr, I would like to interview (via email exchange or g-chat) “ordinary” Filipinos/Filipinas who are passionate about what they do, whether it’s their day job or otherwise. Musicians, executive assistants, event planners/coordinators, HR managers/recruiters, historians, writers, academics, engineers, pilots, soldiers, nonprofit worker bees - basically ANYONE out there who would like to share their love for their craft/job/art/calling/vocation.
I will be approaching people I know, but if YOU are who I’m looking to interview, please send me an email (allthingspilipinas at gmail dot com) or a message.
Frankly speaking, I am pretty tired of seeing the same old people everywhere, on billboards, magazine covers, the newspaper, tv (on the very rare instance I watch). The celebrity culture in our country has got to end somewhere. Please remember: YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A CELEBRITY TO MATTER. You love your job or your hobby? You do it well? Then we need to know more about people like YOU.
So, if you know someone (including yourself) who’s up for a little email exchange or chitchat, let me know. Thanks!
A Random Assortment of Goodies
To usher in 2012, here are five things from/about/in the Philippines that make me smile. They definitely do not have the same weight of significance for me, but these are the first five things that came to mind (in order of their appearance in my head), thinking about all things Pilipinas that are, to put it simply, good.
BenCab
Benedicto Reyes Cabrera, more famously known as BenCab, is a Filipino National Artist who is a painter and a printmaker. When I think of BenCab, I think of Sabel, his muse. From his bullet biography on the BenCab Museum website:
1964
Observes and sketches from his window in Bambang a bag lady/madwoman/scavenger named Sabel. To him she is a symbol of dislocation, despair& isolation – the personification of human dignity threatened by circumstances. Undergoing numerous transformations over the coming years, she becomes a landmark for every stylistic painting transition.
The lobby of one of those condominiums in Rockwell is graced by a BenCab painting. And a home somewhere in Negros has artist proofs from the master printmaker himself. Nothing quite like his work, especially these days of modern conceptual art. As he himself puts it in this Wall Street Journal feature, “Skill: That is what is missing now. A lot of modern art now is mostly conceptual. It is sloppy. I’m old school. I look for good composition… and I like artists who are innovative.” I tend to agree.
BenCab is also one of the many reasons a trip to Singapore is so enticing.
Philippine Development Foundation or PhilDev
For full disclosure, I’ve worked (and still work every now and then) for PhilDev (formerly Ayala Foundation USA). I loved the work that I did there, connecting the Filipino diaspora to worthwhile development initiatives in the homeland. Now, their focus is more strategic - zeroing in on science and technology and the field’s impact on the Philippines’ economic growth and development. All the same, I respect the work that they do and look forward to the coming years as they carry out their new mission.
You can read about PhilDev’s work on their website, but here’s a video of Filipino/Filipino-American artists, Lea Salonga included, talking about the concert they held for PhilDev:
Panlasang Pinoy
I’m pretty sure I featured Panlasang Pinoy on this tumblr already, but when you talk about the good things in the Philippines, you cannot - just cannot - leave out food. And when I thought of Filipino food, Panlasang Pinoy popped into my head. Just look at his list of Top 10 Filipino Christmas Recipes. I know Christmas is done, but hey, with this menu, it’s never too early to practice for Christmas 2012.
Interaksyon | TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System
Yes, I’m including this one. Because it is pretty cool to have this system in place, updated every five minutes or so. My husband and I are guilty of checking this even if we’re not driving anywhere, just because it’s so nifty.
Pilipinas-loving Tumblrs
And of course, my fellow Tumblrers who post about the Philippines. A few that I enjoy:
I Write As I Write: History. And Stuff.
The Wolf: A thirty-something writer who has mellowed down from the broadcast news industry. After that, he taught high school kids history and economics. Using the skills acquired in journalism, he gets involved once in a while with farmers, environmentalists, and human rights activists.
Pag-aral at Pag-ibig… Lessons & Love: newly married lit phd trying to figure out life, love and the future.
December 2011
40 posts
2012 Pilipinas.Tumblr's Resolution
Will make an effort to curate this tumblr more thoughtfully, regularly.
2012!
Sa taong ito, ang hiling ko para sa bawat Pilipino, kasali na ang aking sarili, ay lakas ng loob…
… para gawin ang matagal mo nang nais gawin.
… para ipaglaban ang nararapat na sa iyo.
