I’m Not Sure How I Look in Yellow

Hours ago, former Philippine President Corazon “Cory” Aquino died from cardiac arrest, a complication from her fight with colon cancer. Rest in peace.

Cory Aquino became president after running against President/Dictator Ferdinand Marcos when called for snap elections in 1986. Marcos was declared the winner of that election but outside observers and members of the election commission accused the vote of being manipulated. A People Power Revolution occurred and Marcos was forced to flee.

Although Aquino is credited with restoring democracy to the Philippines, she was a pretty ineffective president. She wanted to continue a good relationship with the Americans despite the fact that the United States had supported Marcos during his earlier years in power. The legislature, and especially the Senate, didn’t and she was unable to keep the US from being booted out of their military bases. Her peace overtures to the communist and Muslim rebels were unpopular with the conservative members of the government and she made little effective efforts in trying to help the poor.

After her presidency, she was involved in other political movements. She helped to overthrow President Estrada who was accused of plunder, a move she later regretted. She also had called for current president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down as her government is accused of corruption.

Philippine politics is not a subject that I bring up with my mom’s or bio-mom’s families. Based on what I’ve observed, however, I don’t think that they are going to be mourning President Aquino’s passing. Both families come from the Illocos region which is where President Marcos was from. I think provincial loyalty to the Marcos family runs strong. When I was last there with my family we visited the Marcos house and even went to see the guy’s body. Yup, they’ve got him preserved and on display. I can understand why they liked Marcos. When you see it from their perspective, Marcos did bring some positive changes—and money to their area. Now the region is just another in a long list of regions in terms of political power. Plus, they don’t even have the money rolling in from the military bases either.

Yeah, sure, there is a lot that you can criticize Cory Aquino for. And if you’re like my family you can probably even argue that the Philippines of today is no better than it was under Marcos. But in the end, she did help bring about the end of a dictatorship. If the Filipino is worth dying for then I would hope they realize it themselves enough to take charge of their own futures. Maybe she was just that small spark—that hope for something more and better. If history judges her to be that, I think she's fine with it.

h/t to the Associated Press for putting up this video on youtube.

Amen to that!

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MI Hand

I have a facebook buddy over in Arizona and he was tagged by one of his friends in a couple photos. In the photo album, a bunch of people were pointing to their palms. Must have been some Michiganders down there! Either that or they are doing something weird.

Just for the record:

I hated it so much, I bought it.

Talk about one helluva impulse buy! I was shopping/browsing at Meijer when I noticed that their stock of Star Trek toys was on clearance--50% off! I picked up this model/toy of the Enterprise for $15. I couldn’t resist. It seems odd that I am excited because I did not initially like the new version of the Enterprise. Since seeing the movie, it has grown on me. I thought about getting the store’s last phaser for $8 but I was able to hold off on that. (Granted, it took me walking half the length of the store before coming to that decision.)

The model toy is fairly decent. I must commend Playmates for doing for a good job replicating the onscreen version as they usually tend to be hit and miss. The stand is pretty nifty, it’s a ball and socket so the owner can pose the ship in a number of ways. The ship also lights up. My only real complaint are the sounds it makes. They are audio clips of primarily movie dialogue. Personally, I would rather hear sound effects from the ship such as going to warp, phasers, and photon torpedoes. No biggie since I loose interest in that kind of thing early on anyways. I just like to have this thing on display...and occasionally play with it. Believe me, I'll make up my own sound effects when I do.

I’m 27 and I’m still buying these damn toys!

Sounds like voodoo to me.

Hey insurance company, I probably could have used this sooner!

Almost four months after my injury, I was approved for and was sent a bone stimulator. My leg hasn’t been healing as fast as was expected by the two doctors I’ve seen. I’m up and walking but the doctor that I am seeing now still wanted me to start on this treatment. I don’t know if it is working. I certainly can’t feel anything so I wonder how anyone can say that this is stressing my bone. I just strap this doohickey on for twenty minutes and let it do its thing. Hopefully Dr. R. will be satisfied the next time I see him.

