If it swells. . . Ride it!

The surf has been nothing short of excellent during the past week. Since Dec. 20, the surf has really been nothing short of epic. Tuesday we had some solid surf in the 3 to 5 ft range, not big, but clean shape. I got a few good tube rides on Tuesday. The following Wednesday morning before work, the waves were bigger, about 8ft with 10 to 12 ft faces off the jetties in Newport. I had a lot of fun on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before work. A big swell from Hawaii wrapped around the islands and hit Newport, which was pretty much the only place holding the swell with any decent shape. HB was like a river and impossible to paddle out. Seal beach was a notable exception as it was breaking 20ft on the south side. We haven't had this much swell this big for a long time, but it has been fairly consistent. the problem though when there is a high surf advisory is all the koooks come out and want to try and catch the waves. It was crowded and for the most part , a lot of these guys don't really belong out there when the waves are so big. It realy makes it harder because now you are dealing with those who don't know the right etiquette, and also, the lineup turns into a parking lot, with speed bumps, so you have to watch out for everyone who may be in the way. Just goes with the territory of surfing in such a crowded place like Newport can be. I sometimes wish it would be a bit more radical so fewer surfers would try to paddle out, but 8 to 10ft is pretty much my max too, then I wouldn't be out to catch the waves either. Did a few Dawn Patrols to reduce the crowd situation, caught a few decent size mackers in the process. overall a good start to the winter surf sessions. I just wish it wasn't so damn cold. I'd like to stay slotted in a warm tube all the time, but that just ain't gonna happen. Except perhaps in the bedroom.

Dream: Internet overload

This one is a good one. I was at my high school reunion, and some of the people there began to roast me due to some of the writings I had written that were on the Internet. It was really weird seeing my classmates slam me for opinions on such things as Microsoft antitrust issues and other really meaningless things, because they were just that, opinions. I took it all in stride, when I said "I am on the Internet" I really meant it. but an ex came up to me and said I can't believe you, trying to negotiate a settlement on the Internet. A settlement for what? It was really a scary one, because people kept lining up to take shots at me, but I was really unfazed by it all because they were all, except the settlement one, referring to opinions, written clearly by someone who is opinionated. And then I woke up. After I woke up, I tried to get back to sleep to get back into the dream to fight back, but I just couldn't get back to sleep. The only other time I tried to get back to sleep after waking up in the middle of a dream, was when I was having sex with a woman in my dream, and everything was interupted by waking up. Those episodes have occurred several times over the course of the last 20 years, and let me tell you, those are the worse kinds to have interupted.

The Commercialization begins

Wal mart had a sale for $378 notebook computers. In Florida. There was a fight as grown men wrestled to the groundf as one tried to cut in line to get one.

Californians Repudiate Gov. Arnold's initiatives

The voting citizens of California have spoken, and they would rather Gov. Arnold work with the legislature to get things done in the state rather than try to go over their heads. Every one of the governor's initiatives have failed in this special election, which cost California taxpayers some $50 million to conduct and some $250 million spent in advertising dollars for and against the propositions. Has the governor's movie star shine faded? I liked him better as the Terminator, rather than what he is today, a partisan political hack that thirsts for more power.

Ballot by initiative

In California we can do just that. get a bunch of signatures and get your idea on the ballot for a vote by the people. In this case, it was really an end around to legislating and thank god Californians aren't as stupid as the National Republican party and Arnold thought they were. Although I voted for some of them, I am still happy that Gov. Arnold was spanked.

His propositions all failed.

A proposition to make it harder for public school teachers to gain tenure. I voted for this proposition. As is current, teachers need only work in their profession for two years to gain tenure, which basically gives them a job for life. The proposition would have changed it from two to five years. Failed.

Proposition 75, to make unions get permission from their members before spending money on political campaigns also failed. This was a blatant attempt by republicans who are anti-union to make it harder for unions to run effective campaigns. It seemed good in principle, but it does nothing to stop the corporate interests from spending however much money they want. I voted no on this. It also failed to pass.

Proposition 77 to take district redrawing out of the politicians hands and give it to a panel of three retired judges. This proposition will probably make it again into an election because I think it is too important. Currently politicians redraw districts every ten years to their benefit. They basically redraw their districts to ensure that their seats in power are safe. Which means these clowns can stay in office relatively unopposed for the duration of their seat in that particular poltical office. The problem with this proposition was it would have placed an inordiante amount of power into the hands of just three judges appointed by politicians. It should have been a panel of 9 judges, akin to that of a circuit court of appeals.

I voted yes on this proposition, but the anti-Arnold vote killed this one as well.

Another proposition would have required parental notification for teenagers to get an abortion. According to the LA Times, this was promoted by the state Republican party to evangelical whack jobs and other religious fanatics in attempt to get them out to vote for the governor's initiatives as well. If my teen daughter got pregnant and wanted an abortion, I would like to know that she wanted to have the procedure, as would any parent. I voted for this proposition, although it failed. Abortion is one of those hot topic issues that splits the country like no other.

Although I don't think it should be any business what a woman does with her body and that of her unborn child, I don't really agree with the concept of abortion, that is, electing to have a surgical procedure to remove a living being from the womb of the mother, unless in the case of rape or the child is so severely deformed (like born without a brain) that it wouldn't live a normal life. But just because a girl had sex and got pregnant as a result of it? Well that is what birth control is for. Too many women in the US resort to abortion as a form of birth control, and I think that is morally wrong, especially when there are so many non invasive options available at your local drug store. Teeners in the first place really shouldn't be having sex, but teens will be teens and they do get pregnant, but thank god not at the rate it was when I was growing up.


There were other propositions on the ballot as well, all of which failed. 0-8 in this special election in which $50 million in taxpayer dollars wasted, and $250 million in negative ad money spent, and absolutely nothing has changed! Pretty good return on investment, don't you think?

My Mother

I finally talked with my mother regarding her half sister. She in a nuthsell said that she would not talk with her regarding what was said in Hawaii, because she wants to "enjoy" her relationship with her for the remaining time they have on this earth. But she didn't say anything about the stress that her half sister puts upon my father when they are in the same room. I really am beginning to despise my mother's half sister for her antics.

Now is the issue of my dad's land that he is selling in the PI. I am hoping that myn mother's half sister stays out of his way and does not ask for a handout of what is my dad's inheritance from his parents. The remaining parcels of land that he owns with his siblings in Manila. It seems that she is expecting money whenever my mother *(in this case my dad) comes into money, and this is wrong.

Sugar

This is a shot of Jovi's mom's sugar cane fields. As far as the eyes can see, it is Rodriguez land. Pretty crazy the whole sugar cane business. It is a six month a year job, for Jovi's brother. According to him, his workload is six months out of the year,four days a month, (every saturday), four hours a day, of which two hours is spent driving back and forth to the fields and two hours is spent walking the fields. Imagine that. the following six months is just pretty much doing nothing, and he is the loaded brother in the family.

The business was actually booming up until the 1980s, when the sugar market collapsed under the monopoly set up by Marcos. I was able to get a story from Tita Chita, Jovi's dad's wife whom we laid to rest, about the whole business from her perspective. You see her family ran pawn shops and jewelry stores in Bacolod. At the end of the harvest season, the farmers were issued certifcates A, B, and C. A for Export, B for local, and C for whatever, according to her. The C certifcates were almost always given to the wives of the landowners, who would proceed to purchase jewelry from Tita Chita. The thing was, at the beginning of each season, the husbands would demand that the wives pawn their jewelry so they can begin a new crop, so Chita put on her pawn shop hat and would proceed to purchase the jewelry that she sold them at the end of theseason for half of what she sold it to them, give or take. The cycle went on and on for years until Chita was involved in a holdup at the jewelry store that I believe killed her father. Not sure if that is true or not though. That was in the 70s, so her mom packed up the kids and moved them to the States.

It was quite an interesting story that she told me, because I really enjoyed hearing it. I enjoy hearing all kinds of stories about the Philippines, especially ones that discuss the history of sorts. Chita told me just her little part of the sugar history of bacolod. I only wish that I could have heard more stories from her like that.

In a FUNK

I've been in a funk ever since I got back from our trip to the Philippines. I can't really put my finger on it but for some reason, I have been feeling funky, and not in the good sense. I don't really know what it is, but for some reason, it has to do with the trip. Emotions. ;( The last time I went to the Philippines, in 1989, I came back in bitter disappointment. A lot of things went down in my life back then, and I had vowed then that I wouldn't go back. There was no real reason to. I had made some interesting decisions then with regard to my life and that of others that were wakeup calls to change the way I had wantonly did things to myself and to others. Young and Dumb. It was a roller coaster that fortunately for those involved, stopped, at least I hope, fairly quickly. I got off. Not my Cup of tea, as was always said.

I guess the trip brought back a lot of that history that I had gotten over years ago. I mean when I smelled that Philippine air, it was really different from those days of long ago. I expected the sweaty, sweet, pungent smell of Manila, but got a blast of nothingness. I didn't get a whiff of that third world air that I was expecting. Maybe it is a lost sense. Now it is really just that, the history of the whole affair. The good, and it was good, the bad, which was at its best, real bad, and the freakin fubugly, which was a lot of nastiness. Chock it up to inexperience, indifference or both, the feelings came back when I stepped off that plane and spent the last day of our trip to the Philippines in Manila, walking around Greenbelt, an old haunt that really struck a cord.

Usually I get blue like this around the Holidays, but fuck, it isn't even Halloween YET! I am not really looking forward to the crass commercialism of Christmas. I do though want to send stuff to my new found brother and sister ins-law and their family in Bacolod. I had the best time with them in the Philippines, so much so that we are planning to bring the boys back with us when we visit again this summer. I guess my boys will be getting a bit less, Shit they already have everything they need. Motorcycles, ATVs, a boat, all the material things teenagers could want. They don't need anything else but a good sermon from God himself.

