The footages you may have seen on TV are just a peek and an understatement of the real disaster and damages wrought by Typhoon Ondoy on the Philippines. The impact of it all is only just beginning to sink in as people, whose lives and homes were devastated, are now starting to pick up the pieces and put them together – if there are any pieces left at all. Looking at the pictures of strange faces in the affected areas, you can feel the pain of loss, of the feeling of being lost.

I am asking everyone who are in better and safer places and situations right now to help these people in need. Your 10 bucks is already a lot help and will buy a family a bag of groceries enough to last them for a day or two.

Thousands of people have extended help in any way they could. Donations in cash and kind are pouring in. People have opened their homes to those who do not have a place to sleep in for the next several nights. Volunteerism is alive again. In the Philippines, we call it ‘bayanihan.’  

You, too, can help.

There are several ways you can extend your help, including through the ABS-CBN SAGIP KAPAMILYA Foundation and the Philippine National Red Cross.

You may deposit to:

BANCO DE ORO ABS-CBN Branch
Account Number: 5630020111
Account Name: ABS-CBN FOUNDATION INC.
Routing code: BNORPHMM

* For confirmation of donation, please fax (+632-411-0858) or email (sagip@abs-cbn.com) copy of transmittal slip with complete donor’s information.
Website:  http://www.sagipkapamilya.com/

You may also donate to:

Philippine National Red Cross
Online Donation Website:
http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/Default.aspx?S=48&SS=972

SAGIP KAPAMILYA also accepts donations in kind. Your old clothes will warm a lot of people who lost their clothes in the flood water and mud. You may send them to:

ABS-CBN FOUNDATION INC.
13 Examiner St. West Triangle, Quezon City
1104 Metro Manila, Philippines
Warehouse Tel. No: +632-413-2667

Stripped of the security fences, face masks, and her father’s protective eyes, she is just an ordinary child crying about the loss of the only parent she ever knew.

And with that, she stole our hearts and broke them into pieces.

They were simple words we hear everyday from every other kid, but to hear them uttered by Paris Jackson who courageously spoke before the public from whom her father shielded her forever, it was, for us, a moment of reflection. Of who else Michael Jackson was. Beyond the spotlight, somewhere where the paparazzi could not reach him, he was a parent. A parent just like the ones most of us have, just like the one some us are.

“Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine… I just wanted to say I love him so much!”

No words could have humanized Michael Jackson more. He was the King of Pop. But he was also a father.

Dead, they’re calling him the King of Pop. In life, he was Jacko Wacko and all sorts of other weird, obscene names attached to a thousand and one scandals.

There’s nothing like death to stop malicious tongues. Nothing like death to bring back the glory of an icon who fell victim of a self-righteous public.  Now the same public is singing “Beat It” and “She’s Out Of My Life” once again, and surprisingly, the lyrics are intact in everyone’s mind and not a single note has been forgotten through these years. Now we remember who he really was to us.

Tributes and applause, and shout-outs of “I love you, MJ!” are ringing everywhere.

Too late now, though. They fall dead on the ears that were meant to hear them.

If only we sang them sooner…

Archie has finally popped the question. Yes, to Roni.

Where does that leave Betty, now tagged in her own blog the saddest girl in the world? Not to Reg, puh-leeez! Already, he’s got his eyes on the poor blonde girl for a Friday night date. I say, No Betty! You have more common sense than go out with the most narcissistic, vainglorious boy in Riverdale. Not even on rebound.

Well, at least Betty can thank Archie that she doesn’t have to put up with Jughead (and Hotdog) as the Best Man on her own wedding. Leave the problem to the bride.

As for Archie… he just made the biggest mistake in his 60-year comic life. Mr. Lodge will see to it.

Archie, Betty, Veronica Lodge, Reg, Riverdale

When you do something for someone and expect them to do the same for you, you’re on the wrong track. Because, you see, they never could. But look behind you, someone else may be paying it back, or may have paid it back before you even extended your generous hand.

Woody Hayes summed it best in so few words:

“You can never pay back; but you can always pay forward.”

We’ve heard it all before. Even seen it onscreen in Warner Brothers’ adaptation of Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novel, Pay It Forward, where a 12-year-old schoolboy sets out to complete a school project to change the world by doing a good deed for three people, eventually creating a charity pyramid.

We’ve experienced it all before. Everyone of us who has a mother. Yes, she, who never thinks twice about feeding us the last piece of bread so we won’t feel hunger even if her own stomach is grumbling; who would strip off her last piece of clothing to keep us warm; who would walk barefoot to buy us the designer shoes we want so much.

She, who risked her life so we would live.

And she never asked for anything in return. And you know you would never try to pay it back, because you never can.

And so you try to give the same amount of love to your children. Or other people’s children. Or people who are no longer children but who need your love and charity. Because your mother showed you how.

But don’t expect all those people you’ve helped to pay you back. They will have their own mothering to do.

Pay it forward. The concept of motherhood.

Technorati Tags: mother, motherhood, pay it forward, catherine ryan hyde, woody hayes, charity

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Shia and Mom

I do, if that’s what it takes to be named sexiest woman by the 22-year-old Transformers star touted to be most promising actor of his generation. On the other hand, doesn’t it sound kinda, ugh, gross?

He thinks so, too, by the way.

In a Playboy magazine June issue interview, Shia LaBeouf is quoted:

“Probably the sexiest woman I know is my mother,” he says. “She’s an ethereal angel. Nobody looks like that woman. If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would. I would be with my mother now, if she weren’t my mother, as sick as that sounds.”

Is he just being kind to his mother, or do we detect a borderline son-mother attraction here?

Read the full story at FOXNews.com.

Girls, if you’ve never been a bridesmaid and you’re wondering how it feels to be one, try signing up for this. It’s not clear whether the bride will be paying you some professional fee but think about the buffet, the dancing and the groomsmen. It may turn out to be a worthwhile experience. Plus, you won’t have to pay for your gown.

Check this out, from best-of-craigslist:

Looking For Bridesmaids -w4w

Date: 2009-02-27, 8:53PM CST

So, my fiancee and I are getting married in June. He has 8 groomsmen lined up and I only have one bridesmaid. So, I need some girls who are attractive and around my age to stand up in my wedding. You can be single or taken. It doesn’t matter….you just have to be hot. But, not hotter then me. Email me for more information. The wedding will be in Madison and you won’t have to pay for a thing.Hope to hear from you!

• Location: Madison
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Interested? Here’s the link:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/mad/1053693787.html