Sinigang

We want a face lift!

HELP US MAKE AN OFFICIAL TATAY PEPE'S LOGO!

If we like it and decide to use it, we'll give you PHP2,000 (pesos) if you live in the Philippines or $50 if you live in the United States!! We'll pick out 5 other designs as runner-ups and we'll give you a bag of goodies containing Tatay Pepe's stuff like t-shirt, key chain, pencil, etc. Sounds inviting?! Read On.

1. THIS isn't a contest because we can't afford a full scale campaign. This is more of Tatay Pepe's asking for your help designing our new logo.

2. We've never really had an official logo. This is what we've been using interchangeably for the last 6 years. You can go from here:

3. We want to be seen. We want exposure. We want recognition. We want people to see our logo and know it is TATAY PEPE'S.

4. We want to put it on t-shirts, signage, posters, key chains, postcards, magnets, and any other promotional materials we can think of. Please bear that in mind when making the logo.

5. We want to promote our music as much as we want to promote our food and setting.

6. The logo has to be HIGH QUALITY, in FULL COLOR and in BLACK and WHITE and in JPEG format.

7. PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE: YOUR LOGO MUST BE ORIGINAL!! Don't get an image or a design anywhere on the internet. ALL materials online are copyrighted, otherwise we could have done it ourselves. There are hundreds of interesting images we've seen online that may be used for our logo but we can't use it becuase it is either for sale or copyrighted.

8. You will have to submit a signed a paper along with your design that says the work you are submitting is yours and is original, not copied anywhere. We will use that against you if we chose your design and get in trouble later for infringement. So please, only submit original materials.

9. SUBMIT your design on a Cd with a copy of the design printed out.

10. You acknowledge that any submission becomes the property of TATAY PEPE'S. Should we decide to use your design, we will own that design and you lose rights over it. We will however feature you on our website as the creator of our new logo. We will acknowledge you as the designer for as long as we're using that design. In short, we have the right to use the design for whatever purpose and you can not come to us at any point to reclaim it or ask for more compensation.

11. We are asking for help because we can't afford to hire a professional to create a design for us. If you are a freelance artist, graphic artist, computer graphics designer and could use some extra cash, then this is for you!

12. You can send as many as you want but we will not return the said materials. We will dispose of them accordingly.

13. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE IN BY DECEMBER 15, 2007. We will place the designs we like so far on our website by December 20, perhaps give you a chance to vote on what you like! ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNER WILL BE ON JANUARY 15, 2007. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF WE DO NOT CHOOSE ANY DESIGNS TO BE OUR OFFICIAL LOGO, there will be NO WINNER only the 5 runner-ups. We want to make sure the logo we pick is somethign we would want to use for a long time. If we feel no design is qualified, there will be NO winner. We can't pick out from what's submitted if the submission doesn't meet our requirement. Sorry but that is our decision.

14. Please submit your design on cd with the signed paper that it is your original work.

For Philippines entries: Hand deliver to the Restobar
OR Mail it to: TATAY PEPE'S RESTOBAR, Along South Osmena Street, General Santos City 9500

For US entries: Please submit interest via email at tataypepes@gmail.com and we will give you an address where to mail it in the United States. This is to protect the co-owner's privacy's address.

15. We will give out our thank you money via cash (given at the restobar), by check, or thru paypal. We will give the goodies for the runner-ups at the restobar or we will mail it for entries chosen outside General Santos City and the United States.

PLEASE DIRECT ALL INQUIRIES, CLARIFICATIONS, OR CONCERNS REGARDING THIS PROMOTION VIA EMAIL at tataypepes@gmail.com

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR BEING ONE WITH US!!

LOG on to TATAY PEPE'S ONLINE to get to know us and have an idea for the logo design!

Another Malu-like Controversy in the Offing?

NOT AGAIN! Anybody who watched the premiere episode of Desperate Housewives last Sunday would know what I'm talking about. For those who missed it, Check out a clip on Youtube. Susan Meyer (played by Teri Hatcher) went for a check up and uttered the following lines:

“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Cause I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.”