Jovi was even open to the idea of living in Bacolod for a few years. Although I really like Tagaytay. I heard they are putting subdivisions up there like crazy. My job affords me to live pretty much anywhere in the world there is an Internet connection, and I was sorta shocked when she said that, because, I could move there yesterday. I just like the sweetness and the hospitality of the people in the Philippines. It truly is incredible how friendly they can be. Illongos, and especially those from Bacolod are very easygoing and friendly folks.

I think perhaps I need to go surfing, get into it again.

Feeling OLD

I am feeling old today. I just turned 38, so I don't feel like writing anything.

School kids

Beauty abounds in the Philippines






I volunteered to take a shot with this girl.








I was shooting from the car and these school children flagged me down, asking to take their pictures. So I did.

Ay Philippines

We returned home after our last day in Manila. didn't expect to go but at the last minute, we decided to take the noon flight out of Bacolod and spend the day in Manila, My how things have changed. We spent almost six hours just walking around Greenbelt. . . 1 2 3 and Four. Last time I was there I think it was only Greenbelt 1. I had no idea how big that place has grown. We stayed near the fountain and Jovi's girlfriend spent several hours catching up as I wandered aimlessly through the various Greenbelts that have sprouted over the last 15 years. The place is really nice and well kept. There are guards at virtually every entrance to keep out the riff raff. We dined at a place called Recipes, which serves Filipino food. It was a really nice place. Clean and the food was good. We had lechon Kawali with I forget the vegetable, Generals Chicken, and another vegetable that was quite good. Service was really nice, and the folks were friendly. We then went to a place called Cafe Bretone, right next to the Cafe Havana, right next to the Starbucks for coffee and crepes. IMagine that, French, Cuban and American coffee houses right next to each other. Outside cafes are cool. Outside cafes in Greenbelt are even more interesting.

We checked out the shopping stores and I bought a book at the National Bookstore, (Hagedorn's The Gangster of Love) but for the most part we were all shopped out, so I just wandered aimlessly about trying real hard to remember the place as jovi and her girldfriend caught up on chismis. I ambled over to Greenbelt 1, which is now totally different than what it was 16 years ago. I don't remember any of the shops. I rented some time at the internet cafe there and cruised the net and just did next to nothing, Then I decided to people watch, so I sat on a bench for a while, checking out all the women walking by, texting on their cell phones and just looking like typical pretty Manila girls. One even smiled when I smiled at her. Ay how hard it is to smile in the States.

Then it was time to get back to the airport for our return flight home. The traffic was pretty incredible. Very busy and the air seemed a lot more dirty than I remember, but with a population growth of about 20 million in the last 15 years, you'd expect that sort of thing. I really feel sorry for those who live in Forbes park and Dasma village, because even though they can hide behind their secure 15 ft walls, they are still breathing that dirty dirty air. Really lucky for those who live in Ayala Alabang or BF Pque, but then again, I didn't visit those places this time so I don't know how it is there air quality wise. The pollution is absolutely insane in Makati. Totall unacceptable. At the airport we stayed in the Mabuhay Lounge, and got a full body massage, Jove went for a neck and shoulder massage and I went for the full body massage, which was quite refreshing considering the major haul we had to embark on for the next 12 hours. I really enjoyed that airport massage and only wish I could have one everyday.

The continued Oppression of the Filipino

The Pilipino is a prisoner in his/her own country. Not really knowing much about the stratification of a country, I really feel the Philippines is a classic example of how money and the color of your skin affects your chances in the country. Perhaps this is true in other countries but in the Philippines, I think it is more pronounced. In the Gaisano mall in Bacolod, I noticed that a lot of the mall patrons had lighter skin, either with spanish or chinese blood. I didn't see the brown skinned Filipinos at any of the malls I visited. Not in Bacolod, and especially not in Greenbelt. What I am talking about are the people that keep the economic wheels turning in the Philippines. The taxi drivers, the street vendors, the people you see taking the public transportation, you don't see those types at the malls. Perhaps they can't afford to shop at the fancy malls, or perhaps the security guards screen those who are allowed in, it was really rare to see any Filipinos in the malls. Maybe I was blind to it before or naive ( I was very naive back then, really dumb) but this trip, I saw a very different Philippines than 16 years ago.

But really that is how things go in the Philippines. I just wish somehow someone in power will have the guts to start making a change. As of yet nobody in politics is interested in making life better for Filipinos. They are still more interested in enriching themselves. Ninoy Aquino was killed more than 20 years ago. Who has the werewithal, the charisma to step up and lead the land of squatter camps out of its misery? I continue my depression.

Bacolod Day 3

Today was yet again another shopping day. We went to the new Gaisano mall in town and on a shopping spree with Tita Annalie's older boys, Nico and Anton. Jovi gave them some money and we went shopping. Addidas was the first destination, and since Jeremy also plays futbol (soccer), I was able to buy him some futbol pants and a shirt. The cool thing was Anton and Nico gave Jeremy their last year's futbol jerseys and pants from their high school, LaSalle, so that was very nice of them and I am sure Jeremy will enjoy them. We also brought along Raymund's children, Luigi, LeeAnn, and Lyka. Luigi though is a very quiet kid. He is the oldest grandchild of Tito Monet, and he is very quiet, a silent Giant. I call him a giant because physically he is a very large man child, about 6ft 3 and 200+lbs. By contrast, Joshua is only 6ft and about 170lbs. Lyka is a very beautiful 11 year old and LeeAnn is a cute cute preteen, maybe 7 or 8 years old. We also brought along Annalie's younger children, Marco, and Marty. I guess that as people get closer to 40 years old, they tend to have a second set of children if they can. More on the shopping later.

Last night was the final night of Tita Chita's viewing. I met quite a few Montero's during the course of the last few days as well as most all of the political types of Bacolod. The funny thing about Bacolod, and perhaps the Philippines is the diversity of the country. It really is socially (read economically) and racially stratified. Even during the viewings of the last few nights, there was another family mourning the loss of their patriach, the Kramer family. The story (just story) is that Kramer was a very handsome German who married into the Montilla family of Bacolod. I heard it has been five generations of Kramers on Negros. They are rich and are white. The clan members that I saw during the last few nights look like Americans, yet they speak fluent Illongo and adhere to the customs of Negros and Bacolod. It appears that they don't inter marry with the local Filipinos here on Negros, but marry into other prominent Spanish or other non natives. Though they are really considered native because they've been here for so long. Its an interesting study into the culture of the country.

One thing that I realized is my lack of culture with regard to things Filipino. I witnessed some interesting culture with regard to the Montero clan and the Kramer clan. I witnessed a lot of culture that I was devoid of growing up in America. Coming to Bacolod, I was able to learn a lot of more about the Montero clan. There is a lot of Montero's and most of them are big, especially the men. I figure that because they are also Spanish, they are like that. It is also interesting to witness the Novena prayer to the dead. We did two days in Los Angeles and four days in Bacolod. I am not a midnight person, so the first couple of days was difficult as I dozed off. The last night was easier because I conversed with RJ Montero. RJ lives in BF Homes PQUE and is a software development manager in Makati. Finally I was able to converse with a fellow nerd. We spoke the same language! That made the night go very fast and soon as I knew it, it was already closed to midnight.

Bacolod Day 2

Today we went shopping for the most part throughout and then we visited with Raymund, Jovi's brother at his house. He lives outside the city on a big plot of land, almost like a farm, but it isn't the farm he works on. He lives on Jovi's mom's land, the Rodriguez side of the family. We had lunch there and met up again with his children, Lyka, LeeAnn, and Annalie's children joined us, Marco and Marty, Annalie's daughter.


At the viewing I met some more interesting cousin's of Jovi. Lilibeth is the cousin of Jovi on her dad's side, she is a Limsiaco. Her family is also part Syrian or Lebanese, so she is really pretty. Not beautiful but pretty. She is a flight attendant for Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong. She really has that metropolitan beauty to her. Her husband is a cousin of Jovi on her mom's side. He is a short chinese guy, really sort of ugly, but he is rich.

According to jovi's dad, he just goes around his businesses in Bacolod and collects the money. No realy work. lilibeth's sister, Lynette, is also a looker, if she toned down her makeup a little bit. you see she looks a like a cross between Michael Jackson and a man. she wears too much makeup, and she looks like perhaps she gets injections in her lips to make them puffier. Anyway, she walked in as if she were a princess.

But really Bacolod is a nice respite from all the bullshit you would experience in Manila. The people here are very friendly and they are all hard working. Even the security guard in McDonald's because it was so slow today, was cleaning up tables in his spare time. This McDonald's also has a new concept called the McCafe. Designed to better compete with Starbucks, the McCafe, is connected to McDonald's by a common wall, but it has its own separate entrance and its own goodies. The McDonald's here also has wireless access. It is provided free for up to one hour, just bring your notebook computer , and you can obtain the password at the counter. Pretty cool. This McDonald's also had an extensive toy collection, including a wall of what appeared to be every Happy Meal toy given out in various McDonald's throughout the world. The difference between the McDonald's here and in the states is the workers here are hard working. As a matter of fact, most all of the workers I've seen are hard workers.

The only thing is the way the people here drive. It is really absolutely crazy. If you have an opening in the road, you go for it, no matter if you block the road, you inch and inch your way and then you go for it. Really the traffic is crazy, buit the drivers all anticipate what it is you will do and honk to let you know they know, or let you know not to do it. They use the horn all the time, like in Manila. But I've heard the traffic in Manila is really bad. We will be stopping in Manila on Saturday and will visit Jovi's friends at Greenbelt for lunch before we take off for California. I wanted to visit my cousins in Cavite but my dad says the traffic really is horrendous, especially on a Saturday as everyone is going to Tagaytay. At least I can do some last minute shopping at Greenbelt, and see how that place has changed.

