“When Vu spoke he said that time climbed upward in layers and that with each consecutive layer the past became buried. He said that an old man like the one here in the village, he was happy simply to eat his soup every day, sleep in a dry bed, and have regular bowel movements.” David Bergen, The Time… Read More »
Rodel J. Ramos Compassion to refugees In 1937 when Hitler was persecuting Jews in Europe, Jews were leaving in droves begging other countries to give them asylum. Only the Philippines took them in. Even America, Canada and Australia did not accept them. It was the time of President Manuel L. Quezon. Thousands of them were accepted with open… Read More »
Rodel J. Ramos The EDSA revolution was the trigger that started a worldwide peaceful revolt that overthrow dictators and communist governments all over the world. The world witnessed the bravery of the Filipinos who toppled down a fearful dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos from power. This was followed by Haiti under another dictator, then Poland under communism and… Read More »
“We are imperfect mortal beings, aware of that mortality even as we push it away, failed by our very complication, so wired that when we mourn our losses we also mourn, for better or for worse, ourselves. As we were. As we are no longer. As we will one day not be at all.” Joan Didion, The Year… Read More »
By Tess Taylor It has been more than 2 weeks since I watched the multi-award winning Korean movie Parasite at the Cineplex. I thought at first it was a natural disaster movie, which is not my cup of tea. My idea of a movie night is to relax. Not to be tense and disturbed. But from a brief… Read More »
I remember when I was a sub-teener trying to get into the Sampaguita gate entrance and had to crane my neck to catch a gimpse of Bobby Vasquez! He was the newest discovery, sort of a rebel-without-a-cause James Deanish and each time I heard the song Bobby Bobby Bobby (by Joanne Campbell), I swooned thinking it was… Read More »
This day of January 27 (as I rush to submit my column for the Feb 1 issue) is the birth anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. No wonder the Toronto Symphony Orchestra had back to back Mozart concerts. I only found out today (that it was Mozart’s birthday) as I was listening, through my laptop, to one of my… Read More »
It’s amazing how much of this and that fill up our everyday lives. Before you know it you have accumulated all sorts of things whether it be furniture, ballpens (yes, working or not working), information, clothes, shoes (think Imelda). Ask anyone who has to move houses. Unending sorting out, discarding, unhoarding. But, that is life, from my experience.… Read More »
By Linelle S. Mogado and Melanie Palapuz It’s an exciting time for Asian Americans and Canadians in film, TV, and streaming platforms. We have the CBC’s “Kim’s Convenience”, Sandra Oh, and many Asian American and Canadian actors blowing up in the wake of “Crazy Rich Asians.” But how about Filipino stories in North America, told and portrayed by… Read More »
“The great enemy of clear language is Insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.” (George Orwell, 1903-50, English Novelist) Marissa Odi Gonzales’ Immigration Services Team at 1008 Pape Avenue, Suite 2W in Toronto binds… Read More »