What's wrong with that line? Most people are overreacting and are calling it a racial slur. I wouldn't be surprised if Filipino bloggers around the world would start another campaign to boycott the show like the recent Malu controversy asking to blacklist Manila Standard Today! We are such sensitive, passionate and emotional people, what I can tell you? But to be honest, in this instance, I wasn't offended. It wasn't an insult to the Filipino people. It wasn't racist. I was a little bit hurt- just a little bit because it is the truth. While we are producing fine, talented and competent medical practitioners in the field of medicine, nursing and physical therapy among others, we are also producing a bunch of inept, unqualified and inefficient  medical people at an alarming rate! Just look at the number of nursing schools without proper credentials sprouting all over the Philippines, some offering a nursing diploma in just months! Heck, we know for a fact that one can even buy a diploma of your choice in Avenida!

Let me tell you why I am not offended. First of all, the doctor in question isn't even Filipino. He's Caucasian. Second of all, she said some med school- she didn't say, I would just like to make sure they are not from a med school in the Philippines. See the huge difference? There are some med school in the US too and everywhere else that are being frowned upon. The scriptwriters probably alluded the Philippines in the light of the Philippine Nursing exam leakage and alleged cheating last year that was headlined for all the world to know. With that said, one (like Hatcher's character) is bound to question another's competency and qualification in the practice of medicine. It is part of a patient's bill of rights. In the Philippines, a Filipino patient may not even know that he/she has rights but here in the US and in most countries, the patients are on top of their medical condition. They make it a point to meddle on their affairs from what drug to take, the kind of care they want and most especially who will provide for that care. While offensive, majority of Filipino nurses who may or may not have been in the field for years and are highly competent are being bluntly dismissed by patients because they look young or they appear to be a student nurse or dear Lord help them, because they're colored! Such is life. Reality bites.

Before fellow Filipinos around the globe start another online revolution, I hope they watch the episode and judge for themselves. It was a one liner that shouldn't be taken out of context and out of proportion. It was a general statement referring to some med school in the Philippines. So hush now. Besides, if you come from the suburbs like Wisteria Lane, you probably can't help asking for your doctor's credentials before continuing treatment. No harm in that I guess...

From Boracay To Greece; From Me To Malu!

FOR YOUR GUIDANCE MALU, we of certain socioeconomic background are not stupid people. We don't lack common sense. We may not have been fully educated or graduated at the best school but we can read anything thicker than a magazine hence we didn't find your article funny at all. It's not because we didn't understand that we are angry, it's because we can distinguish crudeness from decency. You have blatantly marginalized us. Isn't it the responsibility of every respectable and prudent human being to continually bridge the gap between people- rich and poor, educated and not? It's not for the politicians alone to do. We sure hope never to get the culture of the elitist world you're living in. But see, I am not so exact of which elite class you belong to because a true elite group of this day and age enjoying distinguished intellectual, social or economic status have breeding and grace and are mostly involved in philanthropic work. You are an embarassment if you claim to be a part of them.

I've read some of your works from the newspaper online. What a waste of my time but in order to address you, I have to get to know how you think. Your writings are mediocre at best. They say that you are what you write. Your writings are part of you and it shows your character. After reading your articles, I can pretty much size you up- no pun intended. I therefore conclude that you are insignificant, frivolous, status seeker who constantly has to name-drop just to show that you live a so-called fierce and fabulous life. There is a stark distinction between a "sosyal" and "pa-sosyal" person; and "nakakataas kilay" and nakaka-relate ako" in one's writings. Flaunting it to be honest is quite a bit, pathetic and irritating. How ignorant of you to say that you are writing for a certain target audience in a newspaper named Manila Standard and in a magazine called People? People Magazine is a celebrity and human interest magazine. It talks about people from all walks of life. Its readers cross gender and socioeconomic standard, so does the newspaper. What are you doing in such a medium where people of different background read it?!

The article in the bone of contention is entitled "From Boracay To Greece". I didn't get it. I have been to Boracay. It is one of the country's best island known for its blindingly white and powdery sand beaches. The first time I went, I didn't have the best of accomodations but I had the best of time and all you could talk about was the algae collecting on your adidas all-terrain. Of course you had to point out that you refuse to wear your Havaianas under such condtion. I don't recall such a need to disinfect my whole surroundings with baygon and lysol so much that it would have nearly killed me either. And then you lament on your tragedy flying economy class being packed like sardines with OFWs and be disgusted by it as though they carry the plague.

