12 million bees swarm northeastern New Brunswick!

The latest buzz in New Brunswick is the sound of millions of honeybees making a break for it! According to the The CBC, 12 million bees swarmed the Trans-Canada Highway after a transport truck carrying 300 crates of the insects overturned in an accident. While the morning rain managed to subdue the bees' activity, the afternoon sunshine gave way to more aggressive bee-haviour (sorry I couldn't help myself) as bee handlers started to feel the pinch of those darn stingers! Read the entire story here....

In the wake of Typhoon Fengshen...

Magdasal dahil sa ang Pilipinas (pray for the Philippines)...

photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

photo courtesy of USA Today

photo courtesy of Sify News

George Carlin 1937-2008

From his "Seven Words" routine that got him thrown in the slammer by the censor police, to his memorable stint as the Buddy Christ-slingin'-Cardinal on Kevin Smith's Dogma, Carlin was a comdedic trailblazer who brought a no BS approach to his comedy where no stone--be it sex, religion, politics--was left un-turned. So in memory of Mr. Carlin, I''ll leave you with his most
(in)famous stand-up act...


George Carlin--Seven Words

Holy Moses! BC Government introduces new carbon tax as gas prices soar to nearly $1.47 a litre on Vancouver Island!!

As I take the leisurely ferry ride from Victoria to Vancouver via the Spirit of Vancouver Island, I chuckle about how much cash can be dropped on a single 1 hour and 30 minute trip to the mainland. If you're smart (ie. thrifty), you'll sacrifice the relative inconvenience by parking your car at home to avoid the $43 vehicle charge which many of us have grin and beared in order to escape the plague of island fever. If you're even smarter, you'll pack a lunch. Even if you attempt to pinch your pennies with pre-made deli sandwiches from the ferry's concession, a dollop of tuna salad on a tiny bun will still set you back a ridiculous $6! God forbid you want a refreshing beverage to go along with that!

And this is before the introduction of new fuel charges that will begin to take effect sometime this summer, not to mention the corresponding prices of food. Imagine what a tuna sandwich and bottled water will eventually set you back on a BC ferry?

As global energy consumption continues to far surpass the world supply, West Coast gas prices are following suit. Gas station marquees are displaying a mind-blowing $1.469 a litre, with many grimly predicting that fuel prices will soar to nearly $2.00 a litre by the end of the summer...ahhhhh!

And British Columbia's provincial government has responded. While Bush calls to lift the ban on offshore drilling in U.S. coastal waters in order to increase oil production, B.C. unveiled a new plan to encourage those to conserve energy. On Tuesday, CTV reported that B.C. Finance Minister Carole Taylor introduced a new green budget in which a carbon tax will be phased in startng July 1st. According to this legislation, consumers of diesel and home heating oil will pay 2.7 cents a litre, rising to 8.4 cents a litre by 2012, while those at the pumps will be charged an extra 2.4 cents a litre, and by 2012, this tax will rise to 7.4 cents a litre by 2012.

Many B.C. residents will be less than thrilled by this new tax, but ultimately, all of us still have the choice to use as little or as much fuel as we want. Now, the only difference is that we are being charged accordingly for this precious resource as the days of the seemingly bottomless oil pit have now come to an abrupt end...

Bamboo Blitz M. I. A.....

I know, I 've been the crappiest blogger ever lately!! I do assure all of you that I'm still alive and kicking in the blog world, however I've been swamped with what seems like a bazillion moving parts all moving at once--settling into a brand new house, re-adjusting back into the good ol' island life, searching for a new job, and other demanding family obligations...

But now that I've finally gotten my crap together, I will honestly start pumping out some new and (hopefully) interesting blog material. And of course, I look forward to catching up on all of your awesome blogs...

I'm baaaack...

What a journey!! So in a nutshell, here's what transpired in the last week:

• I got married!!!
• I helped my mom pack up her entire estate to move from Edmonton to Victoria...
• ...and Mr. Bamboo and I drove a 16 ft. U-HAUL across BC.

