OrangeinaPod #7: A Simple New Year's Wish

Play today's episode here:

Episode 07 - A Simple New Year's Wish
~ 9min 12sec

A blessed new year to everyone...

Featured song in this episode: "Thankful" by Josh Groban (from the album Noel)

How to Celebrate New Year's Eve the Filipino Way (re-post)

I saw this article How to Celebrate New Year's Eve the Filipino Way on eHow.com. It was funny, I don't know when this article was written or who wrote it. I laughed out loud when i came to steps 4 and 5 -- Step 4 - Serve sweet rice and ginger tea after the countdown; Step 5 - On New Year's Day, roast a pig over hot coals and serve with any number of Filipino dishes such as pansit, lumpia and adobo.

No one serves sweet rice and ginger tea anymore. If there are, just a few probably. What we usually serve on New Year's eve are hot chocolate, sliced bread, spaghetti (the sweet kind with sliced hotdogs and ground pork, topped with cheddar cheese), hotdog on sticks, pork or chicken barbecue, and round fruits like grapes, ponkan (mandarin oranges), and fuji apples (as they symbolize money according to belief).

And Filipinos can't afford to roast pigs anymore. Usually its the usual pansit, lumpiang shanghai, menudo, afritada, more pork or chicken barbecue, and whatever food was left from the night before. No one serves adobo on New Year's day. Adobo is not considered a 'fiesta' dish, probably because of its color.

And to this list, I want to add Step 6 - Bring out the karaoke or videoke machine, bottles of San Miguel/Red Horse beer (or Ginebra for the kanto boys... or Fundador for the more opulent magkukumpares) with matching spicy pulutan (or whatever's on the table). After a few bottles, expect to hear the tomadors belting out Englebert Humperdink or Frank Sinatra hits till the wee hours of January 2.

This is the traditional Filipino New Year.

Note for the re-post: Tell me how do you celebrate New Year's eve/day?

A Purrem for Midnight

Sorry I’m not much of a poet, just tried this ‘purrem’ app from Whiskas website and here’s what I was able to come up with…  for Midnight…

And the Heavens Smiled Upon Us

The sky smiled on Asia, December 1, 2008, when Venus and Jupiter came in close proximity to our beloved Moon. While Venus is actually 100 million miles away and Jupiter nearly 550 million miles from the Earth, this exact combination and the Moon in the perfect spot created this beautiful artwork in the sky.

Some people might not appreciate it, but remember that this will not happen again until year 2052.

Merry Christmas everyone!

(View Slideshow from Yahoo! News)

Where Do You Belong?

De-wormed!

Midnight went on a trip to the vet this afternoon to be de-wormed. It took only a few minutes and it’s done. The vet gave Drontal, a cat dewormer (half tablet as Midnight is only .5 kgs). Before we left, I asked the vet to check on the gender of the cat. Apparently, at Midnight’s age (8 weeks) it’s fairly difficult to check, but after careful inspection we found out that Midnight is a HE. Coming home from the vet I checked the internet for some information about Drontal. I found out that it’s one of the effective broad-spectrum dewormers (generic name: praziquantel and pyrantel pamoate) for pets by Bayer. Midnight will go back for another dose after two weeks. Meanwhile, I also found this interesting article about Drontal on the ‘net, see if you can make a sense out of it.

Midnight’s Territory

Milky Way is a new addition to the family and Midnight wants to make sure that it's still her territory. Frightened Milky Way hides in his box. They’re in separate rooms now giving both space and time to adjust with each other. Midnight is so feisty and hisses at Milky Way a lot.

I Won!

As was mentioned in the latest episode of OrangeinaPod, I joined Jessica Zafra's contest and wrote a story about the mysterious piano in the middle of the Philippine jungle. The readers voted for their choice entries and they chose my story... Yey!!!

Read about the contest and my story entry here (Comment #7).

Thank you to those who voted for my entry and who commented.

• Jessica Zafra’s website is www.jessicarulestheuniverse.com

OrangeinaPod #6: The Loooong Weekend

Play today's episode here:

Episode 06 - The Loooong Weekend
~ 24min 32sec

• Slideshow might take a while to load. Patience is a virtue.

Topics for today:

• November 30 is Bonifacio Day
• Controversy surrounding Andres Bonifacio's execution
• Exploring Tam-Awan Village
  
• Christmas decorations need not be expensive
  
• Other December celebrations

Links:

• Tam-Awan Village
  
• Jessica Rules the Universe
• World AIDS Day 2008

Tomorrow’s Episode of OrangeinaPod

Dear America,

OrangeinaPod #5: Of Celebrations and G-Strings

Play today's episode here:

Episode 05 - Of Celebrations and G-Strings
~ 19min 20sec

Topics for today:

• early Christmas Celebration here in the Philippines
• the Adivay Festival in Benguet
  
• Christmas in Baguio City
• Gay Community celebrations
• Proposition 8 in California
• Same-sex Marriage in the Philippines
• Day Without a Gay
  

Of Celebrations and G-Strings (Episode 5 Out Tomorrow!)