Bacolod Day 1

This marks the first trip to nthe Philippines without me staying in Manila other than to transfer planes. Usually, when I go to the Philippines, Manila is the final destination. That is the way it has always been. This trip, Jovi and I bypassed Manila entirely and went to Negros island to the town of Bacolod, where she was raised. Now I am in a Villa in Capitolville subdivision writing about my first trip to Negros. Bacolod was the sugar bowl of the Philippines during its heyday up until the 1980s. Sugarland produced quite a bit of wealth for the people of Bacolod, and the island of Negros, but that has all for the most part stopped. I read of times when Negros experienced the kind of lifestyle reminiscent of the Great Gatsby; huge palatial grounds, fancy cars, lavish parties, and such. And in part I can see remnants of that, mostly in the way people dress here. We are here to bury my father' in laws, wife Chita, who died Nov. 7 of cancer. And Chita has a lot of friends. I met the ex governor of Negros, Lito Coscolluela, and his wife Betsy, one of Chita's best friends from childhood, who was chosen by Chita to help arrange her burial and wake, and most all of Jovi's siblings and cousins. Now I know why Joshua is so tall! It is in Jovi's Spanish Rodriguez blood. Joshua's first cousin, Luigi, is 6ft 3 and around 215 lbs or so and he is only fourth year high school His other first cousin Nico is around 6ft 1 and second year high school, and Nico's brother Anton is 5ft9. Joshua hovers right around the middle at 6ft.
The Negrenses are different from the Pilipinos in Manila. Their dialect, Illongo, has a non confrontational intonation to it. If there resemblance to another language in terms of tone, it would have to be French. Almost every time, the sound comes out like that of a question, even though it is not. Its hard to explain, but the tone is like a singsong. Very pretty.

Capitolville
The house we are staying at is in the Capitolville subdivision in Bacolod, one of Jovi's relatives is selling the house so we have pretty much free reign of it. It is a custom home that is made of pretty much all foreign materials. The tiles that line the dinig area and the huge sala in the backyard are 17 inch Italian tiles (I thought that we had installed some big stuff in our home at 13 inches but I guess not). The wood floors are made of exotics, probably a Koa wood or perhaps mango, I am not sure. There are two huge French doors that lead to the lanai in the back, of which there is a blue pool, of which I am going to swim. The backyard features square slate pavers and huge Vigan jars accenting the mini palms and Sago Palms, those $600 plus palms that Californians have to have in their yards. The roof's fascia is also made of exotic wood. The cinder blocks that make up a lot of the walls are also of high quality, I want to say marble, but I am not positive. The second floor is wood throughout, as is the staircase. The bathroom fixtures are American Standard ( I had no idea what Philippine Standard was when it was one of my jeepney stops in Manila until I saw all the toilet bowls. It took time to equate the two) The owner spared to expense. I want to buy this place. All I'd have to do is sell my house in California, move here and join the jobless.

The people of Bacolod
So far so good. The folks that I've met so far are very nice. All Jovi's cousins are accomodating and I am truly grateful for all of it. One thing I am not quite used to is the greeting. It is done not so much with a handshake but a kiss on the cheek. In Manila, I think that this is also done with relatives, but I am not sure if they do it with friends. Perhaps it is more a family thing than anything, but I am getting used to doing it with all the relatives I am meeting.

I haven't really had a chance to get to taste some of the food that Negrenses are known for, but I will have my chance today. Bacolod is known for its chicken, and since I am privy to most all foods, as long as its chicken, that is what we'll go for today.

Journalizm

It turns out the journalists were wrong regarding the death chaos and mayhem that was reported during the days after Hurricane Katrina Struck. It now appears that there weren't any sexual assaults of children and there weren't roving gangs attacking helpless folks in Louisiana's Superdome. Chalk it up to lack of communication lines to vette stories, or whatever, the fact is that newspapers and TV reported such events, from the NY Times to FAUX News, to the LA Times. When you look back on it, it really is a non-surprise. The mainstream media has been asleep at the wheel the last five years. Really. WMD's in Iraq? Where was any journalistic investigative reporting there? It is really a pathetic time indeed to be a member of the mainstream media trying to cover today's current events. Perhaps journalists should be compelled to obtain a license to practice their craft.

Thick Fat Beast

I went surfing out at the Point in Newport yesterday. There was a thick fog and the waves were breaking well over head. The Point is a fickle left hander for the most part that breaks on a straight south swell. I never really have good luck with this left hander lately, especially how this one breaks. For the most part, my success rate with this wave is 85/20% success rate. I usually do pretty good with it. The Point though really sucks up and breaks on a sandbar, so the water is super shallow. But yesterday was one of the 20s. Although the conditions were pretty glassy, the fog was obscuring the swell, and I got a little too confident on the first two waves that came in. The third wave, I found myself in the impact zone, and on a board that was too big to punch through it so I got drilled. I don't get drilled too often but this one was a rogue that absolutely hammered me. I saw it coming out of the fog and it was just beastly, a solid 8ft wave with a thick, fat lip. It was a freighttrain. Superpowerful, nobody caught it. I paddled as hard as I could to get over it and was just at the top of the face when I tried to punch through. Didn't make it. The wave proceeded to catch me and throw me down. I didn't get thrown from the lip so it wasn't as bad as it could have been but it was pretty scary nontheless.

Since I am blind as a bat, I wear contacts and I don't open my eyes underwater, but for the most part, i can keep a good sense of which way is up relative to the position of my body. I came up and there was another wave coming in and I got thrashed again. This time though I tried to hold onto my board, which proceeded to whack me up side the head in the process. So called it a day at that spot after only 20 or so minutes out. There was a current like a river pushing toward the Newport Pier and I just really had enough of the Point. So I went and surfed 36th, which is about a mile walk down the beach. The waves were a bit more managemable but at this time I realized that I injured my back and neck. The back injury I think was a result of getting absolutely bent at Sandy's during our family trip to Oahu last month. And the neck injury I think occurred when I got whacked upside the neck. Sio today I have a stiff neck. Hurts to turn, can't look at the pretty girls anymore, just kidding. My neck is stiff and hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Wrong man pays child support to Peterson mistress

This goes to show how promiscuous US society is.

Cnn Story

Amber Frey, the woman who had an affair with Scott Peterson during the time he was plotting his wife and unborn son's murder, announced that the father of her four year old daughter is actually not the father, even though he has been paying $400 a month for the last four years. Her Attorney, Gloria Allred had to announce to the media that Amber, in good faith, believed that the man was indeed the father of her child when in fact a DNA test proved that he was not the father of her child.

That is straight out of Maury or Jerry Springer. I mean what kind of woman would do that to a man, claim he is the father when in fact he wasn't? Could it be an honest mistake, as Frey's attorney claimed? The woman just couldn't stop jumping from one man's bed to another. She should have at least used birth control.

High school reunion

I went to my 20th high school reunion with my friend Mike Heinle and his wife. who graduated a year after me but are friends with some classmates of mine. We sat with two classmates I had went to school with since grade school and junior high. Lori Baker and Denise Ferrell. Lori looks totally different from when I knew her last. We were friends in grade school, she was the first girl I kissed, back when I was in 6th grade. but in high school we didn't hang out at all. Lori looks totally different from how I remember her. Same with Denise Ferrell. She is still a firecracker latina, all 5ft and 100 lbs of her. Both lori and her are good friends, they go to Havasu a lot and meet up with Mike and his wife.

Now on to the others I spoke briefly with last night. I spoke with Jurina Mendoza briefly last night too. Jurina was my first high school crush. We dated briefly and enjoyed a brief encounter in front of her house way back in 1981 that I wasn't really prepared for. I had a crush on her throughout high school, but I was just too dorky for her. I used to pull on a green beret that she wore in 10th grade. She is good friends with one of my best friends, Chris Panaia. Through Chris, over the years, I learned that Jurina became a hair stylist for 7 years, then she went to culinary school and served as a chef for several years, and currently, when I talked to her, she was a server at a "fine dining" restaurant, where the pay is better than that of a chef. She was smokin hot last night, though she did have a few age lines on her face. I forgot to mention that she is half filipina, her dad being a filipino and her mom being Finnish, so she is pretty hot. I remember I was at a party in the Philippines in 1985 and there was this girl who looked just like her and I thought it was her, but it turned out that she was a movie star named Mags Bonnin. I sort a felt a bit sheepish then though cause I was staring at her, thinking she was jurina when she was not. Anyway, there were others who surprised me. Without mentioning names, I talked with two other girls who really aged over the last 20 years. I think they were smokers because there skin was really aged, and I believe smoking does that to your skin. One of the girls, I thought she was the cutest girl at the school back then , and when the comment mentioning it to her husband, he said, perhaps you should tell her, as it would make her really happy. But I didn't. The other girl I spoke to only attended OVHS for two years then she moved away. She looked really old. I saw next to her in Jr high because her last name began with a T which is two from V. We were talking about her around the table and the girls at the table were really brutal. They ahd said that she definitely ahd plastic surgery. I didn'tr get into it with them.


I spoke with Kenny Reda, he is a fellow surfer who was going to make the move to Maui but decided against it, but then he moved from Laguna Niguel to Temecula, and now I think he is regreting it. Moving his family to Temecula for a bigger house I think was a mistake because now he is 40 miles from the beach instead of just a few miles. He was complaining about that.

