Mescalito

The boys all went through Mescalito's powerful influence in terms of lulling and rocking them to dreamland and back.

Mescalito's eternal smile gave Andres and Ponso, and now Paco, that laid-back energy that connects them to different world dimensions (no wonder they see monsters, and dragons, and ghosts) releasing their endorphines making them enjoy their happy stupor.

Mescalito lives in their hearts and minds as it continues to help make their little corner in the world a happy place.

Check out Mescalito smiling and its ethereal effect on Ponso and Andres.

reposts?

Is it called repost?

I copied and pasted almost everything i have typed in my old blogsite to this site to give me my peace knowing that it is already in this one site and I have no need to put on a link from this relative newsite to my old site to access my old blogposts. Fucking merry go round thoughts giving me a vertigo this early in the morning. What am I trying to say?

The blogs with dates at the end means that it was written or posted on the said dates , in the old punk rock tatay site, er, to give me my peace, that it was not wasted time writing them and not being accessed because it is in the old site. Er, never mind. It was tiring doing it though and I am at peace after doing it.

I've been out for only two days and I am already like this, or is this my usual self? fuck, I miss the boys.

Feeding the Tsunami Waves

Babies are wont to do crazy things and get away with it by virtue of them being babies. One crazy thing is to cry their heart out to get attention, at 3:00 in the very early morning (It is not even morning morning as people normally associates the morning). The cows are still actively jumping over the moon and the witches can still take their time perfecting their magical brew potions.

I sleep beside Paco’s territory and is the nearest to react to his immediate demands that borders from a milk bottle to attempted escapes from his pen. While his escape attempts seem futile at the moment, Paco would resort to bawling bouts that threatens the peaceful slumber of his brothers. If my tactic of stuffing Paco’s mouth with a milk bottle fails, I would get some books and throw it inside his mosh pit so he can maximize the quiet solitude 3:00 am mornings can give to budding booklovers.

Last time I did that move, a tsunami hit the Indian Ocean separating the fish from the sea.

August 18, 2009

Affirming Nietzche

Ponso has a ready made prayer prayed by him everytime he is asked to do it. “Lord, please help me to be a good boy.” Every night before going to sleep, he would beckon the high heavens to grant him his utmost desire, that is, to be a good boy.

But as he continue to wreck everything that comes his way, as he covers his impish plans with his cute smile, I begin to cast doubts whether Ponso’s God can actually hear him. Nietzsche could be right all along.

August 14, 2009

Monster Rock

Monsters are a staple in our house. The boys fucking love monsters that they breathe monsters in their imaginations and in their stories. They invent their own monster descriptions and describe it with their bulging eyes and exaggerated actions to stress the scare factor that normally comes with, well, monsters. Even Paco now creates gurgling monster-like sounds when happy. It must be the influence of his brothers.

Well, I fucking love REM on the other hand and can just discuss the greatness of their music and imitate Michael Stipe’s dance step in their “Losing my Religion” music video.

This music video bridged the gap between the boys’ monster attachment and my REM hangover.

August 4, 2009

Chinatown Manila

We’ve visited Chinatown in Manila twice since June to check out what its nooks and cranies offers to folks like us waiting to be surprised. After delivering Paco to his grandparent’s house, we were off to our adventure!
Without any photo devices to document our trip (which is now more of an exception than the rule) Thelma, Andres, Ponso, and I rode jeepneys that kept Ponso and Andres transfixed to the going-ons of the outside world while counting the passengers inside the jeepney and checking out the magical gadgets installed in the driver’s dashboard.

At the Arranque Market, we rode a Kalesa in a horse named Richard that carefully traversed the busy streets to Binondo Church manned by its owner, Mang Boy. It is not easy to decorate a kalesa with its aluminum sidings that can run up to P80,000 with its intricate designs. For our kalesa, Mang Boy, the driver, said that he had his designs made in Malabon. Richard the horse, he said, is up for sale for P30,000.

After saying our long goodbyes to Richard the horse, we stepped inside the Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and was impressed with the new paintings adorning the church’s ceiling. One of the caretaker offered us a quick background of the painting and told us that a man named Joe (described as a ngo-ngo, a person with a speaking defect due to a cleft palate) from Balintawak, Quezon City was commissioned to paint the ceilings. The caretaker’s story about Joe was longer than the actual explanation on the drawings.

We then checked Carvajal St., the small interesting sidestreet, and entered Ho-land Bakery. Hearing my query on what the best hopia is, an old tsinoy offered his story on the history of the hopia wars. He said that Ho-land Hopia and P0-land Hopia came from the same family but was separated by family rifts. While Eng-Bee Tin Hopia made it big due to its Ube hopia. He ended by saying, “Hopia liked my story.”

