Ud3 at the Puma store in Ayala Center, Cebu

Paul had to leave that morning for a football tournament so Carlos, Ean and I (as UD3), joined TL with the store owners to answer some interviews and meet people from the lovely land that is Cebu.

We’d like to thank the people who took care of us this past week, the Ateneo Alumni Association in Cebu for bringing us there to celebrate their 150th Anniversary. We had so much fun, and so much pork!

Speaking of pork, I realized after quite a long thinking process, that my top 3 favorite delicacies are lechon, chicharon and longgannisa. Caldereta comes 4th, so that’s ok.  But don’t think I forgot all about bacon. I just really think that bacon is a food group of its own. Lemme tell you why, it’s got sub-groups like bacon cheeseburger, bacon bits, bacon pot pie, bacon mushroom soup — you get the idea.

I feel kinda bad cause I love PETA and most of their causes but its this damn piece of meat that makes it real hard for me to get involved.

Anyway I better go and watch the Pacquiao-Cotto match. When I grow up, I wanna be just like you, Pacquiao… in a sports bra.

Post Rock-awards photo

In behalf of the band, I’d like to say thanks to everyone who voted for us, for believing in us and what we do. This is something so unexpected and something we never thought of achieving this soon in our lives, and that makes us all the more grateful.

We’d like to thank first and foremost, our manager, Toti – for pursuing this field with us, his wife, Rica and their all-too-adorable kids. We’d also like to thank the people behind every gig and every song we’ve had to perform, Sherwin and the rest of the gang of roadies + Gani. The Dharmalites – who we’ve learned to love, some have become real friends of ours. Chigo, Mayee, Ed, Zobel among others — those who keep in touch via social networking and those who take the time to watch gigs even with their children like Arvi and Marmi Perez. Thank you to the publications and magazines who never tire to feature our band and writers who help give us a good name. Thank you to TL and the rest of Puma for the unwavering support, our friends for understanding our crazy schedules, our parents for respecting our decisions. I bet waiting for us to come home at 4am has now paid its price. Special thanks to the Keith Tan and family, Ces Guerrero and family, Erving Go and family, to the readers of this blog for the reposts and the trackbacks. Congratulations to The Charmes as well! Thank you to our label mates, Sleepwalk Circus, Musical O, Ang Bandang Shirley, Radioactive Sago Project, Paramita, Swissy, Juan Pablo Dream for being an extension of what we want to achieve, who love what they do just as much as we do. Our thanks to Paul Buchanan and the rest of The Blue Nile for being an inspiration in creating this album and for maintaining an unbeatable standard in producing good music. We’ve learned that it does not matter even if it takes years to come up with a project for as long as the product is worth listening to. Most of all thank you to NU 107 and its panel of judges – though we have no idea who you are, I’ll be sure to thank you once I figure it out

I suppose after every thing that has happened, there is always something more we can do to repair and make good use of what we have left. Cheers to 2010 and the years to come. We’ve lost a lot of good people this year, but we hope to keep our spirits high with you all. I’m certain that there’s always tomorrow on days whose nights fail you.

It’s been over a week and 2 days since the typhoon. Let us not forget what happened, let us not sit back and relax. Though we got through Pepeng by a great deal, remember those affected by it, remember that they took our place and suffered just like our neighbors.

I’m glad to be home. I flew out to support my family from Cebu who lost a loved one. There is only one colour of Love and its that one that comes out of everyone. There is no time to hold back and prefer timing to heal a wound because some wounds take forever to heal, that one must start trying the minute a cut is realized.

I suppose I like being busy because it keeps me running and forgetting those dark incidents. Perhaps this is one reason why I’ll never be the same. Some plans have shifted here and there, but the big ones remain. I’m doing everything in my power to continue something that’s been around longer than I can remember: Life.

Thank you for reading and reposting the link to my previous post. Right now I’m furthering plans so I can achieve this humble but revolutionary goal of extending help, to wake up the sleeping spirit.

Love to everyone who has helped and has been touched by many people’s stories. We have a surplus of sad stories and incidents and these people are still recovering from the tragedy that struck the nation all too heavily. Before they get the chance to share all of that, give them something to be grateful for. Share stories of your volunteerism and how it has changed your life. We have long been under repair, but the recent damages truly broke us that it’s time to fix whatever we’ve got left. Or grow new hope.

Right about now these are the areas you may choose from to extend your help. Please respond by commenting other drop off points or areas that you know willing to accept donations or help. Use this network to help more people and stay dry everyone!

