Golden Dreams

Earlier this month, July 9 to be exact, marked 50 years since the day that my parents and I immigrated to the USA from the Philippines.  Unfortunately, we didn't own a camera at the time, so I don't have pictures to share with you from that day, but I thought I'd write down what happened in our early days, according to my parents.

Mom was allowed to go to the USA on a green card through a petition from her uncle.  She was going to go ahead of my dad and me and send for us later, but my dad's father asked her to wait until we were allowed to join her.  10 days shy of my being 18 months old, we took a Cathay Pacific plane leaving from Manila.  From Manila, we stopped in Hong Kong, and then stopped in Tokyo.  I had an ear infection.  I asked if I cried for the entire journey.  Mom said that I only cried on the first leg, but that the most I cried was when we got to Tokyo.  I guess I wouldn't leave one of the stores until Mom bought me a doll that I wanted.  She says that it was big, but I wouldn't stop crying, so she got it for me.  Chrissy is now in my niece's room.  I hope that if she ever grows too old for it, she gives it back to her Tita Sherry, because that has always been my favorite doll.  Now I know why.  Our first touchdown on US soil was in Seattle.  

We were originally going to meet Mom's Uncle Paul in Chicago, but he didn't think that the weather would be good for the baby (me) because it gets very cold (Uncle Paul is wise.  I do not like cold weather).  He suggested that Dad try to find a job in LA, and if it doesn't work out, then come out to Chicago.  So we flew to LAX, and my godparents met us at the airport.  We stayed at their place for a couple of weeks.  So it took me 50 years to actually get to Chicago, to attend Star Wars Celebration. (This is not counting a few hours I spent in the O'Hare airport).

Dad was able to acquire a job on our 3rd day in LA.  Yes, THREE DAYS.  He started working the next day.  Impressive!  It's a good thing Mom waited for us!  The job paid $400.00/month, and he bought his first car, a VW Beetle. By then, my godfather had taught him how to drive so he could actually take it home.  We were also able to afford our own place, on Bonnie Brae, for $80.00/month, which mom said "included utilities and cockroaches."  Back then, $20.00 bought a cart full of groceries, including 3 dozen eggs for $1.10 total, and a gallon of milk for $0.29.  Gas cost about the same as milk then, so we were in good shape, and Mom was able to stay at home with me for about a year before she got a job working with the State.

We were friendly with our neighbors, and one day we met a man named Tata.  He let me sit on his lap so I could hear his radio and listen to Dodgers games with him.  Yes, I've been a Dodgers fan almost my whole life!  We didn't even know about the Lakers back then.  Tata probably would have been happy to know about all of the cool Dodgers stuff I've done this year, even though I haven't been to a game yet this season.

Once mom got a job, she got a babysitter for me.  Mom came home one day and found me in a paper bag because I was crying, so she changed babysitters to Auntie Menchie, whom had two kids of her own named David and Aileen. We were all close in age.  Mom said that David bit me a lot because I didn't want him to kiss me.  I have a picture somewhere of some other boy trying to kiss me, and I'm making a face like "I can't believe they're forcing me to take this picture."  I've always been picky, I guess.  Take note of that, any boys I've allowed to kiss me!  You were SPECIAL  They're probably not reading this, but whatevs.

Eventually, we moved in to an apartment on Carondolet, where Auntie Evelyn (mom's cousin) and Auntie Gaye stayed secretly.  They hid when the landlord came so that we wouldn't be charged more money.  My earliest memory of living in LA is the morning of the Sylmar earthquake in 1971.  I remember all of us screaming and running around the apartment because we didn't know any better.  Auntie Evelyn and I were "buddy buddy", according to my mom, and I was jealous when she got a boyfriend and eventually married him.

Mom and Dad tell me a lot of stories about those days, some having to do with their crazy friend Fernando (whom Mom credits with getting the two of them together back in the Philippines), and how I always asked her to carry me when she and I walked home.  "Carga!", I would say, as we started going uphill.  That's me, lazybones.  Thanks for carrying me anyway, Mom, and thanks for all of the dresses you bought me on your way home from work.  They were $1.00, and I'm sure they made my face light up every time.  New dress!