We ate lunch at a full-packed hole in the wall chinese restaurant then bought Korean ice cream in a chinese store. The melon flavored ice cream was creamily good!

Walking back to Binondo Church, we again spotted Mang Boy and Richard the horse and offered us a ride to Intramuros. We were lucky enough to check out the North Mindanao exhibit at the Clamshell Hall and watched the show showcasing talents from that region. the singers from Cagayan de Oro belted out songs really good and the Oroquieta City dance troupe made Thelma teary-eyed with their dance rendition of “Pinoy Ako” (of the Pinoy Big Brother Fame). “

Ponso woke up as we prepared to ride the taxi home while Andres drowsily sat dreamily in the backseat.

July 8, 2009

Ponso is 3 years old!

Ponso’s 3rd birthday celebration last June 1, 2009 was eclectically fun as the unplanned party was made memorable by the antics of the children just being themselves.

We just ordered some food from a catering service to minimize the tiring effort of preparing and cooking the food before the party but it was good and delicious! We purchased 7 balloons colored blue and yellow and just decorated it with some cars stickers and bought notebooks with environment friendly messages to feed the minds of Ponso’s visitors. the cake was provided by Tita Lorie and Tito Gillette with a Winnie the Pooh statue from cousin Hallel’s past birthday as a decoration. His simple invitation had an Animal Mechanicals picture on it.

Then they played a body placement game using a world map where they step on whatever continent was called by game master Andres.

Even Paco enjoyed his nap while Ponso’s event was unfolding.

June 3, 2009

Andres' Bridge

I saw an MTV of the song “Manila” by Sandwich showing different parts of Manila which I think is one of the most interesting city in the world. From the famous landmarks to the descrepit slums, the video showed Manila’s vitality and movement. One spot in the MTV that interest me was a shot taken on Quezon Bridge in Quiapo that crosses the Pasig River. It is a busy bridge built by the builders of the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

Andres, who is so into bridges (he wants to visit all the bridges in the Philippines), went to that same bridge and posed for posterity not minding the wobbly feel the bridge gives because of the passing vehicles. It is Andres’ favorite bridge, so far (while Ponso likes Ayala Bridge).


Walking towards the center of Quezon Bridge requires a steady nose as the smell reeks of an undefinable smell as you enter the portal leading to the bridge. But Andres braved it and got to pose on top of his Bridge.

May 29, 2009

Art in Progress

first posted at www.punkrocktatay.wordpress.com

on May 22, 2009

The Band

first posted at www.punkrocktatay.wordpress.com

on May 14, 2009

Francisco Alberto S. Marana Baptism Invitation

originally posted on May 11, 2009

afternoons at the museum

I brought my eldest son Andres for his Junior Museum Guide Workshop that will run for two weeks at the UP Diliman yesterday. Excitedly, he got his workshop kit and waited impatiently for the activity to start. I was hesitant because he is the youngest at eight years old among the participants whose age ranges from 14-16 (the advertisement said that the workshop is for 10-14 years old that’s why we had to bring him before the start for an interview). We were however assured by the organizer that they will tackle and do presentations in a light way.

So i went out of the museum leaving him and enjoyed the long walk the UP campus offers to people who wants to, well, walk. Eating my late lunch at the UP Workers’ Cooperative Canteen, i cannot help but think if Andres might get hungry earlier than the pegged snacktime at 3:00 pm. The time frame (1:00-5:00 pm) of the workshop is a bit long for an incoming second grader who is used to a 3 to 4 hour schooling with playtimes inserted in between (i sit in a four hour class and i really get irritable sitting for that long a time).

After checking out some new book titles in a bookstore mall (i am a fledgling bookmonger), I rushed back to the museum and asked if i can observe Andres during the sessions. So I went down to the museum basement where they hold their discussion and sat at the far back end where Andres cannot see me. True enough, while I find the discussion conducted by a Ph.D lecturer very interesting, the form was very academic in the brink of becoming a scholarly discourse on what a museum is all about.

Then the lecturer asked,”what is an artifact?”, then i saw a small hand shot up the air and recited “it is historical.” It was Andres! And i cannot hide my pride seeing my son in the company of much older children (on the way home, he said that his co-participants all had “teen” attached to their ages except him) expressing himself confidently and articulating what is on his mind. He shared his knowledge and understanding connected with the topics being discussed and i can see the organizers looking at each other with amazement on their faces. I was proudly smiling inside my self.

I cannot wait for his next story on his afternoons at the museum.

May 6, 2009

mid summer vacation

And I thought summer vacation would give me more blogging time to share stories and practice my writing skills. More than a month had passed and with thousands of vignettes and situations with the boys, I have yet to blog anything because of constraints in relation to even checking the computer for the latest news. The whole day is occupied being with the boys in different situations.