… para malampasan nang buo at masmalakas pa ang mga pagsubok sa buhay.
… para mahalin ang mga taong mahal mo - sa salita at sa gawa.
… para itaas ang estado ng ating bansa, sa pamamagitan ng mabuting pagbabago sa ating mga sarili.
Maligayang Bagong Taon, Pilipinas!
“What is freedom for if not the chance to define for yourself who you are?”
—Po Bronson, What Should I Do With My Life?
Under New Management*
Halupi is now Diario de Filipinas, a news-Tumblr dedicated to chronicling the rise and fall of the Philippine Revolution and Republic.
Starting with December 30, 1896.
*Idea
“There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember, time is short, and suddenly, you’re not here any more.”
—The Ghost of Christmas Present (via zhipwreck)
US-based individuals may donate for Sendong victims through PhilDev
Here’s the link.
“There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance. Awareness of all the most dangerous kinds of vanity, both in others and in ourselves. A good mind. A modest certainty about the meaning of things. Gratitude for the gift of life and the courage to take responsibility for it. Vigilance of spirit.”
—Vaclav Havel
How to help victims of Tropical Storm Sendong
Please do not just read or reblog. That’s alright, but at least do one of the things listed below. Salamat.
December 17, 2011
by Janeuymatiao.com
Early dawn today, two areas in Mindanao (a southern island of the Philippines), were hit with sudden and unexpected flash floods from Tropical Storm Sendong (international code name Washi). The floods hit Iligan and Cagayan de Oro around 2AM — when everyone was asleep. Many villagers were caught and trapped wherever they were, with little preparation and no forewarning.
A bloated Pulangui River (photo from Francis Awiten, a blog reader of mindanaoan.com and posted via Twitpic)
A young Sendong victim (photo posted by @mindanaoan via Twitpic, with credits to Atoy M.)
(UPDATE: Bukidnon and Dumaguete likewise need assistance so I will be including in my list donation info for these places as soon as I get them.)
I am creating this post for you, my dear readers, wherever in the world you are. If your heart is touched by some of these pictures, there are many ways you can donate, either in cash (PayPal included) or kind.
Please note that I will try to list as many as I can. I have been listing based on posts in social networking sites, some news sites, government agencies, etc. If I miss some, please leave me a comment at the bottom so I can add to this list.
LAST UPDATE – DEC. 18, 2011 (5:30 PM)
URGENT NEEDS
Blankets
Bottled water (VERY URGENT!)
Canned goods
Clothes
Food
Mats (banig)
Medicines
Off lotion
Rice
Toothbrushes
Towels
UtensilsDROP-OFF POINTS
Ateneo School of Government and Kaya Natin! - will accept donations from Dec. 19-21 only, 10am to 10pm. Clothes, blankets, ready-to-eat food, toiletries and bottled water accepted. Bring to Fr. Ortiz Hall, Social Development Complex, Ateneo, QC.
GMA 5 (Davao) – Please leave donations at Shrine Hills, Matina, Davao (info from @mindanaoan)
Kristohanong Katilingban sa Pagpakaban (coordinated with Xavier University) – call (088) 8583116 loc 3210 for details
La Salle Greenhills - will start accepting donations Monday, Dec. 19 (info taken from HERE)
Donations in cash and kind will be received at Gate 2 of La Salle Green Hills at 343 Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550. You may call any of the following telephone numbers for further inquiries:
Alumni Office — 721-2729, 722-7750, 725-4720
GS Principal — 721-2482
HS Principal — 721-8914
Buildings and Grounds Office — 721-8904 (Telefax)
La Sallian Mission Office — 726-5851 (Telefax)LBC Foundation – bottled water, food, blankets, clothes, etc. Drop off your donations at the nearest LBC branch nearest you, nationwide. Call (632) 8585-999 to find the closest LBC branch.
Mercato Centrale (BGC) / Soderno (Alabang) - bottled water, rice, canned goods, bottled water, utensils, toothbrush, mats, used clothes, blankets
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1098 Chino Roces ave Mascado cor Yague, Makati ph.+63 2 8978808 Ms. Kasilag/Ms. Kalagayan.
