New month... new shows!

If you can tear yourself away from the final night of Olympics coverage... or if you're really good at multitasking... don't forget to tune into The Strombo Show on CBC Radio 2 for another "All Request" show. The show starts at 8 in all time zones, check out the CBC2 Frequency Page to find out where to tune in.

Now that the Olympics are over and we're all going through withdrawal, we're going to get back into some new episodes of The Hour. It's a packed, diverse line up of guests this week...

MONDAY, MARCH 1st

Anne Graham Lotz - Christian Evangelist and Daughter of Evangelist Billy Graham

Mindy Cohn - Actress and star of the series "The Facts of Life"

TUESDAY, MARCH 2nd

Douglas Coupland - Canadian Novelist

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3rd

Chubby Checker - The King of Twist

THURSDAY, MARCH 4th

Enrico Colantoni - Co star of "Flashpoint" the first cross-border success since Due South

FRIDAY, MARCH 5TH

It's the Best of Faith show...

Chris Hedges - Author of "I Don't Believe in Athiests"

William P. Young - Author of "The Shack"

Richard Dawkins - Author of "The God Delusion"

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Butterfly Sanctuary

When we went to Davao Crocodile park last weekend, part of the fee that we paid is the opportunity to visit Davao Butterfly Sanctuary, around 200 meters away from the crocodile park. I really learned a lot in there. In the exhibit area, there's a documentary that explains the butterfly, their way of life and their development. We were able to see a lot of butterflies of different colors and sizes. Here are photos...

Butterfly eggs, pupa

Butterflies, mating, which could last from 5 - 30 minutes

The first time I saw a butterfly eating a dried banana fruit

Happy weekend friends!

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"Live from Vancouver"

I briefly mentioned this at the end of my Olympics rant, but have since, received more information:

Jim Richards from the Jim Richards Showgram, of Toronto's radio station NEWSTALK 1010, will be broadcasting his show this Friday, live from Vancouver, with special guest host, George Stroumboulopoulos. I've been told they may be discussing/watching the Men's hockey finals.

As well as George being on the show, one of Jim's guests will be B.C. Premier, Gordon Campbell. I think I'll give it a listen to see just what our Premier will weigh in on, in regards to the Olympics.
If you're interested in tuning in on-line you can go to the NEWSTALK 1010 website & click on the "Listen Live" button. The show runs this Friday, Feb. 26, between 1pm - 4pm EST.

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Have a safe and secure home

On weekends, my little girl and I, including hubby would play hide and seek, sing and dance together while watching her favorite nursery rhymes on VCD. Sometimes, we just laze around, get something to eat from the fridge and talk anything under the sun. Our home is the best place for the family to relax, enjoy and bond together. So I make sure that it is clean, secure and free from hazardous things especially that we have a 1 year old tot.

But what alarms me is the news that one of our neighbor's house has been robbed by burglars. The burglars managed to enter inside their house when the whole family was having a dinner together in their dining room. They sneaked into the second floor, enter the rooms and got the pieces of jewelry, cellphones and anything of value.

Security is of utmost importance in our homes. We must protect our abode from lawless elements that can potentially harm us and our loved ones. While surfing the net and doing blog hopping, I've read an article about home security services. Being curious myself, I further dig into the website and was redirected to home security team website.There is already ADT in Florida. Aside from that, there's also an ADT in California serving the residents in the area. While reading their website, their security services sounds effective and efficient. People in Florida and California are very fortunate because there's already an ADT in FL and ADT in CA. They can be worry-free for possible burglars and thieves that might enter into their homes. For those currently using the ADT security, would you recommend it to others?

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5 Ring Circus?

"Ladies & Gentlemen, Children of all Ages (& for the rest of the ages)....Welcome to the Greatest Expenditures on Record!"

From one B.C.er's perspective:
It's hard to hear & see everything going on, while the ringmasters hold center stage & shout their boasting of what sights & events lay ahead: "We will be amazed, entertained & quite possibly shocked, but OH, won't it be wonderful?! We'll cherish the memories for years!"
At least, that's what we're supposed to take from all the smoke & mirrors delivered to us via government & corporations.