Tomorrow's episode of OrangeinaPod is all about celebrations and boys in g-strings!

We're gonna have a lot of fun.

Remembrance of Things Past 2

Remembering my K-Lite days… The very first program where my voice was heard was with my very dear friend Dana Grey as a semi-regular co-host of ‘Heart to Heart’. Sometimes 5 deejays would squeeze in that little booth and just have a blast with the microphone. Every episode we would ask our listeners to share in their thoughts about a particular topic and we would sometimes play the cheesiest songs on air.

A few weeks later, I was offered to co-host ‘K-Lite Interactive’ alongside Hanna Grace where we ‘interact’ with our listeners via phone patch and text messages. Immediately after KLI, my very own program ‘The Weekend Countdown’ follows where I reveal the Top 25 songs of the week. My last broadcast was on January 26, 2008 for ‘The Weekend Countdown’.

Hate vs. Hate?

A spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints tells NBC 4 News of the evacuation of the Mormon Temple in L.A. after employees received an envelope filled with an unidentified white powdery substance.

The temple was the target of protests last week following the passage of Proposition 8, a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would change California's constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. The Mormons are believed to have raised a significant amount of money to actively campaign for this anti-gay marriage ballot measure.

I was wondering if the incident mentioned was a plot to seek revenge against the Mormons. Should we fight hatred with hatred as well? Is it right to take it against the group? Comments are welcome.

• Interesting Article from Red Room: Proposition 8 and God

OrangeinaPod #4: Oliver is Back!

Episode 04 - Oliver is Back!
~ 16min 48sec

After two long years, I'm back with the 4th episode of my podcast.

Topics for today:

• the long-process of coming back
  
• Baguio Pride Network
  
• 10th Manila Pride March
  
• LGBT Bloggers Party for Pride

Links to this show:
Baguio Pride Network
2008 Manila Pride March
LGBT Bloggers Party for Pride

Who is Oliver Twist?

1. Obviously that is not my real name. I acquired that nick when I worked as a talk show host on radio, courtesy of my good friends Dana Grey and Hillary from the same station. It kinda stuck so I kept it until today. I don't do radio shows anymore. My last broadcast was in January 2008 on 96.7 K-Lite Baguio.
   
   
2. OrangeinaPod is a weekly podcast show I started in July 2006. A podcast is like a radio show except that it's available online and may be downloaded or subscribed to. I produced 3 episodes then i 'pod-faded' for 2 years. But I'm back to do more shows.
   
   
3. I used to own OrangeCafe in Baguio City. It didn't do well, probably because of its location. It's still there but with another name and management.
   
   
4. Yes, I am on friendster.
   

New Members of the Family

Say hello to my two little kittens... Uhm, they don't have names yet, though... So i would like to ask for your help naming them. The orange one is male, the grey one female. Suggestions please... Thanks!

Free Cinema

On all Saturdays of November, the Gay and Lesbian Activist Network for Gender Equality (GALANG) will hold screenings of LGBT-themed films. Admission is free, so come and check it out!

For more information, log on to www.galangnetwork.org.

2008 Manila Pride March promises to be BIG!

Shopping Tip: Avoid the Rush, Go Online

It's the time of the year once again and we went round the metro to witness the early holiday rush. The streets are now lined with Christmas decors and whatnots, customers enjoying the bargains, Christmas carols blaring from various corners. Stores are filled to the brim, shoppers looking for the best bargains trudging crammed alleys and literally climbing hills for cheap stuff.

Filipinos love to shop. But this is the craziest time of the year. Shopping means dealing with the mad crowd, walking from store to store looking for the items you need, long waits on check-out lines, evil taxi drivers and horrible traffic.

You might say, well, 'tis the season...

Wrong!

Shopping over the Internet is now becoming the best alternative. It's easy, it saves you time and lots of money. Contrary to popular belief, it's safe to shop online IF you know where to go. At SHOP.com, for example, every merchant passed their stringent quality review process so you're assured of the quality of the products that you order -- customer satisfaction is a top priority and they guarantee safe shopping.

If you're bargain hunting, you can get more savings with coupons and avail of great promotions, even free shipping offers. Beat the rush and start your holiday shopping online -- check out their wide array of carefully selected stores and brands.