Chris mentioned that the people we didn't talk to in high school, still didn't talk to us. The usual cliques that were around in high school were still around. Unbelievable. One funny scene was with this guy I know by face only, he was in the school plays and was a struggling actor last time I saw him hawking stuff at the swap meet. He shows up with this woman who had these huge, absolutely HUGE pointy breasts, and I am talking to Kenny and he says, Hey guys, as he walks by and smiles, with this big breated woman in tow. It sort of is fitting for the guy, but to us, it seemed like a huge charade, big breasted woman at the high school reunion.

I spoke with some woman who I never spoke with while in high school, one the city manager of Half Moon Bay and the other a friend of Jurina's who still doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, though she is taking filmmaking class. Those were some intersting conversations.

One funny thing, you'd go up to some people you had classes with and they wouldn't remember your name and the standard line was, "Hey Bro, how you been." As if they even gave a fuck what your name was.

That is the state of Ocean View High School's 20th reunion affairs. Not a lot of people showed up, and I think it was a waste of $90. But I did get to speak with some friends. I had no idea that Brian Capoccia got busted by the DEA right after high school. When he told me that I couldn't believe it. Its been a long 20 years. A lot of things have changed, yet a lot of things stay the same. A lot of girls I knew look aged 20 years while a few others I didn't know, Janet Lidberg, Rebekah Fleishman, look absolutely the same.

Convey a positive image as thousands drown in New Orleans

According to an AP report written by reporter Ted Bridis

"Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims."

"FEMA response and recovery operations are a top priority of the department and as we know, one of yours," Brown wrote Chertoff. He proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours and 2,000 within seven days.

Employees required a supervisor's approval and at least 24 hours of disaster training in Maryland, Florida or Georgia. "You must be physically able to work in a disaster area without refrigeration for medications and have the ability to work in the outdoors all day," Brown wrote.

The same day Brown wrote Chertoff, Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments. Brown said it was vital to coordinate fire and rescue efforts.


Michael Brown is a good ole boy of Bush, who, prior to being given the job of director of FEMA probably due to his astute fund raising skills, was the chairman or manager of some type of Arabian Horse association. He had no disaster management skills whatsoever. Heck he probably didn't have any skills related to any form of governing. He was a Bush crony and fund raiser.

I can imagine Brown right now "We was fixin to convey a positive image so W could look good for the cameras.

Brown will be made the fall guy, even though a fall guy isn't needed in this case because his incompetence and that of Department of Homeland Security goon Chertoff has been proven.

It is truly sick to learn these things, but hey, America elected Bush to a second term, and this is what we get.

Newport Beach Parking MADNESS

Sunday I went surfing at Newport. I parked in the parking lot as usual and hiked it three jetties down to find some surf, as it was pretty flat everywhere. I did find a wave breaking off the 36th St. jetty. It was a makeable left, about 2ft. so I hiked it back to the parking lot to get my board. I surfed it for maybe an hour, catching half a dozen waves and then calling it a session. Waves were pretty few and far between.

After I got back to my car and changed, I took a walk on the pier. As it is every holiday weekend these days, the pier was packed with people fishing, as was the parking lot.

As I approached my car to leave, I noticed a woman who was blocking a lane in her SUV as another woman tried to sneak her SUV into the spot. The woman closest to the spot yelled at the other woman, saying that she was saving the spot for her mother, who was winding her way through the packed parking lot to try and snag the spot. You see, the woman who was trying to save the spot drove an SUV that wouldn't fit in the spot because there was an RV parked in the next parking spot.

I was beginning to get amused at the exchange taking place.

The woman in the other SUV tried to get in and then the other woman would move forward, then back, effectively blocking her. The lot began to back up as one could only imagine, as these two grown women had an exchange of ideas. At that point, I walked up to the woman who was trying to get into the spot and told her, "I am leaving, you can have my spot." She said thanks, and as I walked to my car, she was slow to move. The woman who was blocking the spot, yelled at her, "Move it Bitch, the guy is parked all the way down there." I was really beginning to get amused. As I pulled out of my spot, the woman waved a thanks and finally parked her SUV. I didn't see how the other woman fared, or if her mother was able to wend her way through the bottleneck created by her daughter.

It was really a sad reflection on the society in which I live. Two women, probably soccer moms, arguing over a stupid parking spot in Newport Beach, CA as people still perish in New Orleans. These women were unbelievable, especially the one hoarding the spot so her mother could get it. At that point in her life, that spot was the most valuable thing to her. Pretty sad commentary on life's priorities.

Impotence

It took our government five days to send food and water to the poor folks in New Orleans. What a disgrace. Five Days with no food and water for upward of 50,000 people in the hottest, dankest, wettest city in the United States. The Mayor of New Orleans sent pleas for help and FINALLY, after going on radio blasting the federal response to this disaster, imploring the feds to "get off their asses and do something," help arrived in the form of a photo op. After five days, Help Finally Arrived. The government had been telling the people that help was on the way, but for many, it was too little, too late. What a disgrace. And on top of this lack of response in the most urgent time of need, there was a photo op. The government had known this would happen for over 100 years. Yet nothing was done to try and stop it. On the contrary, the Bush Regime diverted monies that could have shored up the levee system in New Orleans to Homeland Security and the "War on Terror." The hurricane was being tracked for days, yet there was no federal plan in place to deal with the death and destruction that might have, and did occur. WHERE WAS FEMA?

The BUSH REGIME was put to the test when Katrina came bearing down, and sadly, the BUSH REGIME has failed that test.


For five days, George Bush sat on his ass and did nothing. Rather than cut his five week vacation short by two days, BUSH extended his vacation and sat on his ass and did nothing as the worst natural disaster was happening in BUSH COUNTRY. He was sitting on his ass watching all the black folks suffer on CNN.

This so called hands-on president finally arrived in the disaster zone, five days later, and was treated to a photo op with the governors of Mississippi and Alabama, the directors of Home land security and FEMA and others, praising each other on the excellent job that they did. On National TV. What a disgrace. The president, obviously taking a cue from one of his media clowns, came off the plane with his shirt sleeves rolled up, "ready to go to work." What a disgrace.

This is the United States of America, and we aren't supposed to have AMERICAN refugees on our shores, and we certainly are not supposed to have such an impotent response to a national disaster like Hurricane Katrine.

People died. Chaos ensued. Children were raped in the Superdome, and it took Bush five days to send in the Cavalry.

WHAT THE FUCK TOOK YOU SO LONG? Not enough white people in New Orleans? Not enough Republicans? The response in Florida last year was faster. BUSH IS A DISGRACE. He is a total National Disaster.

Katrina +True Poverty=Sad times ahead

More often than not, natural disasters strike in places outside the United States, We do get the occasional hurricanes and earthquakes, but most disasters often occur in other countries, particularly the third world. But this week the US was struck by a hurricane that was massive not so much in scale, (it was a category 4 when it hit land) but in damage from the aftermath. The city of New Orleans was absolutely hammered primarily to a broken levee that let out massive amounts of water onto the city that is below sea level by about 3 to 6 feet. So that is what you are seeing on television, all that water causing death and mayhem. New Orleans is a vibrant, albeit mostly impoverished city. When I visited the city twice in the late 1990s, I found the place to be very colorful, a lot of mixtures on beautiful folks, nice titty bars, and of course a lot of poverty, not unlike what you'd see in a third world. Yes folks, we have true poverty in the United States, not some bullshit poverty claims that some hustle others with to sustain a comfortable lifestyle, but real out and out, abject poverty. I've seen it and it is really sad.

"I know where you got your shoes," is a pretty good scam that occurs everyday on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. A man, almost always a black man will come up to you and bet you $5 that he knows where you got your shoes, and when you take that bet, the standard reply is "you got those shoes right here on Bourbon Street." In a sense it is true because them there shoes you got on your feet are right there, in the now, in New Orleans. So you gotta pay up, because if you don't the man usually has some muscle to threaten you to pay up. Its a pretty good hustle, and it works more often than not.

The hustle going on right now is that of mayhem and what looks like bits of anarchy, as looters have started to rear their ugly heads. But, in the fluid situation that is happening right now, do the cops focus on saving those who need to be saved, or focus on protecting property? Some police are breaking into some of the convenience stores and handing out needed food and water to those in immediate need and they should be applauded, because based on the looks of what is being seen just on the TV alone, it is going to be a long time before New Orleans and the other affected cities in the south return to normal.

One thing leaves me wondering, which countries will come to our aid? Where is the "coalition of the willing?"

Test Results

I received the results my bloodwork yesterday and they are much improved over the last two. My cholesterol is at 190, which is pretty normal for the most part. It was at 278. My triglicerides are still high, at 221, but it definitely beats the 800 or so that it was in May. So my food choice and the meds I was on have made a difference. I am grateful that I have somewhat normal readings, and will work to get the trigs down to a more acceptable level. I am sure more meds are on the horizon but I am hoping that I won't have to take them indefinitely. I don't like meds, not even tylenols, but in this case, the walking ticking time bomb had to be defused.

The good news is the South beach Diet is working. It really is more of a lifestyle choice in what you eat and how you take care of yourself. And for me, it is working. I am going to stick with it. I don't want to lose any more weight, but rather I'd like to maintain my body weight at what it is given my small stature. So I am going to work on getting the body that I had when I finished high school. Surfing will do a lot of the upper body work, I am not worried about that. I need to focus on the cardiovascular and leg work, that is where the tennis comes in. We'll see. Josh and Jeremy are leaving for Hawaii Aug.1, so it'l be just me and Jovi, and of course Kimo until the 12 when we take off and meet up with them in Kona. Jac seems to be pretty excited. My tita Andeng and my tita lillian will be attending the wedding as well. tita lillian is like Jac's mom or at least like her older sister. I think that is why she invited her to attend as well. But she is getting old and traveling from the Philippines solo has got to be hard. Perhaps she should start thinking about bringing a companion along as well, somebody more mobile and younger to help her out.