I’ll Put Up an Ugly Box to Save 50¢

After having to deal with tollroads twice this month, I thought it might be a good idea to get a transponder so that I could use electronic tolling. Had I had it, I would have been able to save quite a bit of money during my travels to DC and Chicago since some of the roads have discounted tolls when you use the transponders.

I had the choice of getting I-PASS for the Illinois Tollway, I-Zoom for Indiana’s, and E-ZPass for a bunch states further east (which will include Ohio soon). All three are compatible with each other and operate together as the E-ZPass Interagency Group. Generally, having a transponder from one network will allow you to have access to the others but full benefits might not transfer. For example, a person with I-Zoom can’t park in some parking lots that accept payment from E-ZPass. For a brief moment a while back, it looked like Indiana might not have allowed I-PASS users discounts that they provide to I-Zoom users which prompted Illinois to threaten that it would cancel all I-PASS accounts for Indiana drivers. Indiana relented. I debated between the I-PASS and I-Zoom but settled on the I-PASS. I can avoid the Indiana tollroad if I want unless I’m traveling east (which is an every few years occurrence) but Chicago is harder to dodge. The I-PASS also had fewer restrictions on automatic replenishment of the account. But what sold me was that if Indiana and Illinois get into a spat again, I’d rather be on the Illinois side enjoying their discounts.

When Ohio joins the network, I will be able to travel the tollway systems here in the Midwest out to the Northeast all on one transponder. Maybe one day I can also use it on the Florida Turnpike although for right now, it doesn’t seem likely.

Damn It Gates!

The Defense Secretary got his wish and funds for the further production of the F-22 have been stricken from the defense budget. This is a bigger news item than it should be. First of all, halting the F-22 is not going to imperil national security. Sorry to say it, but the Raptor isn’t the solution for today’s threat matrix. This is a largely symbolic action on the part of Secretary Gates and President Obama. The money slashed from this line of the budget is going somewhere else. It’s not being “saved.” And considering it is 2 billion out of a nearly 700 billion dollar budget, it wouldn’t be the biggest “savings” in any case like it is being suggested by Gates and Obama. So there you go, a punch for both the supporters and the haters of the F-22.

I am biased towards the F-22. It sure is a beauty and the technology that is behind it makes my mouth water. I would love to get my hands on one of those! I think it is a shame that the program is being cut below the minimum requirements of the USAF. Even though, there are just under 200 operational planes, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s enough. I have no idea what the operational requirements of the Air Force is but when you take into account how many of those planes will be set aside as trainers, under maintenance, or otherwise not serviceable, how many can we get into the air?

Thinking more broadly, though, I think that while the defense budget is a huge behemoth, I will not say it is wasteful spending. I really don’t care for those people who will say we can spend two billion for these planes and then complain that we can’t give everyone a free healthcare. My personal view is that the government has a duty to protect citizens, not coddle them. And besides, we spend more on health care and other social safety programs than we do on defense although I will concede that I would like to see the percentage of defense spending against the entire budget decreased… as well a decrease in real dollars. I don’t think people give enough credit for what is another aim of the US military-and that is deterrence.

The weapons systems being deployed today is envisioned to be cutting edge or comparable to those of our adversaries for the next 50 years with China being the main boogeyman. If we were to shift our thinking so that we become focused on the present needs/goals of the military then we may be unprepared for what is ahead. Who is to say that we won’t need those F-22s in the future?

There may be some solace for supporters in that F-22 may get sold to other countries. Unlike the F-35 JSF which was always intended to be exportable, the F-22 was largely supposed to be only for the US. However, if things go well, Australia and Japan may continue with plans to buy the F-22 variant and keep production going.

Mmm, the Blueberries are coming along.

The first of the blueberries are ripening. It will be another week or two before harvesting starts. In the meantime...

When you live on a farm and experience fresh berries, whether they are blackberries, strawberries, red and black raspberries, or these blueberries, the stuff that are available in the store look nasty and insanely overpriced. I don't think the general public knows how much supermarkets are marking up the prices because I can promise you, farmers don't get a lot of money for the amount that they sell in the market.