I envied you for seeing Greece. You walked into ancient Greece, stepping into the greatest of all architechtural works. How exciting to be where the the finest of writings in literature was born such as the Greek Methology! You were in Athens, home of the most admired thinkers- Plato, Aristotle and Socrates and the dramatists- Euripides and Sophocles. I expected some exciting triumph in your writings, to be able to touch history. Instead, you mentioned about shopping and eating at a food chain. You did mention Parthenon and the Acropolis, "climbing every step in my gold, open-toed sandals". "After a whole day of sight-seeing I decided I have had enough of the historical sites," you continued on. You have just seen one of the the most beautiful, historical-rich countries of all, a country that practically molded western civilization and all you could muster was you have had enough of it and that you ended up shopping some more for the rest of your stay.

Sigh. You wasted the entire spread on YOU! You talked about your shallow self in the 2-paged article and you titled it 'From Boracay To Greece'! And you actually believe, that makes you fierce and fabulous?! I have nothing more to say. I rest my case.

Malu Who?!

I AM PERHAPS the last person to blog about Malu Fernandez. Frankly, I have been debating whether to ignore her, pretend I hadn't read her downright brash and cocky article and move on with my life or write my own two cents worth (before I slit my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane seated next to her in economy class!). I decided on the latter because I know there are still a few out there unaware of the huge fuss over Malu Fernandez, no pun intended. I also have to let out steam.

Who is she? Why is she getting her 15-minute of fame online and offline? If not for the forwarded email that circulated like a virus on the net, she would have remained an unknown, save for the certain target audience she claims she writes her stories for. Out of curiousity, I googled her and came 377,000 articles tagged with her name! The odd thing is, not one of the random results I clicked all the way to the end says anything about her career, or previous writings or a simple background on who she is. Every single result are blogs and commentaries on her now ill-famed write-up. I'm disappointed. All I know is she writes a column in Manila Standard Today in the Lifestyle section and a contributing columnist for People Asia Magazine. Other than that, she has no books to her name, no affiliations, not even her own blog. How do I validate if she is the "diva" she claims to be?! How do I verify if she is indeed nothing but a spoiled rotten brat of aristocratic lineage who is simply ignorant and oblivious to the realities of life?! I would have somewhat understood her myopic view of the world based on ones socioeconomic status if she were born royalty and never experienced financial constraints but the fact of the matter is she flew coach! How do you justify an utter disdain for the people smelling like Charlie and Axe cologne when YOU are packed with them like sardines (the term she used)?! She could have flown first class and then bash at the people on the economy class, while totally uncouth, would have given her credibility.

Please read her entire article by clicking on the photos  before you continue so you get the whole picture. While you're at it, click on her response defending her essay. Her defense is the clincher! It made things worse and by this time the entire blogsphere is calling for her resignation on the Manila Standard Today and People Asia Magazine and she has had thousands of hate blogs calling her names and have given her the expletives, and not to mention the death threats she has gotten. By this time, I have been boiling and the only way to appease my anger is by expressing them. The publisher of People Asia washed their hands on the matter expressing that in the light of the matter, they were going to fire Fernandez but Fernandez went ahead and gave her resignation. The publisher further added that "there is a fine print in the magazine’s staff box stating that the opinions and views expressed by writers are their own and not necessarily endorsed by the editors and the management." How convenient! Perhaps in fear for her life, Fernandez then issues a public apology stating her deepest regret and sorry but by then the damage has been done. Her words meant nothing. When she decides to actually slit her wrist as an act of contrition, or wear Charlie cologne for the rest of her life, or suffocate herself daily spraying baygon and lysol all over her body, maybe then, just maybe, the Filipino people will forgive her. For now, all she is to me is a shallow, hypocritical, pretentious, pompous ass!

This Malu issue consequently raises more questions and arguments beyond what she wrote. I'm no saint. I'm admittedly guilty as the next person of having some prejudices and bigotry in my own choices. Everyone's a little bit racist sometimes goes the song from Avenue Q, the musical, but that doesn't give us the right to insult people for who they are. That's when decorum and sensitivity come in. I've never flown first class in my life. I told myself, even when I can afford to someday, I won't. I cringe at the thought of wasting US$20,000 (based on current Cathay Pacific fare: US$24,660.70 from Boston to Manila!) to fly first class from the U.S. to the Philippines round trip! I could buy low-cost housing for that price or send a lot of kids to school for a year there! Sure, there are annoyance flying economy from crying babies left and right, the endless loud chatters, tv-dinner food, the cramp seat with little or no leg room and yes, the different smells! Big deal! That's part of daily life. We are constantly inconvenienced by something in one way or another. We can complain, whine and bitch but we don't have to be downright rude and insensible. Insulting people is not a laughing matter. Filipino humor is almost always self-deprecating. We make fun of ourselves by being excessively modest or belittling our capacity. We do it to ourselves. When someone makes a mockery out of the expense of another, that isn't funny. That's insulting. What did the OFW do to you, Malu to deserve such nasty and biting remarks? If anything, OFWs pump up cash to the Philippines so you can get paid in your job! OFWs stabilize the draining economy by feeding it countless dollars so you can better sleep at night! How could you call your essay "humurous and tongue-in-cheek?" There is a line you don't cross in being funny and hope to get away with it by calling it acerbic wit.

