Cable T.V., the internet, and iPhones have made Hollywood accessible with just a click of a button. And, unfortunately, these type of entertainment is also readily available to our children and could very well replace the roles of parents. Many are misled by the glamorous and dysfunctional lives of celebrities and “gangsters,” tagged as “real”, that it has become difficult for our youth to recognize their value in society and behave as citizens of the world. And with both mom and dad working in this present-day family, children are left behind and are very vulnerable to negative influences. (Many boys believe that real men should walk and talk like gangsters. And many girls think that “real men” have the right to treat them badly). And, working with the youth with psychiatric and behavioral challenges, it has become apparent to me that children that have received poor, or none, parenting are more susceptible to behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social problems.

Last week, I had the opportunity to be a positive role model at my children’s elementary school through an initiative called WatchDOGS(Dads Of Great Students), a volunteer program that encourages fathers to bring positive male influences and security back in the school environment…

There’s another blog who just joined the fray or should I say, rescue the blogs of shamers Brian Gorrel and Dona Victorina who are no match to Barrio Siete? Well, read on with my analintek review. But for now, let’s congratulate this blogger for a very nice Alexa ranking who beats out Barrrio Siete. It’s a blog by one “celebrity” according to Eric. I honestly have no clue who they are! Hahaha! So, if I mixed up some names (the Mo or the Mojo or the Mo Twister of whoever! …

Retards. They seem to be the “in” word these days for losers who have hidden agendas. Sarah Palin wanted President Obama to fire White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for a comment she characterizes as a “slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities” when Rahm Emanuel used the word “retarded” in a close door meeting. But when Rush Limbaugh used the same word in his regular radio broadcast, that was exempted from Sarah Palin’s ire for according to her, it was satire.
I don’t expect Sarah Palin …

Sports, hollywood, and political celebrities have joined hands in helping the victims of this recent tragedy to the already suffering nation, and help us all realize what life is truly about. Unfortunately, fanatical comments, like such made by Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh, have made more headlines than the good-doers. The media is also filled with images of the distruction, the dead, and the dying living us with nothing to the imagination and the victims no sense of respect or privacy.

But amidst all of this catastrophe, there many acts of humanity that were left unnoticed by the press. Everywere in the country, Haitians and other volunteers have come together to help fellow victims and pick up whatever there is left. Many of those who perished were volunteers who had done heroic acts of kindness for the impoverished country.

A break from politics and natural disasters.
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On January 8, 1974, hoping for a fresh start, the King of Rock and Roll finalized his divorce papers with Pricilla Presley on his 39th birthday.  At the same moment (but in a different time-zone) on the other side of the planet, tens (or maybe hundreds) of thousands of Filipinos gathered to commemorate another type of King, the Christ.  And as the crowd marched around the streets of Quiapo in praise of the town’s patron saint, Jesus of Nazareth, a new hope was born.  A humble and loving mother from Tondo gave …

Simbang Gabi 2009
One of my favorite festivities growing up in the Philippines is the Simbang Gabi (Misa de Gallo or Advent Pre-Dawn Mass), a nine-day day novena leading up to the Christmas Eve Mass representing Mary’s wait for the birth of Jesus. I remember being awaken by musical bands, carolers, church bells, fireworks, and bright Christmas lights and parols. After mass, we would stop at food stalls in the churchyard for Christmas treats such as hot ginger tea and a variety of rice and coconut cakes like the puto bungbong …

After stuffing ourselves with all the Thanksgiving turkey, my family and I decided to burn some calories by going to the Christmas tree farm. This was the first time we cut our own tree, and it was so much fun.

Every fourth Thursday of November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day tocommemorate the first big feast between the European settlers, called the Pilgrims, and the Native American tribe that helped and taught them how to farm, hunt, and survive the winter.   This is a special time for gatherings and giving thanks for all our blessings, our families, and friends.   Some also chose this day to volunteer or help feed the unfortunate. 
A traditional dinner consists of potatoes, corn, corn bread, casseroles, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and the giant TURKEY!  The bird is so huge that it is …

Mino Saves Little Miss Nonsense
I’m not a saint.  I don’t have a soul.  I’m not dead—yet.  [Lightning flashes]
Halloween was a pagan tradition that originated from the Celts 2,000 years ago.  November 1st was considered the end harvest season and the beginning of the winter chill and darkness, the time of the year that was most associated with death and destruction.  This was the time when the dead and living meet.  BOO! 
As a Filipino, I have a certain sense of discomfort celebrating this pagan tradition, even in a more commercialized fashion.  One way to …

I hate baseball!

But after getting free tickets for the Seattle Mariners game from work, I didn’t hesistate to take the opportunity to bring my whole family to our first professional sports event. Free tickets, free hotdogs, free soda, fun with family and friends, and watching my half-brother, Ichiro…almost perfect! Only thing missing was a bowl of spare ribs teriyaki.

I’m a party pooper! I had a talent for ruining surprises. I would go as far as looking all over the house, checking the bank account, checking my wife’s purse for receipts, coming home early unannouced, and bribing my children to tell me any information that they have about a gift or a plan that my wife have made. Blowin’ up the surprise is more fun than the surprise itself. But through the years, she has learned to hide things better. And I also realized that it’s not fun for her everytime I screw it up. So, as a loving and dedicated husband, one must just go with the flow.