If you can do it, I would recommend you find local farmers because when you can buy directly from them for food that you can preserve by canning or freezing, it will be worth your time. My grandma sells a significant portion of her harvest to her repeat customers. Some of them have been dropping by her farm long before I was born. There's a a family who lives in Chicago that own a summer house here in Michigan. At least once a summer, they come in and buy a bunch of stuff. Now her adult son does it. There's one lady in Benton Harbor who comes by and we grew collard greens pretty much just for her until word leaked out and now we grow rows of it to sell to locals and on the market. So, yes, do find yourself a local grower. You'll love the food.

Reminding Myself Why I Should Wait for the Fair

I'm currently sitting on the bluffs here at the Venetian Festival waiting for the fireworks to start. It's kind of cold and I'm giving serious thought to skipping out on them.

There are some new construction projects going on. They look promising. I'm not sure what some of it will be but I hope that it is recreational area.

The food continues to be both crappy and expensive. At least they aren't doing the ticketing system like the last time I was here. That was a pain. People had to buy tickets and the vendors would price everything. For example, a 20oz bottle of pop would be 2 tickets, an elephant ear would be 4 tickets, a sirloin tip meal would be 10 tickets.

Even though this a open event (no charge for admission or parking), it's a bitch getting out of the area. Other than the fireworks and the beach, there really isn't all that much it offers me that the county fair doesn't.

Still whenever I end up here. I try to find the fun it.

At least I can get out of the boot.

I had an appointment with the doctor and I am being allowed to ditch the immobilizer. Like any I’m-a-man-I’ll-do-it-my-way kinda guy, I’ve been ahead of him for a couple weeks now. I got rid of that sucker on my DC trip because it was easier to walk around without it. However, I will be doing it without the crutches. Soon, I’ll be able to do what Lucy says.

Hmm, I think that I need to buy new shoes. My right shoe is more worn down than the left. How unfortunate. [rubs hands]

It wasn’t all good news though. The doctor also said that although I am healing, there a few areas that are healing as fast as he would hope I guess I will be using that bone stimulator after all. Now that I know how long to use it and how often.

Tomorrow, I will brave the cold weather (the high is going to be in the sixties), and go out to the Venetian Festival. So expect some pics out of that fairly soon. Also, I plan on seeing the new Harry Potter movie. Might as well see what everyone’s talking about, right?

Stringed Shorts

My sister came back from the Cayman Islands, my dad went to go pick her up at O’Hare. I went along for the ride.

On the way through Indiana, we made sure to look out for any escaped convicts on the side of the road. Two out of three prisoners are still on the loose after escaping from the Michigan City Prison. One was caught at Chicago Mayor Daley’s summer house in Grand Beach. (Not the smartest move, there.)

As we passed by the tower formerly known as Sears, I saw the new observation platforms. These glass boxes jut out so that observers, paying a pretty penny, can step out over open air and see the ground below their feet. I’d definitely would like to try that and can’t imagine it being as scary as some people have said.

We also passed by Six Flags Great America. Dad said that they were going to close the park. I didn’t believe him. I thought that he was probably confusing the bankruptcy with closure. A quick search before making this post hasn’t come up with any results supporting his claims. Besides, I can’t imagine why, of all the Six Flags parks, they would choose to close the one servicing the Chicago and Midwest market. The closest and comparable competition that comes to my mind is over in Ohio with Cedar Point.

Our first stop was at my aunt and uncle's house. This is my biological aunt and is pretty much one of the few remaining links to my mother. Going to her house in some ways feels like going back to the Philippines. The only things that are missing are the trikes and Filipinos walking around. We dropped off a graduation gift for one of my cousins who graduated from high school and will be going to Western Illinois in the fall.

My sister brought rum cakes back from the Cayman Islands. They are damn delicious. I went online to their site and holy crap are they expensive to order. They may taste good but they aren’t that good.

Buying food at one of the Toll Road Oasis a frakkin’ rip off. At the McDonald’s there, four McDoubles and two medium drinks comes to about $12. Where I live, I could get TEN McDoubles and two LARGE drinks for that.

Wait! Stop! Do you have any Choco Tacos?