Don't get me wrong, I fully enjoy & respect athletes for their abilities, their dedication, their individual & National pride, however, it's hard to view these Winter Games only for the love of sports, yet turn a blind eye from the negative impacts B.C./Canada has suffered & will continue to do so for many years to come.
If only I could just wave my flag, cheer for my hometown guys & gals, and pretend that 'this' is what the Olympics are all about! I love our athletes & if I were of a religious nature, I would say God-Bless them. They are, without a doubt, definitely 'doing us proud'!

On a few other positive notes; it's infectious & enjoyable to get caught up in the excitement of the competitions. To converse with friends & strangers over medal standings, observations, the stories behind the athletes....that in itself, is gold.
Then I must mention the world-class venues built for the host city & her athletes of 2010, to be utilized & enjoyed by future hopefuls. It's feels pretty great to have something so new & shiny...I get that.

Now, back to the ugliness of it all. The underlying costs, greediness & undemocratic nature of this beast. Now, I may have my facts off from actual figures, but I'm pretty sure I'm close....
2% of the B.C. population were given the right to vote whether or not to host these Games, of which, they obviously won, by approx. 60/40. The voters were actual Vancouverites, not citizens of Vancouver's 25 surrounding communities, nor the populations held on Vancouver Island or the cohabitants of the remaining 4 large regions of B.C. I can pretty well assure you, had the rest of the Province had a say, or even just a few more of those communities, you would not be watching this year's Olympics in Vancouver. A democratic vote? Not bloody likely.

OK, so now onto the projected spending.
I seriously cannot type those words without yelling a "HAH!" out loud.
In 2006, it was reported that approx 2.5 billion dollars would be spent on 2010 Olympics....spending to date: an estimated 6 BILLION dollars! Short term tourists spending is projected to be close to one billion & oh, let's not forget about future international attraction coming to B.C. We may just get this paid off in a few decades!

And lastly, for now, the corporations or as they prefer to be named; "The Sponsors".
Let's see....35 corporate sponsors are named the "Official Sponsors" & for receiving exclusive marketing rights, we are bestowed with their blasting of products & services. VANOC will make damned sure of that! To the point of ridiculousness, I say.
A small example: Vancouver's Public Library employees were told that if they were hosting any kind of gathering/event for businesses, other than the sponsors, that all logos had to be completely hidden or covered. Fines for not following these procedures were 'implied'.
Another: Very minimal food/refreshments were available on Cypress mountain, for the hundreds of spectators that waited for hours to even get to the venue. Mostly because of the red-tape unofficial vendors had to go through to provide a service for this International crowd. Families with children, ended up turning around and missing their ticketed events, to ensure their kids some nourishment. Businesses all over Olympic areas were bullied & threatened legally by these sponsors over such things as selling their hamburgers, with the name: 'hamburger'. Instead having to get creative by selling this item using a different name, such as, 'buffalo sandwich', which I'm sure, did not appeal to most. Since when did McDonald's have the exclusive right over the word, hamburger?

Don't even get me started on the statement the government made, promising the world, the "Greenest" Olympics yet! Lets just ask David Suzuki, shall we?

I'm sorry if I've rained on your Olympics parade, but this to me, has been more about a corporate marketing circus & the all-mighty dollar.
"Go Canada Go"........"Do YOU believe?"
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Speaking of the Olympics:

Jim Richards from the Jim Richards Showgram, of Toronto's radio station NEWSTALK 1010, will be broadcasting his show this Friday, live from Vancouver, with special guest host, George Stroumboulopoulos. I've been told they may be discussing/watching the Men's hockey finals.

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Davao Crocodile Park

It was a beautiful Sunday. The whole family attended Mica's Christening in the morning. We went to their house and had a lunch there. At around 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon, we head back home using the diversion road going north. Out of the blue, Papa asked us if we want to drop by at the Crocodile park since it is located at divesion road, Maa. We chorused with reply, yes. So we detoured to the crocodile park and had our stroll. We were fascinated by the many crocodiles they have. What caught our attention was Pangil, the biggest crocodile of all in the farm. We paid Php150 per head. They didn't charge a fee for my daughter Keona who's only 1 year old. There's a lot to see in the park. Aside from the many crocodiles, they have a lot of eagles, birds and other animals. I'll post some other interesting animals in the park next time.

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Treasuring Life's Precious Moments

I really treasure those precious moments that I have with my family, friends and my loved ones including those people who have touched my life, in one way or another. Writing a journal, keeping an album, making scrapbooks are few of the many ways that I do to keep those precious memories and treasured moments that I spend with them.