Sagip Kapamilya ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., Mother Ignacia cor. Eugenio Lopez St., Diliman, QC – for goods in kind
Sen. Kiko Pimentel – accepting donations starting Dec. 19 at Room 512, GSIS Building, Senate of the Philippines. Contact person: Ron Munsayac (new media group)
TV5 Kapatid Foundation Inc. - Donations in kind like food, clothing, utensils, blankets, mats, water containers, and medicines may be sent to News5 Aksyon Center, TV5 office in San Bartlolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. For inquiries, please call News5 Aksyon Center hotline – 938-6393.
Xavier University KKP-SIO – cash, food, bottled water, clean clothes. You can drop them off at the Xavier University KKP-SIO.
CASH DONATIONS (INTERNATIONAL)
Ateneo de Manila University – please see how to donate HERE
ONE FOR ILIGAN – a Google doc that tells you how you can donate at least US$1 via PayPal
Your Donations will be shown at: www.iliganbloggers.com
For donations on Paypal, your names and initials HEREHELPCDO (PayPal Donations) – Proceeds will be donated and delivered to Xavier University Cagayan de Oro where the members of CDOBloggers are planning to volunteer. (Note: Info received c/o Ria Jose)
Email Address for PayPal donation: francis.siason@gmail.comSimbahang Lingkod (info taken from HERE)
Direct deposits may be made online from any BPI branches, pay to:
Account Name/Payee: SIMBAHANG LINGKOD NG BAYAN
Bank Name: Bank of the Philippine Islands (Loyola-Katipunan Branch)
Dollar Savings Account Number: 3084-0420-12TV5 Kapatid Foundation Inc.
BDO Savings Account No. 005310-410164
Bank of the Philippine Islands Savings Account No. 1443-05333-2
For inquiries, please call News5 Aksyon Center hotline – 938-6393.CASH DONATIONS (WITHIN THE PHILIPPINES)
For Globe subscribers:
via SMS, c/o Red Cross – text RED <amount> and send to 2899 – valid donation amounts are P5, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 and 1000 (For ex, RED 10). Transaction is free.
via GCASH, text DONATE<space><amount><space><MPIN><space><REDCROSS> and send to 2882For Smart subscribers:
via SMS, c/o Red Cross – text RED <amount> and send to 4143 – valid donation amounts are P10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500, 1000 (For ex, RED 10). Transaction is free.
via Smart Money acct. no. 5577-5130-6822-1104 (Baha Fund for Typhoon) at any BDO, Hapinoy or Cebuana Lhuiller outlets. P2.50/textAteneo de Manila University – please see how to donate HERE
Pilipinas Natin HQ (contact PN Head June Joson at CP 0915-855-2599; 0939-9372353)
Red Cross (cash/check)
Account Name: Philippine Red Cross
Bank Name: Banco De Oro
Peso Savings Account: 453-0018647Simbahang Lingkod (info taken from HERE)
Direct deposits may be made online from any BPI branches, pay to:
Account Name/Payee: SIMBAHANG LINGKOD NG BAYAN
Bank Name: Bank of the Philippine Islands (Loyola-Katipunan Branch)
Peso Checking Account Number: 3081-1111-61Xavier University, Tabang Sendong
Account Name: Xavier University
Bank Name: Bank of the Philippine Islands, CDO Divisoria Branch
Account Number: 9331-0133-63VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
DSWD - Cagayan de Oro (Masterson Rd, Upper Carmen). Call (0906) 6150095 or 858-8892 – to repack and deliver relief goods
Tahanan ng mga taga PEYUPS: How to donate, volunteer for Sendong victims →
unibersidadngpilipinas.tumblr.com
From Rock Ed Philippines
We’re compiling a list of ways to donate to and volunteer for the victims of typhoon Sendong. If you have anything to add, pls comment below.
VOLUNTEER
DSWD. Volunteers needed at DSWD Cagayan de Oro (Masterson rd, Upper Carmen) to repack and…
“You’ve been halfway living your life for too long. When it’s time to die, go ahead and die, and when it’s time to live, live. Don’t sort-of-maybe live, but live like you’re going all out, like you’re not afraid.”
—Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees
(via thoughtsdetained)
(via thoughtsdetained)
My 2nd Album Cover Art: Monologue Whispers by Japsuki
Love that the artist shared the process of creating this fantastic album cover.
It’s my second time to be commissioned to work on album cover. I’ve always wanted to do this. The first one happened around the same time last year for The Camerawalls.
This year, Japs Sergio asked me to make one and allowed me to do WHATEVER I WANT!!! Hahaha best job ever!