Later that year, my parents had saved enough money to get a house in Arcadia for about $40K. I lived there until I grew up.  I still miss that house, but can't really go near there without crying, so I don't.  Bro was born 4 years later.  He's the first American-born child in our family.  He doesn't understand as much Tagalog or Ilocano (my mom's dialect) as I do, but we still try to understand when people around us are talking in my parents' native tongue.  Mabuhay, Pilipinas!

I am grateful to be an American.  Our country may be full of strife these days, and I've been quite frustrated with the leadership lately, but I'm still a citizen of my favorite country in the world, and I hold out hope that it will be looked at as that ideal place again for people to build their dreams, just like my parents did.

I'm grateful my parents brought me to this land of opportunity, this melting pot of races, beliefs, and cultures.  I wonder what my life would have been like if we had stayed in the Philippines.  (I'm thinking that I would have had a bunch of children and stayed at home and actually learned how to cook Filipino food properly, but would have never known the wonders of Disneyland, Drum Corps, and Rockapella...at least not until the internet).  

Thank you to my parents for being my role models of faith, love, respect, humor, and ambition.  Thank you for raising me in a world full of possibilities.  

Happy Golden Anniversary of our immigration, Mom and Dad. 

Christmas in L.A. 1970

Lying to Nai Nai

Today, my friend Linda and I saw "The Farewell".

I've been on the A-List at AMC for over a year now, so the sticker price of $16.50 (with membership) made me wince a little bit.  I was even more irritated when a man at the end of our row kept commenting during the movie.  I tried to shush him, and his companion told him to keep his voice down at the beginning, but she didn't do a very good job of making him stop.  It further irritates me that he's acting this way in an Arclight cinema, where a staff member actually gives the spiel of not talking and stuff, and it's a quiet movie, and half the time I felt like he, a Caucasian person was mansplaining to his companion, an Asian person, about a movie made by Asian people.  Dude, I did not pay $16.50 for your commentary.  Go home and stream it 6 months from now.  Maybe I'll buy the DVD with your comments on it.  As Linda stated, "..and then we'll have you autograph it."

OK, I'm done ranting.

• "I love for you, too, Billi."  Yup, I almost lost it already 5 minutes into the movie.
• Awkwafina did a fabulous job in her role with all of the emotions she was trying to keep in, and trying so hard not to let her grandmother know her own diagnosis.  
• I loved this whole family.  Some of them were like my family, but I won't out them here.
• I cried buckets during the wedding reception scene.  I was already crying and then she and her dad started with the karaoke, and it must have triggered a flashback in me, and I didn't stop crying for several minutes after that.  I need to sing karaoke with my family again just for fun.  I miss those days.  Ohmigosh, I'm about to cry again.
• "It is our duty to carry this emotional burden for her."  TEARS.
• It doesn't help me that they call her grandma "Nai Nai", which is very close to what we called my paternal grandmother: "Nanay".  Nanay never commented about touching my butt when I became an adult, though.
• I love the relationship between Billi and her grandma.  It was very sweet.
• I'm such a shipper that I totally wanted her to stay in China to look after her grandma, so that she could hook up with the cute English-speaking doctor so that her grandma could throw another wedding banquet.
• "What do you want me to tell her? That she's on the roof?"
• Loved it when Billi was saying hello to all of her aunties, just the way her Nai Nai told her.
• So, did they actually get married, or was it all a ruse?
• Billi's scene in which she's telling her mom how she felt when they left China reminds me that I have something non-movie related to post very soon.  

I loved this movie.  I look forward to seeing it again whenever I don't have to be in a theater with that guy.

Fairy Tales the QT Way

Last night after work, I saw "Once Upon A Time In...Hollywood".