Surf the web

It has been about a week since I last went surfing, mostly due to the fact that it has been flat, which pretty much sucks. When there is a swell you ride it, but when there is no swell what can you do?

Anyway, the US Open of Surfing is going on down in Huntington Beach this week. I went down today and will probably get press credentials so I can write a story on the streaming technology they are using to stream the event over the Internet.

Isn't the Internet cool? Everyday it really makes me be thankful that such an invention enables a lot of folks to do a lot of things. It brings people together in some respects, while for others, it makes folks money. It is truly a commerce machine. You can communicate with people all over the world, email pics and even watch porn straight from your computer.

One of the coolest sites on the Internet is Surfline.com. Yep, it is a site set up with webcams at some prime surf spots in the United States and select spots around the world. You can check the surf to see if its any good at your local break, and you can check it in a place like South Shore Hawaii, which streams video of Bowls, my former stomping ground when I lived there back in 2000. I've seen Bowls absolutely going off and just wished that we didn't move back to California. Surfline.com is one of the few subscription based sites that might be worth the money. It was free back in 2000 but today they charge a fee to see the live streams. But they do offer a written report and a still image of your favorite surf spot, as well as a wealth of information regarding surf, weather buoys, swell direction, tides, etc.

I should have become a marine biologist, that way I could be in the water all the time. I remember back in the early 1980s, there was a story in Surfer magazine written by a marine biologist who had a job studying the reefs of the Philippines. Pollution impacts as well as dynamite fishing, that sort of thing I think. The guy got to travel all over the Phils for two years or so, and he happened to be a surfer. Imagine, being able to have a job like that. I could travel all over the country and surf some of the killer breaks they write about in the surf magazines. I had one of my friend's over for dinner the opther night. He has surfed all over the place, Panama, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Tahiti, but he wants to surf Cloud 9 in Catanduanes. He is married to a half Filipina/half German American girl who was my former co-worker. We were talking about Cloud 9, and I was telling him how the break was named after a Philippine chocolate bar. Those candy bars are surprisingly good for Philippine candy, actually, that is one of the things that I ask my aunt to bring me when she visits, that and Bench and FHM Philippines. The thing is the last FHM mag that she brought had Halle Berry on the cover, and Halle just doesn't do it for me. I really wanted to see a filipina on the cover, but WTF. No worries. I'd trade a box of Nestle Whites for a box of Cloud 9's any day.

My auntie Jacqueline is finally getting married. She has been dating her fiance for more than 10 years, and finally they are getting married. The guy is 50 and according to my mom, he has asked her to marry him many times over the years and she had said no too many times. I wonder what spurred her to say yes. My mom didn't approve of him when she first met him (long hair in a pontytail, leather jacket), and Jacq I think took it personally so she never brought him around. ver the last 10+ years they have been dating, Anthony has probably been to a handful of family gatherings. Seriously. Jacq is the half sister of my mom, and I guess she didn't want to disappoint her. Me? I always did my own thing, regardless of what my mother said. I was always opposed to her "meddling" but that is my mom, and her "meddling" didn't change Jacq's mind, she is marrying him. The wedding will take place on the Big Island, at the Hilton Waikaloa Village in August. So I am happy we are going back to Hawaii, if at least for a vacation. After the Big Island, we are going to O'ahu and will stay in our house in Manoa for a week. Jodi is worried about the tenant who rents my portion of the house, but WTF, he is a tenant, and if he wants to move out, he can. Then we can double the rent. I am fully looking forward to Hawaii. I just hope there is a swell when I am there. I have a couple of boards there. I've got like four boards there, five boards in my garage, and I've got another board (hopefully) at my aunt's house in the Philippines. That thing is ancient. But the last time I rode it, it worked. I just didn't get barreled.

Pollutted Waters

yesterday I was sick with a flu. I went surfing early in the morning and I noticed the water was dirty. It was Red Tide, which is a condition in the water when microorgranizms, dinoflagellates, die off, leaving the water a dirty brownish red color. Stupid of me, I surfed and inadvertently swallowed some water. When I came home to finish a story I was working on, I started to get the chills. I had a glass of lemonade that Jeremy made for me and proceeded to lay down on my bed, pulling the covers over and just shivering for the rest of the day.

By evening, I was feeling a bit better but not quite 100 percent. Later that night I had a serious bout of number 2, which wa as if a faucet was turned on it was so bad. But today, I came out of it Ok and feel a bit better, maybe 80 percent. Which brings me to some assumptions. How did I get sick with stomach flu? I am betting it was from the water, becauser I can't think of anything else that would have caused me to have a fever of 101 for such a short duration. The water off Newport was iffy and I went for it anyway. Big mistake. If anything is iffy, be it the food, the water, or a potential lover, forget it. Don't do it. I seriously think the water was polluted and I ingested some seriously foul water that caused me to get sick. What else could it have been? The lemonade? The lemons jeremy used were off our tree in the back yard and they might have been over ripe, but do over ripe lemons pose a risk that could cause me to get as sick as I was?

South Beach

Finally something good comes out of Florida! Since I've been on this modified South Beach Diet, I've gone from a weight of 167 to 155 lbs, and a waist size from 32 to 30. I've lost a considerable amount of weight and have lost the cravings that I had previously. I don't pine for the chocolate bars and all the sugary sodas anymore, though I did eat some strawberry and banana cream pie from marie Callender's over the 4th of July weekend. I am going to stick to the diet, which the author of the book calls a lifestyle. Jovi has also lost a considerable amount of weight in her support of me. She is really the catalyst that provides for all the cooking of the food. Rather than the creamy fattening tasty stuff she has been cooking over the last 15 years, she is now cooking up low fat, low carb stuff that is equally as tasty, albeit without all the artery clogging fat and cholesterol that makes food taste so good. I now understand that eating too much sugar conditions the body to crave yet more food, and what do you do but eat more, even when your body doesn't need all that sugar. The pancreas works over time to process all the sugar which can lead to dangerous things.That is exactly how it has been with me. I'd eat a late breakfast, and couple that with a late lunch and a lot of candy bars and sodas in between. pretty undisciplined.

The book provides for a lot of recipes and she has made good use of it. It is funny though because the book lists all the stuff that'l make you gain weight, and I am surprised that a lot of the stuff I enjoyed previously, fruit juices, bread, and the like are really supposed to taken in moderation. I used to drink a half gallon of OJ every two days, but the sugar content is unacceptably high, and I was under the impression that OJ is a good natural drink, a safe bet is what I always assumed. But the sugar is often as much as you'd get in a can of Coke, so that habit has been quelled. Thank god I never got to learn how to drink coffee, or I would really be in trouble.

Coupled with exercise, I think I am doing pretty good. The proof'l be in the pudding when I go for my next blood test next week. I've been doing a bit of exercise, surfing, and Tae Bo. I can see an outline of stomach muscles that disappeared 15 years ago when I got married. I've been doing abs and cardio work with Tae bo and have been playing tennis as well. So I've gotten off my lazy ass and have formulated an exercise regimen that I think is beginning to show results, which is a good thing, because I don't want to be a diabetic at 40.

Philippine politics

I promised myself a long time ago not to think about Philippine politics. When I was younger and more idealistic, I really felt that the Philippines really had a chance, that the people would lift themselves up. Benigno Aquino had said at one time that the Filipino is worth dying for. For him that is exactly what he did, and 20 some years later, the country has not progressed in any real fashion, with the exception of the exploding population, which at 80 million (it was 60 million in the 1980s) is expected to double within the next 20 years or so. Is the Filipino really worth dying for?

Hello Garci?

Now the current president is embroiled in an election scandal that seems to sprout new wings and take off with every passing day. It appears that she had phoned an election commisioner on the eve of the vote for president during the last election against the now deceased Fernando Poe Jr. in an effort to ensure that she wins by 1 million votes. The election commisioner apparently told her that they will try their best, for what nobody seems to know. But what appears is that the country has yet again lost confidence in their leader, with many apparently clamoring for change. Her family is also apparently flirting with the same problems that befell the last duly elected president, Estrada. Namely, her husband, son and brother are caught up in a jueteng scam of their own.

Left out in all of this is everyday filipino, who has to figure out how to feed their families on a daily basis while the elected officials continue to stick their hands in the cookie jar and taking out enough to feed thousands of filipinos everyday.

Things will Never Change

Things will never change in the Philippines, that is a statement that my dad has always said, ever since I was in high school. And I tend now to believe him. People in the Philippines tend to be a bit corrupted, and this all comes from the top, from the govt, and the "public servants" on down to the driver in the city streets who pay off the cops who pull them over. Sad but true.

The problems seem to be unsolvable as political families keep amassing fortunes on the backs of the people. Now the Philippines wants debt relief? The country has been paying down its debts that were incurred during the Marcos regime, but the govt. still hasn't shown to the people of the Philippines, let alone the world, that they can be trusted with other peoples monies. Some say that eliminating the foreign debt would release more funds for the country, but the problem here is those funds widely end up in the pockets of the politicians, I should know.

Leave the Philippines
More and more Filipinos are seeking their fortunes abroad, which in turn turns the people into a mobile workforce, building up other countries at the expense of the Philippines. Now the govt. is more reliant than ever on the foreign remittances that these migrant workers send back home. It is increasingly becoming clear that as more people leave the country, the more the country will stay in the dark ages, and the more the Filipino will be known abroad as the workers performing the unwanted or unfilled positions in far off places.