I started keeping a journal when I was in high school. In there, I write what I do during the day, my experiences, my feelings, including my expenses. hehe. I also keep a photo album with my family especially those photos we have during family reunions that we hold every December of the year.

When my grandmother passed away when I was in second year high school, that's when I realized how important it is to have a family biography in order to let the younger and incoming generations of the family know our roots, the way of life, and the values that are being practiced in the family.


In today's age of technology, we are very fortunate that we have easier ways of keeping our precious moments. Through the website, Myheartwill, we can create and store family biography and personal biography. In there, we can also store photos and convey our personal messages to our loved ones just like what we do in our facebook personal page. The best thing about My heart Will is, it is a secure way of storing our memories and it can stand the test of time.

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Olympic Edition ~ Week 2

Week one done, one week to go. Have you been watching the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics? There have been so many AMAZING moments...for me, none as exciting or emotional than the victory of moguls master Alexandre Bilodeau, the first Canadian Olympian to win a gold medal on home soil! Fingers crossed that perhaps Bilodeau will be a future guest on The Hour.

Speaking of The Hour...here is a schedule of this week's "best of'" shows:

Monday, February 22

The multi-talented (and rather yummy) Canadian actor and musician Hugh Dillon.

Also: Bill Maher and Vivica Fox.

Tuesday, February 23

Actor Morgan Freeman.

Comedian and author David Cross

and

author John Irving.

Wednesday, February 24

Canadian actor Cory Monteith.

SCTV alumni Eugene Levy.

Also...musician Norah Jones.

Thursday, February 25

Forever Little House on the Prairie's Laura Ingalls...actor Melissa Gilbert

as well that NKOTB Joey McIntyre and actor Louis Ferreira.

Friday, February 26

Actor and Montreal Canadiens fan Viggo Mortensen.

Actor Michael Douglas

and

the very funny Andrea Martin.

And in other news...

While The Hour continues its Olympic hiatus, tickets for tapings next week are now available. Click here for details.

Don't forget to tune into The Strombo Show tonight on CBC Radio 2 for the ALL REQUEST SHOW. To contact the show, one can be all futuristic and Skype (username: Stromboshow) or call in the old-fashioned way via telephone: 416-205-6226.

As a lover of history, I am quite eager to watch the new six part CBC documentary Love Hate & Propaganda, starting March 4. The series, narrated by George Stroumboulopoulos, examines the role propaganda played in WWII. Regarding this project, CBC's Director of Documentary Programming Mark Starowicz said, "This is a series that needed to be done. It's time to bring this story to a new generation, to the children and grandchildren of those who fought the War. The dictators are dead, but the ideas and the forces that spawned them are still alive in the present." Follow the documentary on Facebook and Twitter...AND BE SURE TO WATCH!

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Araw ng Dabaw 2010 Activities

The love month is about to end. Few days from now, we'll gonna welcome the month of March. Davaoeños look forward to this month because Araw ng Dabaw is celebrated every March 16 of the year.

Despite the crisis and the preoccupation of Dabawenyos of the incoming 2010 elections, people in Davao will certainly celebrate the 73rd Charter Anniversary of our beloved Davao this coming March 16, 2010 with a blast.


A lot of activities are already lined up and this year's theme is Katatagan ay Kapangyarihan: Pagpapatibay at Pagdiriwang (Stability is power: Affirmation and Celebration). The mayor of Davao wants the activities to be packed in 3 days only compared to 5-7 days in the previous celebrations. The major events that Davaoeños always expect every year are :

• Mutya ng Dabaw 2010
  
• Datu Bago Awards 2010
• Museo Dabawenyo Historical Exhibit
• Agro-Industrial Fair
• SaliDabaw
• Sayawan sa D'an
• Banda Hudyaka
• People's Park Presents
• Parada Dabawenyo

The major events will happen between March 14 - 16, 2010. Since March is also International Woman's Month, there are new events that highlight women entrepreneurship and empowerment - Magnegosyo ta Day and Fair Trade Bazaar and Kaon ta, Day, Lingaw ta Bay.

All these activities shall affirm and celebrate the various sources of stability that give Davao power and empower its diverse people to make it what it is today and shape what it will be in the future.

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