Our friends from SHOP.com are also giving away Hot holiday gifts until December 14 in the Top Holiday Gifts Give Away including flat screen TV, iPod Touch, GPS Navigation System and more.

Shop at the comfort of your homes, avoid the crowds, and enjoy the best bargains. Now who says shopping should be a burden?

America's Victory

My partner and I closely monitored the results of the elections in the US. Since we don't have a cable connection, we just satisfied ourselves looking at various websites as they revealed the numbers, from time to time watching CNN live reports online. This is the first time that I've witnessed such moving event in American politics.

The moment Obama's number went up to 200, we already know. And we felt so moved. For this is not just a victory to be celebrated by Americans but by the whole world.

I know that millions of blog entries will be written expressing their joy as to how Obama made history. I do not wish to go in that direction.

What saddens me is the fact that Filipinos don't care. What's with the apathy? Are we in such hopeless shambles that we can't feel anything anymore? This is a historic event. This is the American Dream realized. Yet, we're indifferent.

Because for Filipinos, this changes nothing. In two months' time, America will be governed by its first black American President, a symbol of hope, a complete turn around from what Bush represents. Back home, politicians continue to preen on TV gathering pogi points and belting out Frank Sinatra on game shows.

Books Galore

Visiting Booksale again.

Got Jean Auel's 'The Shelters of Stone' in hardcover for P30.00. Saw Anne Rice's 'Belinda' but didn't buy; the price is quite steep plus it's not in my list. Was about to buy a paperback edition of 'Dune: House Atreides' but it's kinda expensive.

OrangeinaPod #3: The Coming Out Episode (August 3, 2006)

This is my coming out episode. Well, sort of a semi coming out, because I know my family knew about it before. This is some sort of a confirmation. I had 504 downloads for this one (and still counting), not bad for an infant podcast. Still gives me shivers whenever I listen to this.



Episode 03 - The Coming Out Episode
~ 26min 59sec
Originally posted on August 3, 2006
Total Downloads: 593

I have the virus today, so I'm coughing... hehehe... But thanks to this miraculous Chinese medicine Pei Pa Koa, I'm okay now!

Topics for today:

• Talking to my family and friends
• Being gay in the Philippines
• Support Ang Ladlad

Links to this show:

BearPodcast
Ongline Podcast
Ang Ladlad Website
LAGABLAB (Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network)

OrangeinaPod #2: Of Gay Superheroes and Childhood Memories (July 25, 2006)

Episode 02 - Of Gay Superheroes and Childhood Memories
~ 39min 23sec
Originally posted on July 25, 2006
Total Downloads: 186

Pinoylicious Oliver (thanks to John Ong for this title) is back in the 2nd podcast episode of OrangeinaPod!

• Superman Returns, Lex Luthor Rocks!
• Top 10 Pinoy Superheroes
• Our local superheroes are played by either politicians or comedians.
• Zsa-Zsa Zaturnnah, the first ever gay Pinoy superhero who’s about to hit the big screen this Holiday season.
• Learn some Filipino words.

Aaarrggghh!!! Sowweee!!! I was shivering while doing the recording because it’s soooo cold in my room… Brrrr!

OrangeinaPod #1: The Crappy Intro (July 12, 2006)

This is my very first podcast episode and it's really crappy, but that's how I got started in podcasting. I was able to dig through the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and found out that the files are still alive. This was from 2 years ago, can't help but laugh and cry at the same time.



Episode 01 - The Crappy Intro
~ 16min 08sec
Originally posted on July 12, 2006
Total Downloads: 112

Show Notes

My very first episode... Just a jumble of stuff, sort of introduction to my podcast show.
A bit about Baguio (just a bit!)
About podcasts for first time listeners
John Ong's OnglinePodcast
Jessica Zafra is alive and blogging
The Internet is not just Friendster or porn

A Sucker for Anne Rice

It's very difficult to complete my Anne Rice collection. It was a challenge because I think I have a competition in book sales here in Baguio City, add to the fact that you would rarely find Anne Rice hardcovers on sale.

This one is the First edition of 'Lasher' (pub. 1993), which I got for a measly P75.00 from Booksale about a month ago.

Yesterday I was ecstatic to find hardcover editions of 'Merrick' and 'The Vampire Armand' on Booksale in SM at P275.oo each. So now I only need the following books to complete the collection.

• 'Blood Canticle' (The Vampire Chronicles)
  
• 'Vittorio the Vampire' (New Tales of the Vampire series)
• 'Feast of All Saints' (saw a paperback edition on sale near UB)
• 'Servant of the Bones'
• 'Christ the Lord: Road to Cana' (Anne Rice's latest book)

These books go directly to my Christmas Wishlist. If you know where I could find them, send me a message. Thank you.

