Feedback on Delikadeza: Kailan pa tayo aabot doon?

On June 14, 2005, Lani wrote in response to my post on Delikadeza:

Sad to say, I don’t think aabot pa tayo doon. With the present political situation in our country, everything here is a “big ugly joke.”

Even if the younger Arroyo filed a leave of absence from the House of Representatives, nothing could come out from the investigation. As long as sila ang nasa puwesto, puro Moro-Moro lang lahat ito.

Another People Power could not save our country from disaster. Wala namang nangyari sa Edsa. Pinapalitan lang ang mga pinuno pero hindi naman napapalitan ang “attitude” ng mga pulitiko.

My response: I do believe that most of the Filipinos back  home agree with your opinion, Lani.  It seems that inspite of all the upheavals which could’ve given rise to a new consciousness which could probably result in a cleaner government, the system is just so steeped in corruption that it cannot be done in one fell swoop.  Hindi kaya ng gulpi de gulat — because what’s been happening is that the despite all the changes, the reins of power change hands, but the system remains the same.

As to the young Arroyo’s bold move at reclusing himself by taking a leave of absence, all I can say is, pakitang-tao kaya?  Let’s wait and see.

While I like Panfilo Lacson, I don’t necessarily support him.  Yet looking bake at the exposes on the First Gentleman ages ago by someone of his stature, you’d think he’d be able to shake up the incumbent government and actually get things done.  Instead, his accusations fell on deaf ears and it was all swept under the rug.

As they would say, abangan ang susunod na kabanata.

 

Makulimlim: Muggy in New York

Written on the way to work on the Q88

Makulimlim.    That, I think, would best embody what “muggy” is.  The sky is a sheet of dirty white — not a speck of blue anywhere.  We’re supposed to hit the 70s only (Thank, God!) and there are thunderstorms sometime during the day.  That, plus the fact that the boss is out on a conference today and tomorrow (yipee!) made me dress casually.

Here in New York, we always check the weather forecast and plan our daily wardrobe and weekend activities around it.  Unlike in  Manila where most people make fun of the reliability of the weather forecast and have even made a comedy icon of popular weathermen like Amado Pineda and Ernie Baron, the weather is serious business in the big apple.

What’s it with the weathermen?  Two of my favorite weathermen here are Sam Champion and Dave Price.  Sam is deliciously handsome but is, unfortunately, not one of the so-called “fish in the ocean”.  (Read what you will into that!)  Dave Price is supposedly the eternal funny man who had such a following that when he “disappeared” from Fox 5 news, I found myself googling him and I discovered that he had transferred to rival network CBS 2.

While Amado Pineda and Ernie Baron don’t do their spiels wearing a suit, they were as credible to me.  I wonder whatever became of Amado Pineda of PAG-ASA.  Tito Ernie is still his “encyclopedic” self over at ABS-CBN.  (Unless he got pirated by the other network and I didn’t hear about it!)  I realize now how much of an impact they made on the Filipino psyche as comedians spoofed them and joke after joke perpetuated their popularity.

Imagine me thinking about them as I sit here on the bus, crawling my way through the Long Island Expressway to the R Train.  After ages of not watching them on TV, I can still see them in my mind’s eye, delivering the weather report in their own style.

Craft Report: Almost done with my katya yarn

Since we had pizza for dinner last night, I found a pocket of time within which I could sit down and do a few rows of my shawl.  I’m almost done!!  I am now trying to decide which of the white yarns I have I will use to knit the edges and for the fringe.  I can do white or I can do baby blue.  I still have ample yarn for either color.

What should my next project be?  Perhaps I will unravel one of Alan’s old wool sweaters and spin them into balls to make it easier to work with.  I’m thinking of doing a mega-stitch see-through cardigan, or maybe just a plain shirt.  I can also try to do a triangular shawl which would be really ambitious given my novice knitting skills.

The nice thing about knitting is that you can do twice the size of any piece with the same amount of yarn you will use to crochet only half of the same.  (I’m trying to understand what I wrote here.. does it make sense to you?  HAHA!)  Maybe I’ll do a long sweater..light enough for the chillier days.  Just can’t decide!

No post yesterday!

That should give you an idea of how hectic my day was yesterday.  It was already 6PM by the time I tried to put something for the day, but I ended up leaving before I could post it.

Busy, busy me!