I’m no expert at this but I’m really thankful these musicians have trusted me enough to take a chance at this sort of thing. As much as possible I want it to be an actual photograph.
The environment above is from an ACTUAL PHOTO. Thank you to Gelo Lagasca of the Lowtechs for helping us out with layout and graphic design.
Check out the larger, square version of the cover design below and also how the photo was made.
Humpback Whale Research
Please pass along to someone who might be interested! Thanks!
For those interested, e-mail a copy of your CV to info@balyena.org.
—————————————————————————————
It is humpback whale season again and we are seeking enthusiastic volunteers to join the research expedition to the Babuyan Islands,
northern Luzon, Philippines this coming Marchand April
2012! The research will be led by researchers from Balyena.org [http://balyena.org/] and the Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE)[http://www.conservationforpeople.org].
This survey has been conducted since 2000, making it the longest running,
continuous cetacean research in the Philippines!
The aim of this research is to monitor the status of humpback whales in the islands through photo-identification and vocalization recordings. Through
photo-identification we will be able to monitor the number of whales coming to the Babuyan Islands, their movement between other breeding grounds in the western north Pacific and their feeding grounds. The interaction between cetaceans and humans
(particularly fisheries) will also be monitored. Research volunteers will
assist in sightings of cetaceans, recording data, taking photographs and
recording humpback songs. Working hours are long. Most of the
daylight hours are spent on a small wooden outrigger boat searching for and observing whales and dolphins, exposed to the sun and sea sprays while evenings are spent encoding data. The team goes out every day as long as the weather conditions permit it. At least one day will be spent to conduct an environmental education youth camp for a school in the islands.
The expedition will be run based partly on funding collected from the contributions of volunteers. We ask volunteers to contribute to cover for food, accommodation and vehicle rental. Volunteers are also expected to pay for their travel expenses to and from the research site on Camiguin Island, municipality of Calayan, Cagayan. The team will travel together by bus from Manila to Sta. Ana, Cagayan, the jump-off point to the Islands.
Camiguin Island, the main study site is one of the five main islands in the Babuyan group (approximately 32 kms from mainland Luzon). It is a beautiful and idyllic volcanic island. We will be living with a small community with just the basic necessities. The team will be based in a modest house on Camiguin where volunteers will share daily household work. Sleeping quarters are shared and cooking or food preparation will be the responsibility of volunteers. As meals are shared and food variety is limited on the island, one must not be picky with food. Electricity is only available for 4-5 hours in the evenings and telecommunications are quite limited (i.e. mobile phone coverage intermittent).
Volunteers are needed for three trips: the surveys will be running for about 12 days plus travel time of 5 days (return), making each trip a total of 17 days. Please do keep in mind that ability to cross to and from the island is
dependent on the weather hence, the dates are not fixed. Volunteers must be prepared to be stationed on-site for 2-3 days longer than the scheduled trip. The first trip departs Manila on the 29th of February 2012.
The expedition dates are as follows;
Team I: 29 Feb – 19 March
Team II: 17 Mar – 5 Apr
Team III: 9 – 28 Apr
We are inclined to accept volunteers who can commit to the entire duration of the research trip. Previous cetacean research experience is not required but preferred. Flexibility and ability to work in a variety of conditions at
sea is a must. You must have good sea legs, high tolerance for the sun and
heat, and patience for hours looking out at sea.
We would like to emphasize that this is a research trip and NOT a holiday. Volunteers are expected to participate in all project activities of the day. This is a good opportunity to help in the research and conservation of humpback whales and other cetaceans in the Philippines while learning about them. This annual monitoring of the whales is very important in understanding the status of the species and the marine
ecosystem of the Babuyan Islands. The data collected every season is crucial in completing a long-term study of the humpback whales breeding and calving in the Philippines. You will also get the chance to visit a gorgeous island in the northern Philippines and experience all its biodiversity!Please signify interests via email on or before February
6th 2012and send a copy of your recent CV to info@balyena.org.
For further information, please check our facebook page Balyena.org or email joshsilberg@gmail.com.
“The measure of achievement is not winning awards. It’s doing something you appreciate, something you believe is worthwhile. I think of my strawberry souffle. I did that at least 28 times before I finally conquered it.”