• "Don't cry in front of the Mexicans."
• Hmmm...rat flavor and raccoon flavor.  Both sound not yummy, but I'm glad the doggie likes it.  BTW, Awesome Dog!
• The almost-empty freeways.  Truly a thing of the past.
• I would like more buddy/bromance movies with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, please.  I really like their chemistry, and neither one of them is bad to look at.  :)
• Love the scene where Rick is describing the book he's reading and realizes he's going through the same thing as the main character.  "You'll find out in about 15 years."
• I didn't recognize Luke Perry under that hat...until he spoke.  Aw, RIP, Luke.
• That's right, folks.  Stuntmen do not need ladders.
• Brad Pitt, still looking fine, standing on top of a roof, shirtless, about to fix a TV antenna.  Hellooooo, Brad! (My inner Dot is helping me with this post today).
• Yay!  Leonardo's character is riding Pan Am!  He wasn't piloting the plane, though.
• Aw, I wish the real story had ended this way.  So sweet.
• That fight scene in Rick's house, though.  So QT that it generated applause at my screening.
• What is up with the dirty feet being propped up for us to see?  So that we know that rich people and hippies both have issues with cleanliness?
• So...did he actually kill his wife?
• Wait.  "Squeaky" was Dakota Fanning?!?!
• "And awaaaayyy we go!!!"

I enjoyed this movie.  It had violence, but not so much that I can't see it again.  Thanks for the LA love, Quentin.

DLR LotD 07/17/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

"That's really close.  It's Dorian close." -- Cindy, at the Hub

Happy 64th Birthday, Disneyland!  

Thank you for the wonderful parade that is Soundsational.

The Drummers!

I would like one of these, please.

Drum Major Genie

I would like a pair of those cymbals, please.

 

Ocean Smiles

I would like this outfit, please.

That monkey is not touching the ground

Serengeti Smile

Liz would like the teal outfit, please.

He plays the trumpet!  

Dancing Pirate

I Believe In Yesterday

Today, I watched "Yesterday".  I thought about seeing it yesterday, then I thought then that I would just see it "tomorrow".  I've just confused myself, so here are my thoughts on this film about a world where nobody remembers the Beatles.

• We take a lot of these songs for granted now, but if you listen to the words as if you were first hearing them, like Jack's friends did, they would still have a lot of meaning.  Seeing them cry when they heard "Yesterday" was quite moving.
• Hamish Patel does a really nice job singing the songs, and I liked his portrayal of Jack, too. 
• The moment I saw Ellie look at Jack, I thought, "she loves him."  Boys are so blind sometimes. Lily James is so sweet in this role.
• "I've been waiting half of my life just waiting for you to love me."
• I love all of the outcomes of the searches he did on Google.  Pope John Paul.  Ha!
• What?!  No Coca-Cola, either?  
• What kind of a crazy person has a recording studio right next to a working railroad track?  Gavin, I guess.
• Wait, that's actually Ed Sheeran!  Why do I not have any of his albums?  I like a whole bunch of his songs.  One moment please while I add him to my Amazon list.
• OK, so I added whatever I could get on Prime from Ed Sheeran as well as the Beatles.  That's a lot of songs.
• "You look like that Ed Sheeran."  "I am Ed Sheeran."  "Oh.  Good on you."
• I don't know how he was able to remember so many songs, but I'm glad they showed his struggle to remember the lyrics, especially for "Eleanor Rigby".  
• "Two teeth missing?  It's like a rabbit but in reverse."
• "It's one of the greatest songs ever written."  "Well.  It's not Coldplay.  It's not 'Fix You.'"
• Kate McKinnon makes me laugh a lot.  'You're skinny but somehow round."
• "How did I get into the wrong column?"
• I cried a couple of times during the movie, but I was almost inconsolable when Jack went to the house on the beach.

I really liked this movie!  It's funny, and it's romantic, and it's got great music, and there's a quirky premise.  It's my kind of movie.

TS4: Bo Kicks Butt

After a nice birthday dinner to celebrate Double N's Golden Year, a bunch of us went to see "Toy Story 4".  Some of us had already seen it, but they were willing to go again.  Thanks, peeps!