Vietnam has a very industrious people and their govt. is communist. Just 30 years ago, it was wracked in war that left more than 1 million Vietnamese dead. That country is surpassing the Philippines in many areas, both socially and economically, and soon, the Philippines will return to its status not as the Pearl of the Orient, but the sick man of asia. What is it going to take to get the Philippines on track? A U.S. trained economist? She is not working out, and the people have lost faith in her. The U.S. government will support any "duly" elected leader. Is a coup d'etat the right answer in this case? Or should Arroyo step down for the good of the country? It is sad that a mere four years later, the people are faced yet again with the potential of taking matters into their own hands are calling a people power election, but is their support this time around of the cabinet members and armed forces or will the country follow Arroyo to whereever she takes it?

7ft 2 GT Surf Designs

I'll be working at home for the most of the Summer as Jeremy will be attending summer school, and I will be the one to drive him. It's not really that big a deal, except for the fact it gets hot in my "home office." At any rate, I finally picked up a new surfboard, a 7ft 2-inch guy Takayama "GWAT" I know its a lame name for an Egg shaped board, but that is what he calls it. Its got the concaved nose like a noserider, is wide like a longboard, but surfs like a shortboard. I got a barrel on my fourth wave riding it yesterday. And that is with the 2+1. I am going to pull the sidebites and ride it as a single and see how it rides as soon as I get used to the set up. So far so good, but haven't really tested it in overhead waves, which is why I bought it in the first place. On one of the biggest days at Newport last summer, I couldn't make the paddle out because my 9'2 was too darned big and unwieldy. I actually had my eye on this exact shaped board from GT for more than a year, and somebody put one up on eBay and I bought it. $425 was the price, which is a bit steep for a surfboard, actually the most I ever spent for a board, but his boards go for $800 new and I am not going to pay close to $1000 for a surfboard, Guy Takayama or not. Guy is the cousin of my friend Mike, the guy who taught me how to surf back in the late 70s. Guy learned to shape from his ncle Donald, whose boards go for $1000 plus. crazy huh!. When I started surfing, a new board was around $350. You can still get a board for $350, but at that price, you are buying a board made by a shaping machine in China. Seriously, you can buy a surfboard at Costco now that is made in China. At least I know that my GWAT was shaped by a protege of a true shaping master.

South Beach Diet Week 2

Well it is week two of my South Beach Diet, recommended by my doctor. It has been a pretty tough week, but I am now to the point when I look at something like a chili cheese dog from 711 or an in-n-out-burger, I don't mind that I am not eating that stuff anymore. The more difficult comfort foods are the chocolate bars. I am truly a sucker for Reese's peanut butter cups, Snickers bars, and Hershey chocolate bars. I really miss those things, but sugar is sugar, so they have been exed off my eating list. Phase 2 of the diet starts this monday, and for the first time, dark chocolate will be allowed in moderation. Bacon and eggs have been replaced by veggie based sausage patties and egg substitutes. I've liked the Morning star brand even before I gave upmthe bacon and spam and such, so, it wasn't much of a stretch with the veggie based patties. I've also been sprinkling the Morningstar "bacon" on my salads, so that helps out a lot. I have never eaten so much salad in the past week as I have done this last week, but it actually doesn't other me. Salad is pretty good stuff. And I have lost weight too. I was 165 when I started this thing, so I think I must have lost about 5lbs. I'll know when I buy a scale. I want to get down to about 150 to 155 and maintain the weight there. I've also started taking the drug prescribed by my doctor, Antara, which is supposed to treat cholesterol and lipid disorders. Little buggers are expensive and $90 for 30 pills. My health insurance pretty much sucks and won't cover it, but what can I do except watch my diet closely and pray that my blood chemistries improve.

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

http://www.milkandcookies.com/stuff/triumphvsw.asx

What are you. . . .I am a stormtrooper

Intel Inside. . . . Your Mac

Apple today announced that beginning in 2006, it will start shipping Macintosh comptuers with Intel processors. For those of you who don't know anny Mac users, they tend to be borderline zealots when it comes to the brains powering their computers. They call those who use Windows computers members of the Dark Side and most always espouse the superiority of the Macintosh when it comes to computing. I first used a Mac in 1988 and remember seeing commercials about the Mac in 1989, where a bunch of corporate types were trying to figure out how to better illustrate their report, and one of the people around the table says "Macintosh", and that was the gist of the entire commercial. Well, it seems that Steve and Company have finally read the writing on the wall and determined, rightly so, that the PowerPC architecture was basically a delayed dead end for the Mac, and Intel would better serve its needs in the future. All I can say is its about time. Apple has really been a great software company that haoppens to sell hardware. There is really nothing wrong with Apple using Intel CPUs to power the next generation Macintosh computers, because, after all, isn't "Intel" only half of "Intelligent?"

Getting Married?

i've been pretty busy the last few weeks, what with a broken notebook computer and a sometimes online sometimes not desktop PC that it has been tough to update this blog. But at any rate, we had memorial day dinner yesterday with my friend David, the best man at my wedding. David has a new woman in his life, April, who has two kids of her own. David has a boy of his own from a previous marriage. We've met April before, but she has just moved in with David in his new condo. They've been going out for about 8 months, and she really wants to marry David. She wants the ring. Thing is, I think David wants to really take his time with this one. His first marriage crashed and burned when he caught his wife with another man. I was living in Hawaii at the time so I didn't know what was going on. But April, she really seems intent on getting married really quick. She was even pushing a September wedding but that seems to be too soon. So I don't blame him if he wants to take it slow because I know what he is talking about. We'll see. Now that she is moved in, she will really get to know him and he will really get to know her. I hope that she is sincere and doesn't want to burn my good friend. He is smart though so we'll see how he plays this one.

On another note, Josh and I are building a PC together. We got the motherboard, case RAM graphics card, and hard drive. What we need now is the OS and the CPU. We put together an AMD machine, from a motherboard that Soyo sent me last year. Just haven't got around to build it. At Fry's, our cashier was a Filipina. I asked if she was and she was curious how I knew. I just told her that she looked like a Filipina. We made some small talk and it turned out that she came to the US when she was three, so she was basically raised here. She thought I was hawaiian and didn't believe me when I told her I was a Filipino born here, or the PC term Filipino-American. And she was absolutely beautiful. She was really mestiza, with long black hair, probably around 5ft 2 or so, with a real sweet smile. She was really the kind of girl who oozed sweetness, as if you got close to her she'd smell really sweet. Anyway, well enough of the fetishness of such thinking. She was cute. End of story.

Tennis Anyone?

Josh, Jeremy and myself played tennis Saturday. It was the first time we played since we moved back from Hawaii. And I have to say that Jeremy hasn't changed a bit. he still thinks he is trying to hit a home run and would rather just mess around than try and hit the ball over the net. Josh is still the same too. Slightly uncoordinated. Me? I am just getting older. The hardest part was trying to find an open court. We first went to Golden West College. All the courts were taken or locked up. So we went and tried to find Marina High School, which we finally did after a while wasting gas. All its courst were locked up. So we went to Ocean View , and all the courst were taken there. We ehaded back to a park by Marina High and there was an open court. Actually Josh pointed out that the court was open the first time we passed it, but I either didn;t want to stop for fear of having to actuallyu play some tenis, or I just wanted to play somewhere else. We stopped anyway and got to play on the court. We were slow at first but got into it a little bit ebfore we decided to call it quits. We played for about an hour and a half. I was sore the following day. Looks like we might try to play some more this weekend as well. Hopefuklly we can stick to it and get better.

That elusive wallet full of cash and no ID.

As I was driving home from the beach the other day I noticed a wallet in the street. Thinking that it would be the wallet with a bunch of $100 bills in it with No ID, I turned around and picked it up. Sad to say, the wallet had only $101 in it and worse, it had an ID, in addition to some credit cards, etc.

It turns out it was a woman's and when I returned it to her house, she had no idea that she had lost it. Imagine that. She must have put it on top of her car or something, because what kind of woman would throw a wallet full of money out the car window? Well, the search goes on for that elusive wallet full of cash and no ID. That is the second wallet I've found in Huntington Beach, and the second wallet that I returned. And both were women's wallets. third time will hopefully be the charm. A wallet with say $1000 in it with no ID. Thats the wallet I want to find one of these days.

What is an RPG?

Today my 11 year old asked me what an RPG was. He had a PS2 game in his hand. I replied, "You don't know what an RPG is?" and he replied, "Dad, not a Rocket Propelled Grenade". I replied, "I know, RPG is a Role Playing Game."

There is truly something wrong in this country when an 11 year old knows what a Rocket Propelled Grenade is but doesn't know what Role Playing Game is.

Fatty foods will kill you

It has been about a month since I learned that I have high cholesterol and high triglicerides. I fully understood that cholesterol is bad for you, yet I still ate the in-n-out burgers and fries for lunch and eggs, bacon and rice for breakfast. I always enjoyed cooking up eggs and bacon for breakfast on some days and toast with eggs and cheese on other days. This has gone on for so many years. It has gone on for too long. Well it has pretty much stopped. I think I've had two eggs in the last 30 days. I haven't had any bacon, have cut down severely on red meat and have focused my attention more on fish and chicken. I know that meat is where the cholesterol comes from, and I have cut back a lot on meat as well as stops to the local Del Taco, Popeyes and other fast food joints.

I always figured that if I exercised everyday, which I have done for the most part for the last five years, I wouldn't have to worry about what I ate, but the lab results dashed that erroneous assumption. In addition to surfing, I ride a bike a few days a week. Surfing though is a 5 days a week, hour and a half endeavor and it is by far my favorite form of exercise, even better than sex (though I am not sure how many calories an hour sex session would burn).

I've also started running the beach, from the Newport Pier to the first jetty, then run-walking to the second and third jetty. My legs are still sore since I took up running. I've started slow but hope to run three jetties without stopping by the end of the summer. I am really serious about changing my eating habits, and hopefully I'll be able to get back in the shape that I was in 15 years ago. That means losing about 15 lbs and trying to get my flat stomach back. I know its there behind the tummy somewhere. I am hoping that I can reverse some of the damage that eating all that high cholesterol food has wrought on my body. Its truly a wake up call, as I am no longer young, dumb and 21.