…in a very long time since my children were born.
My wife and I decided one Monday that it is time to leave the kids and go on a date again. So we left the boys with the babysitter and planned to go to the the casino. But the casino wasn’t the romantic place we were looking for. It was dirty and there was just too much smoking going on. We left just five minutes after arriving smelling like cigarettes.
We then decided to eat lunch downtown in Tacoma. The search for …

War is not like a hollywood blockbuster. A soldier is not an action hero. Outside the statistics and the news-worthy portrayals, there are deeply personal issues that most of us don’t see.

Last year my wife and I, along with a few other staff, were asked to participate in a poetry reading with the children at the psychiatric facility that we both work at. This annual poetry group encourages children to open-up and express their feelings in a more positive way. An so my wife read her poems from the deployment years while I…had to make one up the last minute. But, not only was I able to make one on time, I also had enough time to draw illustrations. (Actually, this is …

Back when I was just starting to blog, trying to social climb with who would turn out to be Manila’s self-proclaimed users influential bloggers, I was not just pushed out to the dark corners of internet pit of the world but would constantly be compared and lambasted that I’d be labeled to be just uberly green with jealousy in terms of ranks. Such has always been the cry. Well, I’m sure given that we have already trounced them on their own standards, proved them wrong, they’d have to come up …

This was the funnest and most adventure-filled summer my family and I have ever had.  It was also the most documented and most expensive.  We visited and enjoyed some of the best places that both Iowa and Western Washington have to offer.  From Adventureland, to the Amanas.  From Mt.Rainier, to Lake Quinault.  From Ichiro, to Lea Salonga.  And to finish it off, we went to our annual religous obligation—the Puyallup Fair.
The state fair is a 20-day summer affair in Washington and one of the biggest in the U.S.  It features  the biggest, the fattest, the …

“Keep Social Climbing Alive!”
That’s our tagline that endeared us to all of of you and gained us a lot of our followers worldwide. Except this reader from Houston who had no clue what our social climbing meant:
“What about you, the self-proclaimed “social climber”? You do realize, surely, what a contemptible connotation the term “social climber” has, no matter what kind of “spin” you want to put on it, Reynz.“

Our Social Climbing does not end here. Nah-ah! Hahaha! Just look at our records what social climbing did to Barrio Siete. 5 …

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome po sa ating 10th State of the Barrio Address! Duda ko, di nyo napansin ang maraming pagbabago sa paligid nyo. As La Kapitana, andito ako to tell you that we do this to nobody, nobody bachuu *clap* *clap* *clap*!!!
Our Alexa rankings
Our Alexa ranking mga kabarrio continues to streak like insane. Imagine where we were 4 months ago. Anlayo namen sa mundo nang mga blogista sa Manila. Eto ang rank namen when we opened our internet doors last May 17, 2009. We were nobody and if you …

Opo, nirereklamo na talaga ang Barrio Siete ng Web Host kung saan ito nakatambay. Sa mga nagdaang araw, kung napansin ninyo eh bumagal ng todo ang loading time ng mga pages. And unang assessment ay denial of service attack dahil ang daming kumokonek sa Barrio. Yun pala, mga legitimate na connection from readers. Tuloy pa rin reklamo sa web host.
Viewed 5000 times by 1234 viewers

3 months and 12 days!
What a run! But we’re not finished! We’re still flying high! What are we gonna be when we grow up? Sikweet!!!

For now, I’m broadcasting live from Philadelphia mga ka-barrio, if you’ve noticed our Barrio 7 statistics, we have now breached the 200,000 Alexa ranking category which means, we are no longer “SINO BA KAMI” rather, “ASAN NA BA SILA?!” hahaha! Charing lang! Kayo naman. Tse! Eto exhibit A:

Which means, membership to the elite B7 Writers Club is now closed, except yong Malditong tiga Iloilo, dahil kabaryo …

Kung napansin ninyo nung nakaraang mga araw, may mga nangyayaring kakaiba sa Barrio. May mga column na nag iiba ang alignment at may mga text na nagbabago ang kulay. Pasensya na po sa aming pangangarpintero.
Habang sinasawsaw ko ang pandesal sa aking kape, iniisip ko kung ano ang best time para pumukpok ng martilyo at maglagare. Nakakairita, wala kasing oras na walang bisita ang Barrio kaya bahala na si Batman. Opo, may mga binago kami sa mga baranggay hall sa Barrio at isa na rito ay ang pag promote ng RSS …

Marhay na aldaw tabi saindo gabos! Sa aldaw na ini-o, su Barrio mi, ay tolong bulan na! Huna lang nindo, na haloy na kami igdio.
In three months, we have gone from one bukid to pro’lly, the only fastest growing rising Philippine blog ever! Look, nakakahiya tuloy sa Apolo. Este, Apollo, because our ranking was flying past the stratosphere, past the moon and starwars, exciting na nakakaloka sya! I’m telling you, social climbing is nevah a negative thing, it’s very influential talaga, you even get a link and an invite from …

Janette Toral chatted with me sometime this year. She asked for my support for her Influential Blog Awards. Given that up to this point, I am still hyper-critical of that other market-their-business-best friends/volunteers/kiss-ur-ass-and-will-continue-to-watch-them-2009-awards, I decided to support her. Why? I liked the idea of making known the small and upcoming talented bloggers. That’s the least that we can do with all these meaningless blog awards. In fact, she even told me na pag-uwi ko raw, just let her know and she will let me speak in one of her seminars. …