• I almost started crying right at the beginning during the flashbacks.
• "I'm trash."
• "I have a question.  No, wait.  I have *all* the questions."
• Poor Woody, always having to convince toys that they are toys.
• I don't know how Woody thinks he's going to make a 5 mile trek, when that distance tires me out and I've got much longer legs than he does.
• Perhaps people should have warned me that I would be watching a "Chucky helps Talking Tina" horror flick, because that stuff (not the word I actually started to type) was creepy.  I know that Chucky is not a ventriloquist dummy, but they're voiceless and creepy.  OMG, they're like the Gentlemen from "Buffy".
• I like the tinkering sound that Billy, Goat, and Gruff make when they walk.
• I'm still trying to figure out why those two rabbits act that way.  Wait.  One is a duck.  Nope, still can't figure it out.
• I had not idea whom was voicing Duke Caboom...until I heard his last word during the credits: "Whoa."
• Grape Soda!
• Poor Hoth Combat Carl.  I'm glad he got a happy ending during the credits, though.
• Loved it when Woody posed like Mickey holding the phone receiver.
• "We can have Dad sent to prison!"
• "What is with everyone jumping out the window?!"
• "Daddy's going to use some words."
• Forky does not know how to use a hairbrush properly.  I hope he learns so that he can help out his new girlfriend.
• Tears. Tears for toys.  Again.

I liked most of this movie, but not the parts that made me hide behind my hoodie.  I would have been OK, though, with ending the series at the 3rd movie.  I am glad that Woody has new adventures to look forward to now, to infinity and beyond.

DLR LotD 07/04/19

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day

Thursday, July 4, 2019

"First you go 'whoop' to go up, then push the buttons as you're coming down." -- Justin, to Sherry, in Batuu

Thor and Valkyrie Walk Into A Bar...

Today I was able to see "Men In Black: International".  I liked the first and third MIB films, but didn't care much for the second one, and hoped that this one would not disappoint me.  (It didn't).  :)

• The Columbia Pictures logo is also a member of MIB.
• Liam Neeson is playing a mentor to someone again, and I fear for their soul.  I mean, it never ends well.
• I like Tessa Thompson in this role.  I also like that in this film, she gets to notice the hunk of a man that is Chris Hemsworth.
• Alien viewing H in slow motion:  "He's soooo yummy."
• Donald Glover makes complete sense as an alien to me, too.
• I don't remember J being on probation when he joined MIB.
• Loved the bit when Agent H was reaching for a hammer!  Then he threw it and the other guy caught it.  I giggled a lot.  I don't know if anyone else in the theater got it, because I think I laughed the loudest.
• Aw, that's J and K in one of the paintings in High T's office!
• I remember the Bourgeois twins from World of Dance.  They are awesome!  
• "The universe has a way of leading you to where you're supposed to be, at the moment you're supposed to be there."

I enjoyed this one.  I don't think this will be a new MIB trilogy, but I think that would be fun.

You Do Not Ghost Nick Fury!

Somehow my friends and I agreed to go to a 12:30 am showing of "Spider-Man: Far From Home" on opening day, so I took a nap beforehand.  I'm always amazed at the amount of people that are as crazy as we are, and go to this screening.  Don't any of us have jobs to go to in the morning?  Since we went to the IMAX screening, we each got a mini figurine.

Spidey about to swing away from my keyboard

• Interesting transition from the Columbia Pictures logo to a statue of Mary.
• Aw, all of the images of Iron Man, like the drawings at the school.
• "Even Dead I'm The Hero"
• "Getting tranqued by Nick Fury is probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me."
• "He makes me want to be a better man...Hey, Dickwad!"
• "You mean there's a multi-verse?!"
• "Bitch, please.  You've been to space."
• "He figured you wouldn't know the quote because it wasn't from 'Star Wars'."
• Poor Mr. Harrington.  I like Martin Starr from "Silicon Valley", and it's a change to see him as this hapless teacher.
• "I was only 67% sure."
• I like MJ more now than I did in "Homecoming".  I still want her to have red hair, though.
• "How does Cap do that?"
• "I love Led Zeppelin!"
• Yay! JK Simmons!
• "I'm in love with Spider-Man's aunt."
• Peter Tingle
• Love the look that Happy has when he sees Peter putting his new suit together.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I don't think I'll be able to see it again before it leaves theaters, because I'm way behind on my movie viewing, but I'll try!