Did any of you grow up in a place where ice cream trucks came by? You know, you'd hear a familiar tune and then only have moments to beg money off your parents and make a run outside before the ice cream man was gone? Yeah, I didn't.

First place I lived I was too young. The second place... well... I doubt the Germans allow their kids to have treats. For the third place I was locked away on an island and it wasn't open to the public. Fourth place had street vendors and even then, you were taking a health risk. The fifth place was too f'ing cold for ice cream. When I came to Michigan, I lived briefly with grandparents. It was then I got to experience the ice cream truck. It happened a few times until I moved to another neighborhood in the same town. I don't recall an ice cream truck ever going through that neighborhood. I suspect it was because we were too near to the unsavory segment of the populace.

I currently live on a country road. In country surroundings. Throw a rock from my bathroom window and you'll hit a corn field. So when I see this:

I'll make a post on it.

Damn that driver for 1.) annoying me with that incomplete tune and 2.) tempting me with frozen treats.

Rats. I missed it.

Where were you at 12:34:56 07/08/09?

I was processing a pile of paperwork and forgot to take notice.

BTW, I didn't go on vacation. How the hell did I end up with three big stacks of paperwork on my desk?!

My trip to the “Capitol.”

Yeah, I meant the one in Washington, DC not Lansing.

Ready for a long post?

I had the opportunity to take a trip to Washington, DC for Independence Day and I took it. My friends, Kraig and Stacey, live near the city in Maryland. You might remember them from when I took a trip out to San Diego and Tijuana last year. It was an eleven hour trip which was mostly toll road (I hate toll roads). Not wanting to push my luck with my own car, I decided to rent a car and for about $20 a day, I didn’t think it was too bad. Plus gas turned out to be about just a little over $100 there and back so I saved money over buying a plane ticket. I left on Thursday night and got there mid morning on Friday.
On my way over, I had a good time driving. It was night so there was very little traffic. My primary concern was deer jumping out. Then the rain. Then driving in the Appalachians in the dark. I had hoped to stop by a place in Pennsylvania to meet up with a former blogger but I think he had his own guest that he was taking care of. I stopped at the town we would have met up in but only because I had to pee (Ohio service plazas seem to be a lot closer together).

After a brief confusion on where exactly Kraig and Stacey lived, I was met outside by Kraig. After catching up a bit, we headed over to Baltimore International to pick up another two of their friends, Andy and Emily. We went to the city long enough to have some lunch, spy a few ships, catch a glimpse of the state capitol building, and see an old man defiantly make his way down a one-way road. After more the 24 hours of being awake, I was drifting out of consciousness on our way back to the apartment. There I took a nice nap while they went out and ran errands.

That night we headed to this crab shack restaurant. It very local and out of the way. I loved it. It had a great view of the Potomac, which at this point, is now mixing with the water from the Atlantic. When I think of Maryland, a dish that comes to mind is crab cakes. I knew that I was definitely going to order that but there were so many other tempting choices. While the rest of us dined at a leisurely rate, Kraig took a long time to enjoy his crab legs. He took so much time that he attracted the attention of the elderly couple sitting across from us. The lady said something to the effect of finally finding someone who ate slower than her. Ha!

After dinner we went to a drive through liquor store to pick up supplies. Mostly for Kraig and Andy. Oh crap… [Hey, did I ever change the Garmin back to English?] Then it was evening lounging in front of the tube.

Poor Emily, I think between me and Andy snoring, she didn’t get much sleep.

The next day (Saturday), we left for Washington on Metro Green Line. I’ve always liked riding the subway much more than using a bus system. I don’t know why. Although $1.85 for fare is a bit high and odd. I like simple math when I have to calculate how much I need to spend to go on multiple trips.

Things are going on all over the city for Independence Day. Go anywhere and you’re bound to run into something interesting. When we got off at the National Archives, they were doing a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Kraig and I stayed and watched while Stacey, Andy, and Emily went to find seats for the parade which they did next door at the DOJ. They were great seats too and they were kind enough to let me use the fold out chair.