—Julia Child, Esquire’s The Meaning of Life
Words and Steel: Reclaiming "Asian American" (some thoughts) →
wordsandsteel.tumblr.com
I know I don’t really repost much on Tumblr, and rarely if ever bother to write something of my own, but I’ve been marinating on a few thoughts partly in response to (but long brewing beforehand) a recent API students town hall held on campus a few days ago. This in no way is meant to denigrate the hard work of the student organizers who put it together or to dismiss the real concerns voiced during this time, but rather I hope can re-pose a few questions that I voiced during that time which I felt were not engaged with in any significant way.
To summarize the motivations behind holding the town hall before getting into my thoughts— Asian American undergraduate activists on campus have been feeling alienated from the larger Asian American student body and (more significantly) other student of color organizers, and wanted a space to discuss why this is. A lot of different reasons were given (or talked around), but the key point of discussion was the general construction of Asian Americans on campus as “apolitical” and the way in which this discourse has been used to question the integrity of Asian American activists whose work is devalued, forgotten, or dismissed as ally work or logistical support rather than as central to student of color struggles on campus.
The feelings of hurt and anger by Asian Am activists aren’t new— a large part of this disaffection in current students stems from last year’s Compton Cookout incident and its aftermath— but recently came to a head at an apparently problematic student of color conference that took place at another university in the system. Important to note is that during both the Compton Cookout period and at this recent conference, nooses were hung anonymously in public places and were found by students of color; moreover, Asian American activist students felt upset that Black and Chicano students have been delegated (by the administration, faculty, other university powers-that-be, and each other) as “leaders” of the anti-racist movement on campus while Asian Americans have not.
Much of our time at this town hall was spent, then, on listening to each other’s shared anger and pain; frustrations with not being recognized as doing the work; annoyance at being repeatedly called upon to organize “the Asian American community” on campus; and a desire to “reclaim” Asian American identity as one based in political solidarity rather than as an essentialist identity marker of difference. Emotions were high, and the uncomfortable silence in the room between speaker’s comments never quite broke throughout the two-hour long session. Once it ended, I was left with a sense of frustration myself, though for very different reasons than those I heard voiced at the session. Here is a little bit of what I wished I could say to these students— many of whom I count as my friends— but couldn’t.
—-
Mga kasamas,
I hear you. I listen to the tremble in your voice, not knowing if you are holding back tears, a yell, a cry. I see your confusion, your pain, your feelings of helplessness and determination. You are tired. Tired of being ignored, tired of having your hard work marginalized, tired of being seen as an “ally” to the struggles of “real” people of color. I know you want to build community, that you have dreams and goals of achieving social justice. I hear you, I do. I feel many of those things, too. I only wonder, my friends, if you hear yourselves, really hear yourselves, at meetings like this. And if your feelings— as important, necessary, and real as they are— are preventing you from imagining something else, of working towards the liberation I know that you and I all want for ourselves and our communities.
This is not to say you should not be hurt, or angry, at the way you have been treated. Yes, the events in the past two years (and longer) have been difficult, and painful, and have made you question your friends, your purpose, your life. It is only to say that now that you are hurt, and angry, and frustrated, what do you do with that emotion? Where do you channel your time and your energies? If reclaiming API is a goal that you want for your community, how will that be worked towards— how will you build that community?We talk a lot about the power of discourse. We rail against the ways that Asian Americans have been constructed— on campus, in the US in general— as “model minorities” and pitted against other people of color. We know our history, and because of that we have a power that so many are denied access to. Even so, there seems to be an assumption that community just is, that we all know what it means, what it is based upon, and that it is already there, already in existence and just in need of being strengthened or “reclaimed”. This is a grave mistake, I fear, and one that unfortunately has let the work of building that community fall to the wayside, in lieu of a politics of emotion that has nowhere to be channeled but as critique, as misdirected anger at those we could and should be in community with.
Community, like “Asian American”, is produced as well, and there must be some clarity on how it is to be based— is the Asian American campus community you want to be based on a shared interest in social justice, on working against racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism in its many manifestations, against privatization of the university? Or is this radical Asian American community you envision based on the assertion that you (the collective and individual you) are just as oppressed as if not more oppressed than those other people of color— those Black, Chicano, Muslim students on campus who are taking all the credit for campus organizing to the detriment of Asian American students? I ask because, like you, I imagine a community based on the former (on social justice). I ask because, when I have sat with you in these conversations, in these town halls, in my office, in classrooms, I do not hear desires for the former but lamentations about the latter- I hear only discourses of injury, of a community based in being let down by everyone else, not a community based in building something different, something new that isn’t structured by hierarchies of difference and power which keep communities of color, queer communities, and other marginalized communities apart and fighting for the bread crumbs we are thrown by the state.