Here are some:

Barangay Soup Kitchen – a roving soup kitchen who needs volunteers, pots, cooks and food. Please contact Ping Medina for details at 0917-534-7464

Here is the link to the different drop off points, and you may use them according to your location. Please click http://ph.news.yahoo.com/gma/20090926/tph-3-drop-off-areas-designated-for-ondo-d6cd5cf.html

Of course there’s Megatent that accepts donations and needs volunteers. It’s in Pasig near Renaissance Condominium near St. Paul and Ultra

You may also try Mc Donalds, 7-11 and check with The Body Shop. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlets have been accepting donations however they will be transmitting the goods tomorrow (October 6, 2009) so that might not be a good idea unless you have items with you right now and are in the area of one.

Post your photos directly to the blog by emailing post@ondoyphotos.posterous.com with your attached photo/video. The subject will serve as your caption. Include your name, the date the photo was taken, and any links you would like to include (e.g facebook, twitter, blog, etc).

I thought I was going to be able to make a beautifully written piece out of what happened but I suppose you can call this some sort of rude awakening. My response to a concise but useful blog post whose link I found on twitter.

Add me up and tweet with me: armimillare

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Vultures, Too

memes: blogging, borrowings, current events, cyberspace, mainstream media, passing thoughts, political commentary

Another quick post, folks.

The vultures everywhere are coming all out in force. Here are some of the things we’ve seen online:

1. Government officials allegedly not distributing relief goods in Provident Village Marikina because no media to cover their distribution.

2. Citizen apparently being told by SSS person that no funds are available for calamity loan.

3. DSWD allegedly repacking ABS-CBN relief goods in Pasig, reducing package contents.

4. Relief goods apparently being acquired by residents of a gated community for P1000 (sort of like shopping and delivery).

5. Taxi cabs doing “kontrata” (Metro Manila cabbies, what else is new).

6. Syrofoam care packages and plastic bags of relief goods with politicians’s names.

7. Looters in Provident Village, Marikina.

Well, let’s help our friends in the media use the information as leads to blow these people out of the water, so to speak.

Here’s what we’ll do:

1. Leave a comment, preferably not anonymous (dapat may bayag ka, ‘tol).

Tell us what you know and a link to the original Plurk message/ Twitter message/ Facebook message/ blog post/ and so on.

Eyewitness accounts/ personal stories are best, and avoid sharing replurks and retweets.

Photos will be excellent, especially if you can tell us who and where they were taken.

2. I’ll continue updating this post.

Don’t worry about messages on the same topic from different people; multiple eyewitness accounts are good for verification.

3. There is no 3. Let’s just hope mainstream media uses our leads.

this is armi millare of up dharma down. i have lived in provident village for the last 21 years and have never faced anything like this before. i hope that says it all. but for the sake of those who are interested in grammatically compromised, unedited and “biased” writing, please bear with me.

im overwhelmed with mixed emotions and a new found perspective in life. i feel grateful that my family and i are all okay, however there’s this cloud of fear hanging over me. we’re not secure with the way things are going, knowing there are no funds supporting the calamity victims, despite having been given the headcount and knowing that this has been the worst that the metro has faced, no good news regarding RESCUE EQUIPMENT and QUICK DEPLOYMENT of troops have come our way.

what more can i say about the mindless spending of our dear president who directed all the funds into one huge, lavish party in the US? the money couldve been spent on rubber boats for my neighbors, my family and i along with other victims of this tragic chapter in philippine history. i went to the city hall last night to take a quick look at the families who lost homes and donated food along with my high school friends and asked about the estimate of the families they know of in provident. and guess what? they don’t know. how will they be able to track down the number of houses that need protection in the dark at night while looters run around and surround the area, taking advantage of their plight?

im not talking about provident villages alone, im talking about greenpark subdivision, dona juana subdivision, some parts of pasig, san juan and other areas gravely affected by the typhoon. or am i asking for too much? because THERES ABSOLUTELY NO POWER where my family lives up until now, understandably its to protect the areas damaged enough to become life threatening to whatever’s left of the population but what do you do to combat the predicament?

last monday, i dropped off food at home after 2 days of living off of what was left in the fridge. after i kissed my parents goodbye, i walked along with my brother and his girlfriend in the mud and were told to run for our lives by a group of bystanders carrying what looked like their only form of weaponry: flashlights, after hearing 3 gunshots just 2 houses down. i went to the front gate on my way out after balancing myself along with my brother and his girlfriend to tell the MMDA about what happened. they seemed VERY CALM and unattentive like everything was in order.

we drove to the nearest school, near the office of the bgy captain and they assured us that they had already sent “troops” when I DID NOT SEE ANY at the time the robbery was taking place. if not for my friend who’s the son of a high ranking police official, my mom, my dad, my brother, my aunt and uncle, cousins and friends coming over to bring food, the risk of losing the only thing i have right now would be larger than all this.