The Ones With All of the Xylophones

Western Corps Connection

Sunday, June 30, 2019

San Bernardino Valley College

San Bernardino, CA

I attended church in the morning, but didn't have much of a voice due to all of the hotting and hollering I did the night before.  I was also hungry, so I was happy that they were selling Filipino breakfast as a fundraiser, and bought brunch for my parents and myself.  Bro and Dodie arrived later on and we stopped at Miguel's Jr. for lunch.  Yummy!  I tried to eat carefully because Bro had vacuumed the car AGAIN after the break-in.  He might have vacuumed it three times this weekend, I don't remember.

The WCC was at a different venue this year, but we don't know the reason.  The college is very nice, but the lot we parked in was gravel, and I was glad that I had decided not to wear my flip flops.  Bro wanted to watch some of the lot activities, so he took his Miguel's Jr food to watch them, while Dodie and I finished up ours in the car.  We parked right next to Glenn because we had followed him into the lot after dealing with corps buses that didn't know what they were doing.  New venue, new stuff to encounter!  After we ate, Dodie and I went shopping, and, unsurprisingly, I bought more stuff: a sleeveless hoodie from the Mandarins and a tank top on clearance from Blue Knights.  I also talked to a lady whom was making jewelry for Pacific Crest fans, and I want to go to her website, but my phone didn't save her QR code, so I guess I'll deal with that when I get to Finals.

It took a while to get into the stadium, so we heard Kim Lovett sing the Star-Spangled Banner while we stood in line.  She was wearing a blue dress with stars like the American flag.  We saw her earlier.  

Our seats were in Section 3, Row T, 12-16, on the right 35-40 yard line.  Rudy's group of tickets was in row S.  But Rudy wasn't there yet.  Double N and his mom were already in their seats by the time we arrived, because we didn't make it to see the exhibition show from the group from Calgary.

WATCHMEN

Their drum major is energetic, as well as the second drum major.  Some intonation issues today, maybe I can hear them more because we're sitting closer to them than in other shows.

Energy!

IMPULSE

Is there a hero in Tetris that I don't know about?  I think the blocks will be in Tetris colors by the end of their season.  Much better rifle work today, but still a few drops.

DM Salute

I can see you behind that coat rack tree

Pow! Bam! flags

VESSEL

Oh, I get it!  The arrows on their uniforms and drums are pointing "Here, There, and Everywhere"!  It only took me three days.  Nice solo high rifle toss and catch!  Also nice solos performed on the platforms.  The ramps store flags/equipment in them.  Cool!  Glenn told me that the CG must have borrowed their uniforms from the Bluecoats 2016 show.  I told him that I said that to Bro the day before and he just shrugged at me.

Sitting on our ramp / storage space

Kinda Bluecoats-ish

It was around this point when I started being concerned about Rudy's whereabouts, because he usually doesn't miss much of the show.  So I texted him and asked if he was in the lot with Bro, hoping that he wasn't at old venue RCC.  No, he was just coming back from Long Beach, and was on his way to RCC, but was able to change his direction, thanks to my text.  I'm pretty sure I told him that the venue was in a new place when I asked who wanted to go to the show.  And when I bought the tickets.  And when we saw him last week.  And on the envelope that I gave him with the tickets in it.  And on the actual tickets.  

Meanwhile, Bro was having fun in the lot, witnessing some drumming and stretching, and losing his hearing from the loudness.  Thank you, Mandarins, for warming up right in front of him when he was just standing there.  He enjoyed it!

INCOGNITO

I like the pre-show with the color guard setting the mood.  Double N noticed that the snare player also plays bass.  You need to know more than one thing in these small corps.

Mood Setters

Banana

I needed to use the facilities, so I wasn't able to watch the next corps.

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Sounded good from what I could hear, and I got a little peek at my feather flags.  :)

GOLD

Double N:  "Big sound."

Dodie:  Trying not to laugh out loud.

That last piece is loud.  No wonder V couldn't hear the last words of the narration.  I think they're saying something like "It's in me."

Gold Drums

Money and Diamonds

<Intermission>

I took my purchases to the car because they made my bag big, and saw Rudy on the way into the gate.  He just walked up to me and smiled.  I told him I had a wristband, and he needed to wait with the other latecomers that didn't know where to go.  OK, I didn't tell him that.