I hear you, I do. I know this is not what you mean when you speak. But I just need to ask: What does it do to us, to our “community,” when we are consumed by this need to prove ourselves as equally or more greatly oppressed than other communities of color, when we begin to talk of other student of color organizers as “privileged” and as trying to win “popularity contests”, when the very thing “they” are trying to win is access to the institutional structures which have kept all of us out of higher education for so long? When we claim the noose as our own, when we deny the fact of anti-black racism in order to further a more injured, more oppressed, Asian American subject position as our rallying cry? Moreover, in what realm of the “real world” (you know, that thing outside the miniscule spaces of racial and social justice which exist at the university not because of its inherent benevolence but because of its need to capitalize on “diversity” as a marketing strategy) would any of these students be considered as privileged as you accuse them of being? Are their life chances that much greater than yours— are their community’s incarceration rates lower? death by murder, poverty, disease less? ability to access the propertied markers of whiteness (home, “family,” employment) that much greater? Are they not as fucked by university, by the Real World, as you are? Are they not also the victims of restrictive immigration laws, the dissolution of the welfare state, the War on Drugs and the War on Terror, as you are? Yes, did you say? If so, then why are they the primary source of your ire? Why are they the sole recipients of your anger, your pain? Why them, and not (to list a few)- the racist/sexist/homophobic nation-state? the corporations, banks, lenders? the prison industrial complex? the other arms of neoliberalism at work including, namely, the university? What would “reclaiming API” look like for this campus community if you organized around fighting these structural forces with, instead of organizing in contention to, other students of color?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but this much I know. “Asian American” as a political identity had, at its root, a desire to unite disparate Asian ethnic groups towards the common goal of multiracial, coalitional social justice. To work towards liberation not only for or by Asian Americans, but for other Third World, Black, Latino/a, and Native peoples as well. “Asian American” was claimed by second-generation Asians in the US, (mostly college educated, mostly middle-class, many the children of the first wave of Asian immigrants who came not as professionals but as coolies, agricultural workers, and colonial charges) as a way of proclaiming one’s historical lineage and connection to the legacy of labor exploitation of, sexual violence against, and racial oppression of not only “Orientals” but also of other internally colonized populations of Black, Latino/a, Native and Third World peoples. Those activists knew that what was holding them back wasn’t the fault of those other people of color, who were pitted against them for jobs, housing, and other privileges at the whim of the state and dominant civil society; they saw the real, material violence that faced their comrades in struggle, like Fred Hampton (the 21-year-old Black Panther who, 41 years ago today, was gunned down as he slept by the FBI and the Chicago PD). These young (and old!) Asian Americans knew what their target was, and they knew they had to work out their own internal contradictions — with their conservative families and friends in their Asian ethnic communities; with the male leadership who were, at times, sexist and homophobic; with other communities of color; with white/straight/male allies— in order to build the movement for social justice. It was not easy, and the work was never completed. If we take anything from that generation of Asian American organizers, it is not only their accomplishments but also the burdens of the work they were unable to complete. The work is still ongoing. As long as these structural injustices exist, the work—all of it, including the exhausting emotional labor of building community, of educating allies, all of it— will never be done.
This is a lot, so I’ll end it soon (I promise), with a few more questions that I hope you take seriously, because I sure as hell do. As you “reclaim API”, what will you put your energies toward? How will you shore up your anger, your pain, your desires, you dreams and towards what ends? How will you, in short, do the work?
Your anger, your pain, your tears are real, but it is not enough to talk about it unless feeling like a more complete, individually fulfilled subject is your only goal. But for the “community”? Your anger, your pain, your tears are not enough to change anyone’s mind; to get what you want from the university; to be recognized for your labor (which, by the way, will never happen in a way that will satisfy you, if recognition is all you desire as a political ends). And it sure as hell isn’t enough to free a people, to create something new, to build another world. Is it enough for you?
beautifully written, thanks t!
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Christmas Wonderland of Manila, Philippines →
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Merry lights. Thanks for submitting.