A formal complaint/petition has yet to be endorsed to the Manila Standard calling for Fernandez' resignation. Meanwhile, I am aghast by the silence of the newspaper to take action on the issue. Malu Fernandez is still seen in her weekly column on the paper as of this writing. Clearly the newspaper, who is only the fourth read newspaper in the Philippines is using the Malu Controversy to their advantage- in the hope of pooling in more readers to buy their newspaper. But see whatever they do, they are a far cry from the Philippine Daily Inquirer who retains roughly 1.47 million readers nationwide on a recent survey while Manila Standard isn't even mentioned. Their circulation is unknown and I can only assume it is way under 100,000 copies daily. Even when I was in the Philippines, I never read the Manila Standard. I didn't know anybody who read that paper. There was no reason for me then, certainly nothing can make me read their paper now- not even malu fernandez' empty, lacking in substance articles on its lifestyle section which to me read like a very, very bad copy with ideas lifted from a cosmopolitan, vanity fair or good housekeeping magazine.

Avenue Q, North American Tour

AS IT TURNS OUT, Avenue Q will be all across America and in Toronto bringing laughs and music! So while I'm at it, here's posting where they'll be at in the coming months. When you see your City, just google it like type: Avenue Q Boston in the search bar and you will find all the info on how to get tickets and stuff or you can always go to Avenue Q official wesite.

Avenue Q North American Tour Schedule

LOS   ANGELES     9/4 -   10/14/07     THE  AHMANSON         TUCSON     10/16 -   10/21/07     MUSIC   HALL         HOUSTON     10/23 -   11/4/07     HOBBY   CENTER                          KANSAS CITY      11/9 -   11/11/07       THE   BENEDUM DES   MOINES 11/13 -   11/18/07 CIVIC   CENTER PITTSBURGH     11/20 -   11/25/07    THE   BENEDUM                      WASHINGTON   DC      THE NATIONAL    11/27 -   12/9/07   BALTIMORE      12/11 -   12/23/07      THE   HIPPODROME      MINNEAPOLIS     1/1 -   1/13/08    THE   STATE    CLEVELAND     1/15 -   1/27/08    THE   PALACE        PHILADELPHIA     1/29 -   2/10/08     THE FOREST        ST.   LOUIS   2/12 -   2/24/08    THE   FOX      MILWAUKEE 2/26 -   3/2/08   MARCUS   PAC     ROCHESTER     3/4 -   3/9/08     AUDITORIUM   THEATRE BOSTON 3/11 - 3/23/08 COLONIAL THEATRE ATLANTA 3/25 -   3/30/08 THE   FOX TAMPA 4/1 -   4/6/08 TAMPA BAY   PAC COLUMBUS 4/8 -   4/13/08 THE PALACE THEATRE EAST   LANSING 4/15 -   4/20/08 WHARTON   CENTER LOUISVILLE 4/22 -   4/27/08 THE   PALACE BUFFALO 4/29 -   5/4/08 SHEA'S BUFFALO RALEIGH 5/6 -   5/11/08 PROGRESS   ENERGY CENTER MIAMI 5/13 -   5/18/08 CARNIVAL   CENTER SEATTLE 6/10 -   6/22/08 THE PARAMOUNT PORTLAND 6/24 -   6/29/08 KELLER   AUDITORIUM FT.   WORTH 7/8 -   7/13/08 BASS   PAC GREENVILLE 7/15 -   7/20/08 PEACE   CENTER CHARLOTTE 7/22 -   7/27/08 BELK   PAC TORONTO 7/29 -   8/31/08 THE ELGIN