This summer break, I would normally wake up around 6 a.m. to chat with Thelma and prepare breakfast while the boys are still asleep. Paco is normally awake already when Thelma leaves for school so I have to lull him back to sleep, then prepare Ponso’s milk bottle to extend his sleep time till around 9:00 a.m. Andres would wake around 8:30 a.m and take his breakfast after an hour of forcing him to eat. 10:30 a.m. is the time when all hell normally breaks loose. They are all awake and demanding different stuff that requires patience to address their needs. Fights between Andres and Ponso breaks up around 11:00 a.m due to TV programming issues while Paco takes his pre-lunch milk dosage.

By lunch time, Paco and one of the two boys would proceed to their grandparents’ house while I bring either Andres or Ponso to wherever I am scheduled to go in the afternoon.

Andres has yet to do any formal summer enrolled class but is enjoying his summer so far just bumming around while Ponso has his regular Gymboree classes. Paco enjoys his sleep and his milk. As I sit here typing, Ponso watches Animal Mechanicals and Paco just woke up so and I have to sign out again, for now.

April 22, 2009

Tricycle Dharmas

Excited with my new found zeal of actually trying to be a conscious and conscientious father to my three boys, I went to a Booksale outlet to check out back issues of parenting magazines advertised at P65.00 each. It was quite frustrating because after sorting over stacks of local FHMs and Maxim magazines (I was told the parenting magazine is mixed alongside this stuff), I did not find one. So I let go of the excitement and browsed through the imported magazines looking for my basic magazine staple of UTNE Reader, Mother Jones, High Times, The Progressive, and Heeb. I did not find any but I did stumble to an old favorite of mine, Tricycle. It is a Buddhist magazine with articles that apply Buddhist tenets and practices in daily life. I did not even scan the copy but just scooped it and ran towards the counter. I also got the book “Snowboarding to Nirvana” for a good karmic price of P35.00. The Dharma is at work, so I thought.

Then as I stared at Tricycle’s cover, it read, “Bringing Up Buddhists,” it was a parenting issue of sort for the Buddhist magazine. Stories on raising children the Buddhist way, teaching kids Buddhist values of compassion and loving kindness, and other concepts that I still do not understand in spite of the countless Buddhist and zen books I have accumulated since the mid 1990s.

Focusing on my in and out breath while Ponso intently watches Ernie and Bert close to the telly, I hope that the Dharma is still at work.

Buddha bless you.

March 21, 2009

Creeping Digicam Addiction

Everytime I go out with the boys to visit a place or run some errands, I always make it a point to bring the digital camera for that magical or photo worth moments waiting to be captured and documented for whatever purpose it may serve the boys. I have this urge of getting their best angles and cutest smiles to brag in the internet. I have plenty of pictures stored in the computer and in the CDs still to be reviewed or appreciated.
There was however one recent incident that makes me think of my creeping digital camera addiction and my felt insecurity when I do not have it with me.

Two weekends ago, I accidentally left the digicam at home and felt naked facing the activity filled day that I believed would spring in a couple of good photo opportunities for the boys especially with activities like bowling and wall climbing. Just the same, we continued the scheduled activity and it was the first time for some time that I did not feel burdened waiting for that split moment where I can capture that perfect shot. It was just me being with the boys and enjoying the present moment playing and playing. I can still remember how Andres would run towards and foul line and throw the six pound ball. I can still remember the feeling running after Ponso when he carried the ball by himself in his attempt to throw the ball.

The digicam for some time imprisoned me with its power to capture and preserve the moments. I was trapped with the thought of getting good pictures for posting in the internet and forgetting the actual enjoyment of the moment. There are times when I get angry because the boys do not pose well, or are not in the mood to smile. That really defeats the purpose of having a good time with them. Even Paco, the innocent looking 3 month old baby gets into my nerves when he continues to bubbly up his saliva while I intend to take some cute snapshots of him!

Yes, it’s about time to lay-off and relax with the digicam for a while. Time to regroup my sensibility and put into perspective my creeping digicam addiction.

March 17, 2009

Ska Kung Fu

March 11, 2009

milk balls and bottles

Its been a breeze so far for the past three days with the application of a new sleeping time guidelines imposed on Ponso to prevent him from barfing all over the bed before he completely falls off to sleep. The barfing act, while we deem uncontrollable on Ponso’s part because of his coughing brought about by different factors, affects our sleep routine, and our sanity, because it entails an overhaul of the bed spread, immediate laundry work to clean the mess, and plenty of movements that disturb our normal sleeping pattern.

The policy limits Ponso’s milk intake to one bottle while lulling him self to sleep to ensure space in his tummy to avoid vomiting when he coughs. His newly constructed sentence as an aftermath of the implementation of policy before sleeping is “One only, dede” (Dede refers to a milk bottle while ‘milk’ connotes milk drink in a
glass).

