Happy 2004!

Happy New Year ya'll! While some of you might have danced and drank the night away, hubby and I had our own lil' quiet celebration for the coming of the new year. We spent the night with Dick Clark, MTV, BET, and all them countdown specials on TV. We were invited to a couple of get-togethers, but we had been up at the break of dawn to drive to work site about two hours away. 'Twas a rough ride considering we had just flown in the night before. Not that there was much jet lag of the sort, just the basic weariness of traveling. On the ride back, I got hubby thinking about new year's resolutions. There's the basic ones that mostly everyone is bound to break within a week - y'know, the resolution to work out more and eat healthier. In fact, that is at the top of our list. With all this cold weather, it's so easy to curl up under the warm blankets and just chill watching TV or play PS2. We're going to try our damndest to get into a good, healthy routine. Hopefully by the time the snow melts (did I mention that isn't until April?!), MnM and Doh will be in better shape and showing off the fruits of our labor. Yea!

The Debut

Hubby and I went to Best Buy to buy a couple of dvd's so we can have movie night. We ended up buying "The Debut." Most of ya'll have heard of this movie and most likely have seen it. With all the other Pinoy films coming out, it wasn't that I was boycotting them. On the contrary, I honestly wasn't interested in them for the fact that it was like a Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). It has the basic plot: American born and raised children being ashamed of their traditional Filipino parents. There's the whole clash of traditions, acceptance, expectations, and the "coconut" issue- brown on the outside, but white on the inside. Throw in the traditional dances of Singkil (and Pandanggo Sa Ilaw, which didn't make the cut...check out the deleted scenes), a modern dance battle, dj's playing hip hop, and some thug-a-licious homies and their done up cars, there you go- instant PCN. 'Course you have to have that one conscious-aware Pinoy who kicks some knowledge about the Pinoy history and struggle. Heck, there's even a puti husband of a Pinay in the film that goes correcting people, "Oriental is not a PC term, you should use Asian instead," and "Filipinos are not really Asian, they are of the Malay race." That straight reminded me of a SF State PCN! It's the same and tired plot and that is why I didn't go out and rush to watch the movie at the theaters. Maybe it's because I was involved in so many PCN's that it's a tired issue for me. The reviews varied from the "it's just like a college PCN" to the "It was a hella dope movie that spoke to everyone." I don't doubt that it was a movie that many could relate to, but like I said, I just wasn't in the mood to watch a PCN-like film.

After watching the film, I have to say that it was pretty good. It still reminded me of a PCN, but it was still great nonetheless to see our beautiful brown bruthas and sistas on the big screen. Plus, it had some big name stars like the legendary Eddie Garcia from the Philippines and the Basco brothers (who if ya'll can remember, one of 'em played Rubio in the movie "Hook" with Robin Williams!). Perhaps I was wrong in not rushing out to the theaters to watch "The Debut." I mean, don't get me wrong, I support Pinoy film makers, artists, and entertainers 100%! Plus, if it helps to make our history and struggle known to others, then yes, by all means put it out there. Our people have been in the shadows for way too long, it's about damn time we're made known to the world!

I would like to see more movies like "American Adobo" and "Better Luck Tomorrow"- movies with a regular plot, but with PINOYS and PINAYS as the headliners. That would be so dope. To all the Filipinos striving to pave the way for other film makers and such, I applaud you. It ain't an easy task. More power to those who see the vision and continue with making Filipinos a bigger presence on the big screen; and to those already in the business, don't forget your roots. Be proud to claim brown!

Goodbye 2003...

As 11:56pm CST came around, hubby and I realized that we didn't splay coins among the rooms and didn't have any coins in our pockets ('cuz if you don't, you'll be poor for the rest of the year....so says the superstitions!). We rushed to our coin bucket and threw coins in all directions, threw some in our pockets, and hubby even had time to grab some paper bills from his wallet. As we started our countdown, hubby and I were jumping up and down ('cuz according to superstition once again, if you jump, you can get taller!) and jingling our coin filled pockets. As the ball in Times Square dropped, Doh and I shared our first New Year's kiss. Goodbye 2003...Hello 2004! Here's to new beginnings, continued love, health, happiness, and peace. Much love ya'll...