As the next corps entered the field, the woman in back of me said, "Look at all of the xylophones!  Oh, I remember them.  Remember the one with the xylophones?"  Hmmm...

GENESIS

I didn't see the first appearance of the kitchen sink this time, but I did see one of the front ensemble members banging on a trash can.  Are these part of the nature ==> industry theme?  Thank you for coming to California, Genesis!

Snares on Ladders

Trash Can Tunes

I'll hold on to you with the back of my knee

Kitchen Sink Kraziness

Bro finally joined us in the stands.

PACIFIC CREST

There was too much sunlight for the glow effects to be seen.  What happened to the other 3 cymbal players?   There will only six of them this time, and I saw the holes in the formations where they would have stood.  I like the several short crescendos.  (Crescendi? Oh, both are OK!).

PC Horns

Love those blue flags

TROOPERS

Great rifle work.  Drum Judge Christiansen looks like he wants to go out onto the field.  I mean, why not?  They don't have any big props, so I think he should be allowed to do it.  Or maybe that might be unfair in the scoring if he could hear some better because he could get closer to them.

Troop Drums and Drum Judge

Tarp Boundaries

ACADEMY

Horns sounded a little bit muddy today.  "Troubled Water" soloist had mic issues, so it's a good thing we were in a smaller stadium and could hear anyway.  At one point, a girl is lifted up by two people, and a flag person walks underneath this bridge.  Nice.

Are those two towers by the pit just placeholders?

End of Academy Show

MANDARINS

The DM salute is kinda scary.  Bro said that he would get arrested if he did something like that on the street.  The intruder guy dancing the pas de deux is different from the one that the DM pushes off of the DM stand.  I saw the changeover this time.  

Flags Looking Like Fire

BLUE KNIGHTS

Bro said that BK is getting higher scores in GE over the Mandarins because their flags move with their music perfectly.  Rudy appreciated the show tonight more than he did on Friday, as did Bro.  I like this show.

We go upside down, too!

BK Drums

Reflections

CAVALIERS

Go, Guard!  Awesome green firework from somewhere in the neighborhood at the show's climax.  Double N's mom thought that was done on purpose. She probably wasn't the only one.   SPLOOIEEEEE!  See you in about a month, Cavies!  Thank you for coming back to California!

I met this guy back when he was just a fan of the Cavaliers,
and now he's one of them!

Waiting to cause some trouble

Marimba Madness
or Xylophone Zaniness?

We don't need these rifles anymore

SCV

On FIRE!  The color guard hasn't had their spotlight yet, so I think that's what they'll add next.  All of those crazy solos were well done.  Wow.  I tried to focus on the battery this time.  I love the way they get to start the show, and the way they rock out at the end.

Trombonist Leo

Sousaphonist Getting Down and Funky

Chillin' Leo

D R U M S !!!!!

BLUE DEVILS

Eek!  Four rifle drops at the beginning as they opened the doors.  I got worried when one of the boards wasn't pushed down all the way after the shoe dance, then somebody stepped hard on it and I felt better.  That could have been tragic.  Bro noticed that their final flags have the same color scheme as SCV's final flags.

Tuba Entrance

BD Battery

Running up and down walls

Encore

Blue Devils and United Sound (students with special needs and their mentors) played an original composition by John Meehan.

Scores

OPEN CLASS

6) 42.05 -- Incognito

5) 42.90 -- Impulse

4) 46.30 -- Watchmen

3) 51.35 -- Vessel

2) 53.70 -- Golden Empire

1) 57.15 -- Gold

WORLD CLASS

9) 59.80 -- Genesis

8) 63.30 -- Pacific Crest

7) 64.90 -- Troopers

6) 67.55 -- Academy

5) 71.95 -- Mandarins

4) 73.30 -- Blue Knights

3) 75.90 -- Cavaliers

2) 78.55 -- Santa Clara Vanguard

1) 78.60 -- Blue Devils

BD edging out SCV by 0.05. Whoa.  We're just going to be thinking positively for our SCV as they go up against the other contenders in their defense of their world title until we get to Finals week.

See you in 6 weeks, DCI!

Withdrawal starts NOW