While Ponso tries his very best to limit his “dede” at night, he redirected his palate to a new passion that he aptly dubbed as “milk ball.” It is a delicacy discovered as we scoured the candy stalls of Galas Wet Market for the delicious pianono sweet bread. The “milk ball” is a dessert made of what else, but milk, shaped into a ball. He would raid the refrigerator in the guise of getting a Yakult drink but his eyes intently searching for that sweet milky ball hidden in the cold jungle storage.

March 10, 2009

Sport Weekend

It was an athletics packed Weekend chilling at the Mall of Asia as the boys played Tenpin bowling (yes, with the three-holed ball), then tried the climbing wall set-up for the bouldering competition. Andres can swing a six pound ball while I helped Ponso push the ball from the foul line. They had bumper bowling set-up for kids to make it easier for them to hit the pins by covering the gutters on both sides of the alley. They really had fun as my body ached running after Ponso and carrying Paco.

Sunday early evening was spent running across the UST football field in the guise of hearing Mass from the outside. The summer breeze made the early evening more cozier.

Next week, our football and baseball should be packed alongside the milk bottles.

March 10, 2009

The Jerks and the Boys

Last night, we went to My Brother’s Moustache to pick up my long overdue The Jerks Anniversary T-shirt from Chickoy. The boys were able to enjoy the Quezon City night scene as we worked the streets looking at the neon and LED lights flickering and lighting the night sky. I was so excited to play the two Lokal Brown CDs I got from Recto in the car stereo but was again overpowered by Andres’ neverending stories of his planned inventions in the future and how his class selects its leader (him being a group leader, he said). In detailed fashion, he described the step-by-step selection process and the job description of a leader. All that while I patiently waited to get my turn in the listening space and play ”Pay U” and discuss the relevance of the song in spite of its recording 15-16 years ago.

Ponso in the meantime would force himself out from the seat belt to act as an inspector as the gasoline boy fills up the gastank with 100 pesos worth of unleaded gasoline. Paco is in his slumber best wearing a new pajama as he cuddles up with his nanay in the back seat.

Only Ponso and me went down to meet up with Chickoy, and Ponso, ever observant, immediately pointed at the stage and the TV blaring and started shouting, “Music! Music!” It reminded me when we brought Andres to Mayrics one time and he went straight to the drumset and hit it with whatever stick looking gadget he found lying near the stage.

My Brother’s Moustache looked cozy enough to expose the boys to good folk and rock and roll music and its no smoking spot I think will make it bearable for the boys to enjoy the folksy ambiance and their french fries as I gargle my beer.

March 6, 2009

it's about time

Most of the time, I am at a lost on how to go about taking care of three little boys who have different worlds of their own. My wife often tells me of my unconscious detachment with the boys making their activities bug me from whatever I am doing when we are in the same time and place. The secret, she said, lies in actually BEING with them and making them the priority whenever I am with the boys. To play, laugh, tell and listen to their stories.

I normally have little problem with 7 year old Andres when he tells his stories, unless I am chatting with someone and Andres forgets the rule of manners (which he usually does because of his natural talkativeness and excitement) and gets into his act of butting in and telling his own stories and questions for the day that would waylay whatever topic I am discussing with someone. Andres is very inquisitive and people say that he thinks advance for his age. He gets interested with the high tech gadgetry and toys but it does not diminish his passion for history and the humanities, of stories about great civilization and the development of nations. He can gaze and look at the world atlas for hours and ask about countries and their peoples.

Ponso, the two year old monster, is a major struggle due to his age (I hope), so they say. The terrible two and, will it be a monstrous three? People get attracted to him for reason I cannot comprehend. They really thinks he is cute, especially when he starts off with his singing then it progresses to the more naughty tricks like throwing things, do whatever I think is dangerous, and shout his lungs out when in a happy mood. And he usually gets away with that just because he started out cute! He can sing the ABC over and over again but speaks cryptic most of the time.

Paco, at three months old, is a bundle of joy. He thinks his mother is a walking milk dispenser.

I hope to get the parenting groove real soon. After 9 years of marriage and three punk rock boys, it’s about time.

March 2, 2009

Welcome to Punk Rock Tatay

I am a father to three little boys. Andres is 7 years old and in grade school. He wants to become a Pope someday. Ponso is 2 years old and has no wants at the moment but just to live in the present wrecking anything that comes to his path. Paco is three months old and enjoys sleeping and drinking his milk.

I am a husband to a wife who normally gets crazy due to my slacker moments (she calls it straightforward laziness) creating a monstrous pile of everyday things in the corners of our home and my love for meditation which she attributes as lethargy bordering on a stroke case due to my strict meat diet backed by mind bicycling and running.

Welcome to the Pleasuredome.

February 27, 2009