Remembrance of Things Past 1

I remember this favorite snack from my childhood days. It's still around and now comes in JUMBO pack with jumbo chips inside! Yum! My niece seems to enjoy it.

India: Call Centers, Now the Moon

The call center industry may not be enough for the Indians. After dominating the BPO industry in the recent years, India would like a piece of the moon (or some of the business opportunities there).

Yesterday, October 22, India launched its first unmanned spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, to orbit the moon to demonstrate their technological capacity and to potentially yield commercial gains for the country's space program. Scheduled to last two years, the mission intends to prepare a 3D atlas of the moon and scout for natural resources in the lunar surface. More importantly the voyage carries the Mini-SAR, a device that will look for ice deposits in the moon's polar regions.

Soon they'll be sending contact center agents up on the moon where they will receive 1-800 calls from Mars and the nearby planetary systems.

Photo: The launching of Chandrayaan-1 comes about a year after China’s first moon mission. (NY Times) Courtesy of Dibyangshu Sarkar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Pusakal

Found this stray cat looking for food in the terrace. Got her some pieces of white bread which she ate heartily. Now whenever she's hungry, she would appear in our front door. We named her Mao.

She would visit from time to time and would walk in the house for a grub. A week later Mao would come with 2 more pusakals. They don't usually stay long. I don't think Mao and the rest of the gang would like to move in the house, they're just there for the food. Although they would rub their bodies on the door jamb marking it with their scent. (Mao would rub his head on my legs and toes claiming me in her name.)

After their meals, they would immediately go downstairs. They're probably afraid because there are 3 scruffy dogs roaming around most of the time. It may take time for them to feel really at home in the vicinity, unless of course someone owns these pusakals.

Pusakal - n. Tagalog slang, 'PUSAng KALye' (street cat, stray cat)

Blast from the Past: Ongline #170

I remember this podcast by John Ong (www.onglinepodcast.com) where I promoted OrangeinaPod way back 2006. John was the one who encouraged me to come up with my own podcast and has been very supportive about it. I miss his quirkiness on the show.

Listen to the podcast episode - Ongline #170 Peacefully Unplugged Oliver’s Orange.

I will probably be re-uploading the 3 episodes of OrangeinaPod here for those who are curious about them. In the meantime listen to John Ong's quips while I mull over my 4th episode.

Quickie (Backtracking)

Oliver started a weekly podcast here at OrangeinaPod on July 2006 and has produced 3 episodes. The show stirred curiosity and soon attracted listeners from all over the world, the first ever Philippine podcast to talk openly about Filipino gay culture. It was groundbreaking, downloads reached over 100 a day -- a pretty high stat for a newborn podcast from a country where podcasting was still in its infancy.

One of the highlights of the show was his 'coming out' on the 3rd episode. Downloads reached to a high of 280 and messages of support came pouring in. Unfortunately, listeners never heard of him since. His long absence puzzled his listeners, the blog was never updated and eventually disappeared.

After two long years, Oliver is back. And he has a lot of explaining to do...

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Thank you for choosing to support OrangeinaPod. Your contribution will be a great help in maintaining the production of the podcast episodes.

The Cheaper Pringles Tastes Like UGH! Yuck!

Have you seen the new Pringles in the supermarket? It’s cheaper and the can is smaller because it contains less chips, 120g to be exact compared to the old Pringles which is 163g.

This new Pringles is being produced and packed in a factory in Johor, Malaysia and it tastes like sh*t compared to the Pringles made in the USA. It has lost its taste. I like the American-made Pringles, because it’s thin and crunchy. The Malaysian version is thicker and mealy and it tastes like flour (like the Mr. Potato brand). I had 3 chips and I didn’t touch the damn thing again.

Apparently, Procter & Gamble officially entered the Malaysia market via the acquisition of Richardson Vicks. So expect cheaper but low-quality Olay, Rejoice, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, even Downy and Pampers products in the market soon.

Supermarkets are currently replacing their stocks of American Pringles with the yucky Malaysian ones. I suggest you don’t buy them. They’re not cheap. It seems like it, but you’re actually paying for lesser weight, lesser flavor, and low-grade potato chips. The American Pringles is more expensive by 18pesos. BUT they taste better. I’d rather pay extra 18pesos and enjoy my Pringles than pay for garbage.

Calling Procter and Gamble Philippines, please stop importing the Malaysian Pringles, we hate it.

(This article is by Oliver Twist of 96.7 K-Lite FM Baguio)