imagine having seen death floating around your house, just 3 feet away from you and your family and experiencing THAT after calling yourself lucky for SURVIVING a natural calamity. the day after that robbery i came back to provident to clear out more things, and guess what i found? 2 cops waiting outside the village gate, armed with rubber boots whom i reprimanded and told to call for backup. it seems the impossibility of it was so high they told me that the situation is taken care of and that they call the attention of suspicious looking people entering the village. that’s their way of telling me that despite all this, my 70 year old aunt and uncle, my parents, 5 year old niece and cousins are safe and can now sleep like babies. how did these people get qualified to take such an important task? do i have to do the math and multiply the number of people whose lives depend on this standard of security we’re going to deal with until we all purchase new homes?

what about others who haven’t been found yet? there are SO many questions that we already know the answer to, its to let SOME of the mindless, insensitive government officials who think what happened was a natural occurrence. no it is not normal to find hundreds of thousands of people MISSING and finding infants dead and floating in your village. i have lived a quiet life before this, skipping the news night after night because of the negativity around me. back in the day i never really paid that much attention whenever i would see clips of people on top of their roofs, . because i thought there was nothing i could do to help and that something like that wont ever happen to me but now i actually spend more time thinking about how to INFORM people than attend to my personal needs so that what happened to the people around me and my family wont ever happen again.

but really, im just a girl who sings in a band that’s not so popular, and doesn’t have that much help to extend but a laptop saved along with a few things, who used to live in a 4 storey house, born into a family comfortable enough to sleep with the news on while people are dying from a few hours away by car. the gravity of the situation has completely changed me but i think that if this reaches those people CAPABLE enough of helping in a larger scale they might be able to save more lives.

we’re not asking for anything but the SECURITY and SURVIVAL of those in need. there is a storm to hit manila in the next 2 days and i have to fly out to take care of some personal things and what do i have hanging over me? the worry that 10 people other than my immediate family who still reside in that village along with the rest of manila, my friends and colleagues, band mates, remaining family will never be safe enough to say help will come their way should something like that happen again.

my neighbors were on top of their roofs for more than 15 hours screaming for FOOD and HELP and i could hear the rescue teams roaming around the village but never saw them coming. yesterday there were reports that our neighbor from a street away were trapped inside their home because the rescue team couldn’t pull them out. they cant give me the load of crap and say we tried, because god knows these rescue teams WOULD DO EVERYTHING if they had the resources to act on a situation involving people at the brink of death. i know others were prioritized but there wouldn’t be a PRIORITY NUMBER in the first place if there had been enough equipment.

to volunteer for a position or to take up on a responsibility like that does not make them nincompoops. but the lack of equipment BECAUSE OF INSERT UNBELIEVABLY UNCONSCIENTIOUS ELECTED OFFICIALS that couldve done something does. the lack of rescue equipment puts everyone’s lives in danger the minute a mention of a storm is underway. i sleep with one eye open and tremble in fear everytime the rain falls from the sky. i wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy however im being pushed to think ill thoughts because some people aren’t doing ANYTHING about it. what, visit the site and put the best worst face on?

and what about the useless politicking and the CLAMOUR FOR MEDIA ATTENTION before releasing goods to people who sleep at night hugging their ONLY MEAL until the next ration comes in? instead of SENDING MEDIA to places with ZERO survival count since saturday? i would LOVE to be proven wrong and i would love to be told that they’ve done enough, but how many storms will it take for their lack of equipment to cater to the population LEFT after what, 36 more storms in the next 5 years?

my neighbors would still be alive, or maybe the ones left behind would’ve been able to save more equipment if we were given some sort of WARNING that the goddamn dam (pun intended) was going to release water. who knows if all that ever happened? i would still be at home at least with a considerably good amount of important things saved. though you know what, however unbelievable, i’m not torn about how good it feels to KNOW that my peers and i are needed and that we could still do something to let people know as much as possible on how they can save more lives at a time like that.

im not zooming in on all government officials because we do have friends who we know are taking care of their respective areas, who are helping people i know without the malicious intent to PROMOTE themselves for the upcoming godforsaken elections instead of preparing for the safety of the people they want to take care of in the future. a responsibility one has sworn into, especially when neglected is tantamount to diving a knife through a sleeping child’s chest. im no good, im sure, a lot of other people are doing a lot and if not for them, perhaps my family and i would have perished along with 80 other residents in provident villages, but do they even FEEL anything? i would really love to be proven wrong.