Affluenza

"If conspicuous consumption is epidemic in America, then Orange COunty is the Hot Zone"




There was story in the Los Angeles Times Magazine that discussed the lives(or pseudo lives) of those in The OC. There was talk about how those who live in this county, especially the under 30 set, tend to waste away their money on material things like Mercedes Benz motorcars, boob jobs and the like, as well as their pursuit of such trivialities, in an effort to "BSCENE" or to look good or whatever. The sad thing about the article, is it really hits it on the head when it comes to the lifestyle we live here in Orange County, perhaps the most affluent county in Southern California, if not the United States. The author, who grew up in OC, interviewed a sales manager at the local Mercedes Benz dealer in Newport Beach, (down the street from where I work), and the comments the sales manager made about his typical clientele were amusing

25 year old male with good credit

$2500 down payment

$758 monthly payment for 48 months on a $52,000 Mercedes

$38,884 to rent a car for four years

65 percent of the dealerships clientele lease their vehicles

My big question is why would a 25 year old want to spend $758 a month on a car? To score with the chicks? I imagine that would be one of the main reasons, because if you drive a nice car in the OC, OC chicks are easy. There are many here who are just as fake as the guy who is leasing his lifestyle.

Dream sequence: Palawan Airlines

I was planning a three day trip to Palawan, but without Jovi. I had already packed my stuff but my carry on was a cement parking block. I arrived at the terminal, and going through security, I was stopped and asked why I was carrying the parking block and what I was going to do in Palawan. I replied vacation but the security goon wouldn't accept that so he started asking me these stupid questions and I wouldn't answer them, then I saw Paul Frank go through with no problem and I said "Hi Paul" and the security officer said, "oh you can say hi to Paul Frank but can't answer my simple security questions?" and I replied, I went to college with Paul and can say hello to him if I want. So Mr. security finally let me go, but I had to go through customs, and since the same people who were taking tickets were handling customs as well, they waved me over to the check in counter that also served as the customs counter. At this point, I was beginning to miss my wife and let it be known to customs that I couldn't travel without her. They proceeded to say, it is too late, you can't travel without her, but I proceeded to explain that I would get myself into mischief in Palawan if she didn't accompany me, so I said I wasn't going to go, so I woke up. Weird dream eh? I mean what is with the cement parking block?

Hitting the corner

He really likes dirt biking

"You got about 3ft of air that time"

Jeremy and I went dirt biking this past weekend. Josh was in San Diego with the school choir and Jovi was working. We went out to Apple Valley to a place called ButtRock, because there is a rock formation that, well looks like a butt. Jeremy has been riding a dirtbike for about two years now and he is getting better. He is the type of kid who enjoys what has been categorized as an extreme sport, though the term extreme sport is more marketing speak than anything else. I've posted a few pics of him "getting air".



Jeremy getting about two feet of air

Jeremy and his principal at awards dinner

What Old Glory Means to Me

by Jeremy Virata

Old Glory means a great deal to my family and me. Old Glory means things like freedom and equal rights.
The stars on Old Glory stand for the 50 states, and the stripes stand for the 13 colonies. Old Glory means a lot to me because respect and apperciate where I live and what I have. Most kids don't even realize that in many countries, families can't even afford to feed or take care of themselves.
Old Glory got its name from a man named William Driver. Whenever William Driver would set sail, he would fly Old Glory. During the Civil War, he would hide Old Glory in a safe place where no one would find it.
Again I am very thankful for what I have. I make $5 a week for doing my chores. People in other parts of the world, including kids, only make a few pennies a day. So we should probably be thankful for what we have. We are very lucky to live in America.

This essay was submitted by Jeremy to his 6th grade class for an essay writing contest. Six sixth graders' essays were chosen from his school of several hundred, in a school district of which there were 1101 entries. Jeremy's essay won an award, an award of which 24 students of the 1101 were chosen as winners at the district level. Although his essay didn't make it to regionals, he was stoked all the same.



Jeremy and two classmates at awards ceremony

Dream: My 66 Mustang and Brad Thompson's rock throwing

I once had a 1966 Ford Mustang. Before we moved to Hawaii, I reluctantly sold the car. Well, lately I've been looking at Mustangs again, checking them out on eBay and seeing what they are going for price wise. I figure I can buy a Mustang that was similar to mine for about $5000. Anyway, last night I had a dream about the good old 66 Mustang. was attending my 20 year high school reunion, and was talking with Tracey Siegel and another girl, I forgot her name. Well anyway, we were talking about what we were doing now, I guess the usual reunion type stuff when somebody came in and said My Mustang was trashed. I ran out and sure enough, Brad Thompson was throwing rocks at it, putting the finishing touces on destroying it with a bunch of kids. I went up to brad, totally upset, and said you have to pay for that, and he said no problem. You see, in reality, my friend Brad is a millionaire, having made his money working for his mother's business. Well she was able to later sell her business and Brad got a cool million or so from his mother for working for her during the time. So in the dream he had no problem of paying me back. But the problem was he was paying me with $100 bills, and everyone, even the hold up types were there to watch, and they were watching.

And Brad was getting nervous.

So he said, "John we need to get out of here, we are about to get jumped." And I was feeling the same thing, so we went looking for his car, but when we found it, it was wedged between two other cars, which was not good if we were to get away fast enough without first getting shot at for the money Brad had paid back to me. Anyway, we both got in the car and I was getting too nervous myself, so I said to myself, this is just a dream and woke up. Well, when I woke up, my heart was beating way too fast, presumably from the andrenaline that was created during this episode. I don't know how else to put it, but that dream really got my heart pumping.

He's just a kid

My youngest boy, jeremy, never ceases to amaze me. Actually, even though he is just a kid, he 's got a wild mind. When he was five years old, he'd say some wild things, like, "if there was a bomb in a house, and somebody detonated it, would everybody die? Tonight I was in his room and he showed me his latest creation, Prince Bob, which happened to be an anchovy that he dried out and put in a ziplock bag full of baking soda. "I am drying him out" he said. So he made his little playtoy out of an anchovy. On the other hand, we were watching TV one day and out of the blue, he asked me why Bush had invaded Iraq and why he didn't get Osama first. So I can only think that his mind continues to soak up information. After all, he is an 11 year old, and perhaps that is just how an 11 year old mind works. I don't know, but he is quite amusing sometimes. he is a typical boy. He's got all kinds of pets, including two corn snakes, two mice, a pet largemouth bass in a 20 gallon tank, and his dog Kimo, a mixed breed poi dog, who is actually very intelligent. But we didn't teach the dog to use the toilet.

Last week, I asked him to pick up his dog's business. you see, his "job" is to pick up after his dog, and make sure he feeds him and all that. For the most part, he does the chore really well, but for the last month or so, California was hit with some serious rain, and well, the dog's business can get all grossed out, more so than it already is, so he slacked off, which was understandable considering the rain and all, but when I asked him to one day, he shot back, "you haven't paid me in like three weeks" and I said to him, well, that is because you haven't been doing your job." well you haven't paid me, he said. and I repeated that he hasn't done his job, so he up and goes , "Well then I quit," and I was really surprised. But he didn't quit, he went and did his job and I paid him his $5 a week. He's a smart kid, sometimes crafty, but I sometimes I just need to remember that he is just an 11 year old kid. Just now, he was laying on my bed and said, "you know what would hurt, if I fell off the bed and landed on my head, how many brain cells do you thing I would have lost? What kind of crazienss is that?

Doctor looking for epidemiology contacts in Philippines

My sister's friend is in the Philippines studying innoculation issues for the World Health Organization and would like to meet some cool people. He will be spending time all over the Philippines, not just in Manila, so if you can help him out, please do so, his email is ou94@hotmail.com




Hello you all,

Sorry for the mass e-mail, but it's the fastest way for me to reach you.

It looks as if I will not be staying in Manila the entire time. I'll be here for the first two weeks, and then I'll be all over the Philippines. For people who are familiar with Philippines geography, my schedule is attached to this e-mail.

I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew. The World Health Organization wants us to monitor and evaluate measle immunization programs at the region levels, provincial, and municipality levels. We need to go to the best and the worst at each level. I am here with a team of 2 other people who are experienced in epidemiology already. I'm trying to catch up, and I hope I can do a good job. We will see what happens, but it seems possible that our findings will affect the policy here.

So far, Manila has been interesting. It is very crowded here. I've been busy, so I haven't had much time to explore yet, and I'm just getting over jetlag. Well, I'll write more later. For the ones who know people where I will be going to, please let me know if anyone will be willing to show me around! Thanks.

Aloha,
Alan
ou94@hotmail.com

Old Skool Dreams and a VW Bus

Jovi bought Jeremy a pair of Old Skool Vans yesterday at the Vans store at the Citadel. He is really a shoe freak, and has quite the collection of shoes, mostly Vans, but a few other brands sprinkled in here and there, but no Nikes, thank god.

Anyway, all this Old Skool shopping caused me to have a dream last night. I was working at Huntington Surf and Sport and went to work with no shoes on, and the manager, pointed it out and told me, no shoes, no work, so I had to go back home and get a pair of shoes. but I didn't have a ride, so I asked Kevin Finney if could borrow his VW Bus, and he said sure, but it was parked about 3 miles from main street, so i had to hoof it, barefoot, to get to his car to drive home to get my shoes. However, on the way I stopped at a garage sale and my original Old Skools, from 7th grade were for sale at the garage sale, so I bought them and put them on.