The parade was long and I mean loooooong. The worst part of it was some of the pretty lame entries like the semi truck. Yup a semi truck that has more business on the highway than in a parade. I think the driver must’ve made a wrong turn. I really did like the cultural entries. The Philippines’ entry was very long and had multiple parts of it including ceremonial dress, cultural dress, religious artifacts, and a rather fake Jeepney, and Filipino vets. There were Chinese drummers and a Bolivian shaman/boogie man…thing.

Lunch was at the Old Post Office building which is a very nice place. You wouldn’t necessarily think that if you saw it from the outside. The place has a clock tower that you can ascend to see a nice view of the city without as much hassle that you have to go through to get to the top of the Washington Monument.

Next up was a short stomp through the Natural History Museum. A museum takes days to go through properly so we were there for the highlights. That included an IMAX showing of Deep Sea 3-D. I won’t name names but I think the movie was a perfect opportunity to catch another nap. :-P The Museum also houses the Hope Diamond. The museum was crowded already and it was pretty brutal in the gem collection. The Hope Diamond was the worse where you had to bump your way to it. Personally, I’m not into gems and jewelry. I caught a glimpse of it and I was done and moving on. The bacteria infested Mars rock was more interesting to me and unlike the Hope Diamond, I could touch it.

With only a few hours until the fireworks were due to go off, we made our way on to the Mall. Some kind of festival was going on. I paid more attention to the food booths which had international cuisine. I needed to make sure that I had some dinner so I stopped at the booth for Central America and got some chicharron, yucca, and fried plantains. It was finger lickn’ good. It was my first time for yucca.

The place seemed packed and I was beginning to worry that there wouldn’t be any good spaces. Stacey worked her magic and got a seemingly good seat next to 14th St where the Washington Monument dominated the view. While Andy and Emily held down the fort, Stacey, Kraig, and I tried to get to the WWII memorial. It hadn’t been built the last time I was there and I wanted to go see it. To do that, we needed to go through a security check point. It wasn’t too bad as we weren’t carrying anything with us at the time. When we finally got up to the WWII memorial, we found out that it was closed off. I was slightly disappointed but at least I got to see it with my own eyes.

We got back to our spot shortly before the fireworks went off. Maybe I came in with too high of expectations because I thought that they would be bigger, longer, and set to music. Maybe they were set to music somewhere near to the concert pavilion, but where we were, we didn’t get any. Still, it was a great show although Stacey said that it would have been better if there wasn’t a big pole in the way. I suppose you can overshoot when trying to find an aesthetically pleasing view. Andy timed it at being half an hour which surprised me because I was thinking more like ten minutes. I must’ve been having a grand ol’ time because time just flew by.

I wish the time few by as we were waiting to get back on the Metro.



Sadly all good things come to an end and we all began the process of leaving once we woke up in the morning. I wish I could have stayed longer. Hell… I wish I could live there. But, Michigan is a long drive home and I needed to get a ride back to where I parked my car.

I said that although I liked the experience, going to Washington, DC for the Fourth is not something I would do again. I changed my mind. I would do it again.

Stay Tuned

I'm back in Michigan. The trip to DC was awesome and I've got lots to share but it's too late in the evening so you'll just have to wait a little longer! :0)

Now for the main event!

After a nice trip though the Museum of Natural History we went through the local festival that is being held on the north end of the mall. I managed to snag some chicharron, yucca, and fried plantains. Mmm sarap!

We are now waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Old Post Office Lunch

The parade was pretty long and I was expecting that but it wasn't as spectacular as I thought it would be. It had the usual marching bands and a few floats just like most local parades. I did think the cultural entries were pretty good though.

We're now having lunch at the Old Post Office. There are mall type food stands and a nice atrium. Kraig, Andy, and I are going up the tower in a few.

Waiting for the Parade

Its almost noon and I am outside the Department of Justice building, next to the National Archives, waiting for the parade to start. It's not as crowded as I thought it would be but if this was a local parade, it would be crazy packed.

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy Independence Day! I'm heading to the Capitol in a few hours where will I have the greatest Fourth EVER.

Stay tuned.

I Don't do Name Changes Very Well

This morning I read in the news that the Sears Tower is going to be renamed the Willis Tower.

:(

One

One more shift until freedom!