do not call me an ignorant monger who doesn’t know what she’s talking about because i do. scroll up and you’ll know that sometimes other people wake up in the middle of the night having nightmares and drowning in their sleep. i hope that never happens to anyone in real life. i hope nobody gets to see the food they need to eat for sustenance and yet be deprived of it just because nobody but GOD and the people in sight can see the random act of kindness.

this morning my parents decided to make our house a place to drop off goods to donate to other neighbouring areas affected by ondoy until a friend advised me to halt the planning for the upcoming operations in 2 days. apparently delivery trucks with goods and places without enough security get mugged and attacked by those in need. but that wont stop me. or the people i work with. i will keep everyone posted, and help in another way. if this doesnt change the entire world, i hope this changes yours and that is more than enough.

rest in peace ondoy victims, tony chua, alexis tioseco, nika bohinc, eguid family and unnamed heroes who died for others. especially those who are still not given justice and quick action. there is hope and its not too late. however i may need your help starting from today.

sincerely yours,

rmi millare

Here are some photos from the past month or so. I’d like to thank the following people for taking these photos.

Love,

Mrs. Supergift

During the criminally early calltime of 5am for Unang Hirit. Photo by Erving Go.

Taken at Peavey's house by one of his friends. Yes that's me exchanging stories with a bunch of sprouts.

At Ean's house after eating all their food. Photo by Keith Tan.

Manila Design Week, photo by Mayee Gonzales

Fran, Carlos, Toti and I at Whistlestop. They make the best "All Tokwa" in town. Paparazzi shot by Garovs of Everywhere We Shoot.

Taken by Red Rivera during the Puma Archive gig last Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came to watch us!

Channel V interview with Ean and Paul backstage minutes before the Bamboo concert. Photo by Keith Tan

I love Loki, but this is just too cute!

I know someone who fears apples

I know someone who used to be scared of bread

I know someone who cared for elephants deeply

I know someone who’d choose a couch over a bed

I know someone who tried

I know someone whom people gave up on

I know someone who gave up

I know someone who’d rather be alone

I know someone who has a sister as his best friend

I know someone who thought his dad did not care

I know someone who wanted someone else’s mother

I know someone who was never there

I know someone who decided to leave everything behind

I know someone who lives right across

I know someone who wants to fly away from here

I know someone who’s scared of getting lost

I know someone who loves flat chested women

I know someone who loved someone else better

I know someone who thinks that smarts are a plus

I know someone who liked big spenders

I know someone who couldn’t keep a secret

I know someone who

I know someone who did not understand loyalty

I know someone who really knew

I know someone I used to know

I know someone I haven’t even met

I know someone I want to meet

I know someone I want to forget

I know someone ahhhh whatev this isn’t working

Yesterday, 2 of the most important people in my life met, and gave me the surprise of my life.

In other news, I smell cigarette smoke. In my room. I HATE cigarette smoke so I’m a little irritated right now, but I’m more weirded out than irritated because nobody in this house smokes. It can’t be the neighbors because their windows are too far from mine. So that makes me just plain delusional, commenting about something that didn’t even happen. Monkey girl not only happy, but also cuckoo and that’s just great.

In other, other news, I’d like to invite you all to join us on September 18 at Magnet High Street, 9pm onwards for this special event:

Cover Charge: 150 pesos

We’ll be doing 5 covers for all you Puma fans! So come see us then.

We’ll be with Pupil, Sleepwalk Circus, Camerawalls and more.

I had a good run doing the talk at The One School. I’m not really a people person – I think we all know that by now, but I still get invited to do things I’m not used to. I suppose it’s okay to step out of your comfort zone every now and then. The people were nice. I’m both flattered that they want to hear stuff about my life, at the same time bothered that they might take after me. It’s not always sunny where Mrs. Supergift lives, you know.

**

I’m voting for the next person who can give The Crass an education. I can’t stress enough the importance of putting people where they should be: in the right place. There is a fine line between an awkward, shy person, having trouble with saying the correct things — they don’t have to be the darnest, mind you — and the person who’s just plain crass who comes in to get, some attention, basically. After hearing various stories about said person, I now understand why the need to not judge has become an option for people meeting for the first time. Because more often than not, your reputation precedes you.

On the other hand, manipulative pretentiousness masked in innocence is also a budding trap just as fatal as the one discussed above.

Anyway I’m stepping back inside my grape now. It’s less healthier than the previous citrus fruit, but the size is just perfect.

**

What makes me really happy these days is the fact that Ean’s back. So come watch the reunion gigs. One tomorrow (later) at 6Ug and on Saturday at Magnet High Street. Round 10? Ya should be safe to be there by then.

http://blogoscoped.com/files/stripes.html

TRY IT!