They felt like a glove, but I was still in the house that was selling its junk (In Hawaii, I went to several "estate sales" which basically is what they call them, but unlike California, in hawaii, a lot of people have garage sales in inside their houses, where virtually everything in a designated room is tagged for sale, but that is for a different time), and it was being torn down. I was on the stairs when the walls came down, and I had to get out of there fast, All of a sudden, only the stairs were standing, but it was physically impossibe because they needed some sort of support, so I jumped off, and found myself crawling through a crawlspace just to get out. I finally made it out, I still ahd my Old Skools on but I didn't need Kevin Finney's VW Bus anymore. Then I woke up.

Girlfriend on the Side

I've not been feeling too well the week, not from being sick, but from a whole host of things that have culminated into my weirdness. The other day, my SO had asked me a question, specifically asking for the name of my ex SO, which I gave to her, and she had replied, I can't believe that you still remember her name. Well, I do remember her name and if it was already water under the bridge for me, or in the past, it was still in the past. Usually, things that had happened in the past, I like to leave in the past and not drudge things up, but for some reason, she wanted to bring it up, if for anything else, to remind me. So, I got to thinking over the last few days, is she trying to penalize me for who I was with in a past life or what? I sort of felt under the impression that maybe she was, but I then got to thinking, what did she (the ex) do to her (my SO)? the answer is nothing. She didn't do anything to her, she didn't really even no her, though they met briefly at one point. So perhaps she was just drudging it up to ding me that night. I have to say that it worked, it brought back a whole host of emotions that I had successfully put away all these years. But that only lasted a few days. I am still sore about it but still the same I love my wife, I really think that she was a gift from god when she picked me up on the side of a road that day, a long time ago. But anyway, enough of that drama.

My parents returned from a trip to the Philippines with all kind of story to tell. They go back every couple of years for the most part to just go back. This time they sold a bunch of land in Paranaque, a town just north of their home town. The whole buying and selling process has really taken several years, which is strange, but they sold the land to the city, so I can only imagine the red tape and all that they have to go through. At any rate, my mother came back with some stories to tell about her family. It appears that my lolo has just kicked one of his daughters out of the house because she is pregnant and unmarried, and apparently he doesn't like the guy who impregnanted her. Which I think is very hypocritical considering the number of children that he has. What kind of man would kick out his 20-year old daughter for being pregnant? And his 16 year old grandson just became a father and he can accept that? I think my lolo's priorities are for no better of a word, screwed.

His other daughter is engaged, but apparently he does not know it yet. Andeng, it appears is scared to tell him for fear of him not approving of her fiance. And on top of this all, my mother was invited to visit his new rest house in Tagaytay, and the only time they were able to go was late one night, and when my father and her went up there, Andeng's brother was there with one of his girlfriends. As my mother told me this, she called the Tagaytay house some sort of bad name, a place where the married men of her family take their girl friends for rendezvous, or sexual liasons or whatever, it appears they had outgrown Cherry Lodge or Victoria's, which are, or at least were (I haven't been to one in 15 years) hotels that you can rent by the evening or the hour for dilly dallying or what have you. AH you know what I am talking about. Anyway, this Tagaytay House got me and my wife into a big discussion about Philippine society, (actually it was about the Bautista family, but I tried to deflect it to society in the Philippines) me claiming that it is the norm for married men to have girlfriends on the side and she claiming the latter, that it is really an exception. She then went on to blast my mom's side of the family, where there is a penchant for the men to have girlfriends on the side when married. She took the high road and wondered how a woman can respect herself when her husband has a girlfriend on the side. I just said it was a fact of Philippine life, part of the whole macho male mentality that Filipinos possess. She called it sick, and started to talk about my cousins in such a light, and querida'd, er, queried if I were in the Philippines would I be like that, screwing around on her. I didn't have an answer, though my policy is, if the woman I am with screws around on me, I simply leave. It only has happened once, so would I be like my cousins if I lived there? Probably. Not. I love my wife too much to do something like that. It wouldn't be fair to her. It does though make me wonder how my cousin's wife feels that her husband has girlfriends on the side. She really must love her husband, or she sticks to the marriage because of all the children. Or perhaps she has a boyfriend on the side.

Saudi Pledge to Tsunami Relief

Below is an editorial by Mr. Nail Al-Jubeir, Director of information at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, defending the country's response to the Tsunami aid. Keep in mind that Indonesia is the largest muslim country in the world.

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There has been some criticism about the amount of aid Saudi Arabia and Arab Muslims have offered to relief efforts for tsunami victims in the Indian Ocean region.

Below is an opinion editorial by Mr. Nail Al-Jubeir, Director of Information at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, who answers such critical remarks made about the Kingdom and Muslims in general. We would also like to remind our readers that Saudi Arabia is continuing to work with UN agencies to determine how best to assist the survivors of this disaster as they move forward with their lives.
- - - - - - -
The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com
(Letters to the editor - Published January 13, 2005)


Saudi Generosity
At a time when the global community has come together to support the millions affected by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean region, it is unfortunate that some feel compelled to undermine the generosity and kindness of a people and their religion ("Thanking Allah for Christians and Jews," Pruden on Politics, Friday).


This is not a competition to be the first to pledge the most. We all have committed to contribute what we can so this region and these people can rebuild their lives -- not just this moment. Saudi planes were among the first to arrive with relief assistance, and all countries recognize that the magnitude of this grave human tragedy requires planning and coordination to best allocate our resources over the long term. The Saudi people know this because they are familiar with being charitable. It is, after all, a requirement of our Islamic faith. Perhaps if the facts about Saudi generosity were considered, a fair assessment could be made.

The government of Saudi Arabia has thus far pledged $30 million in cash for the victims of this tragedy, and we continue to coordinate with U.N. agencies to discern where and what type of assistance will be needed.

Through a telethon, our citizens have raised in excess of $80 million. When considering Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, this is equivalent to a U.S. cash contribution of more than $5 billion. And this does not even take into account in-kind contributions made by individual citizens and Saudi businesses.

In addition to its initial $10 million donation, the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank is pledging $500 million in loans and trade financing to help nations affected by this catastrophe. In relative and absolute terms, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest donors to the victims of the tsunami. Of course, our charity will not end there and does not end there.

Like all countries, Saudi Arabia is called upon by the United Nations to earmark 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product for overseas assistance. Each year, we have surpassed this target, and since the mid-1970s, our assistance to developing nations through bilateral and multilateral channels has amounted to nearly $80 billion.

Total foreign assistance represents, on average, about 4 percent of the kingdom's annual gross domestic product, rendering Saudi Arabia one of the most generous nations in the world. This generosity has been proved time and again, and to date, we have fulfilled every foreign-assistance commitment made.

To call Saudi Arabia, its people or Muslims in general anything but charitable and compassionate is to reject the facts and malign the kind acts of millions of people around the world.

The global community is facing extraordinary problems that necessitate sophisticated solutions. This requires good will. This demands patience, understanding and benevolence -- all tenets of the Islamic, Jewish and Christian faiths. Together, we grieve the loss of each soul taken in this catastrophe, and we hope God Almighty will grant the survivors strength as the world helps them rebuild their lives.

NAIL AL-JUBEIR
Director, Information Office
Embassy of Saudi Arabia
Washington

Tsunami

This being the first post of 2005, I wanted to take a moment to express my condolences to those killed by the tsunami that struck on 26 December of last year. It has been several weeks since that day, and it has caused me to think hard about things that we as people have made important. Nothing is more important than that of life. Of living. All those peple who were killed by that act of God (or allah or Buddha) were loved by someone. May they rest in peace.

Which brings me to what I believe ails this country. And that is the unequitable distribution of wealth. Call me a hypocrite, what you will, but it boggles my mind when people in this country go to the malls, buy Nike shoes (made in Indonesia) or Banana Republic clothing (made in Sri Lanka) for $60 $70, even $150 per garment, shoe, what have you, and not really realize who made these items of clothing. It is the same people who died in that rogue wave. That shirt on your back may have been sewn by a woman or child who was killed by that wave. Those shoes that you wear may have been fastened together by a man or woman or child killed by those waves. yet, they are no different than the rest of us, except that it would cost them a year's wages just to be able to buy the latest fad that we here in America buy like their is no tomorrow. While we have individuals all over the world donating $1 million and even $10 million, Banana Republic pledged $1 million and will match employee donations dollar for dollar. Banana Republic, a company that makes tens of millions if not hundreds of millions each year off the backs of some of the very people killed by that wave donates $1 million. Well at least Banana Republic donated. Nike has no mention of what, if anything it has done on its web site. Perhaps Nike put out a collection jar at each of its stores. Who knows. Point is, a huge portion of America's, if not the world's clothing is made in south Asia, and these companies that have factories in that part of the world had better give back to the community that makes them rich.

On the good of it, I have noticed collection jars at every store that I've been to since that fateful day, my sons' schools are also accepting donations for UNICEF, and despite all the tragedy that we had in California the last few weeks, with the mudslides that washed away a neighborhood, the tsunami aid still comes in and is collected. Surf Aid International, a group that has existed for several year in an effort to help innoculate Indonesians against malaria, has been working non stop sailing to the remotest hard hit islands in the Indonesian chain, helping where they can and where they are allowed. Billabong, a surf company, has dispatched a boat, the Asia, in an effort to bring relief to where it is needed. The fact is, most of the world ( I can't say much about the Arab countries) has stepped up in an effort to ease the suffering that continues to occur in South Asia. The only obstacles that remain are politics in those countries and the hijacking of aid. It has been said that a lot of aid in the form of hard goods is ending up in the hands of opportunists, who would rather sell the hard aid goods than give it away as intended. Hopefully those miscreants who take advantage of misery will answer to God, or allah in the near future.