To say that this was intense would probably be the understatement of the year!

But after everything was all said and done, I'm getting right back into Island life and enjoying every moment of it...

Here a couple photos of the drive through Jasper. (Most of these are car shots so you might catch some of the vermin from the windshield.) I'll be back later with shots of Victoria...

Where in the world is Bamboo Blitz??

Fear not loyal readers...I haven't thrown in my blogging towel. However, I will be on hiatus from the site for an entire week since I'm heading back to the West Coast so expect a whole lotta Video Cop-Outs coming your way. I'll make sure to have some quality posts up by next week once I'm breathing in that salty ocean air...

Video Cop-Out: A Seinfeld Moment

Elaine's pathetic attempt at dancing still cracks me up after all of these years! Relive the moment yourself right here on the latest Video Cop-out:

Hamilton Boy in Protective Custody After Father Opts Out of Chemotherapy

For a moment, just imagine you are at the centre of this terrible predicament...

Your 11 year-old son has leukemia. He has already undergone an aggressive round of chemotherapy and radiation treatment which nearly cost him his life. When your little boy is up for his second round of chemo, he vehemently refuses to go through with it and instead, pleads with you to allow him to die peacefully at home. According to his doctors, your son would have a fair chance of beating the cancer if he underwent the chemo.

What would you do?

Sadly, a father in Hamilton was faced with this very dilemma and chose to follow his son's wishes and discontinue his cancer therapy. As a result, The CBC reports that child welfare took custody of the boy to ensure he would undergo the treatment. According to Dominic Verticchio, the executive director of Hamilton's Children's Aid Society, an Ontario court ruled in conjunction with provincial legislation stating that it is mandatory for children to receive necessary care and treatment for their health and well being.

The boy's family is outraged. Granted limited visitation rights during his son's treatment, the Hamilton father claims that doctors initially only gave the boy a 20 percent chance of surviving the chemotherapy. If this round of treatment was successful, the father goes on to say that his son would have to undergo further radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant in which he would only be given a 50 percent survival rate following the entire ordeal.

What do you think?

Read the entire story HERE...

Myanmar Weeps After Devastating Cyclone

According to the CBC, Myanmar's cyclone Nargis has claimed a staggering 22,000 lives and nearly 40,000 more are reported missing. More than 1 million people have been left homeless in the wake of this devastating aftermath as entire villages have been completely destroyed, while several rice crops have also been lost in the storm. Read more HERE...

Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Photo courtesy of CTV News

Photo courtesy of CTV News

Video Cop-Out: Happy Cinco de Mayo folks!

Break out your tequila and coarse salt for this classic cocktail...

How to make a frozen margarita

Gimme Back a "Nickel Bag of Funk"

There's nothing better than cruising around town on a hot summer day, and hearing Ladybug Mecca spit her ultra-smooth rhymes straight outta your speakers:


The Bloom, the Swoon, the Sugars on your block

The Planets land in flesh in the corners of New York...








And Butterfly and Doodlebug chime in to bring it all back with:


A nickel bag of funk...



Do I ever miss the era when Hip Hop actually offered a meaningful alternative to the ubiquitous T & A/bitch n' ho formula that dominates the mainstream scene today. By the end of the 90s, the popularity of Digable Planets and Native Tongues alumni--De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Black Star, and The Roots--gave way to the new wave of bling-slingin'-thug-struttin' rappers such as 50 cent, The Game, and Eminem (to name just a few). Yes, I know that Kanye (whether you love him or hate him), Pharell Williams, Lupe Fiasco, and K'naan have all significantly diversified the sound of paint by number hip hop, but I still can't help but throw it back to the days of Tribe's innovative jazz flow of "Check the Rhyme," or De La Soul's disco/breakbeat mash-up, "Rollerskating Jam."

So out of sheer nostalgia, here are a couple of MCs who broke out of the corporate mold to make Hip Hop their very own...


Digable Planets--"Nickel Bags"--2005 Reunion Tour Amsterdam






De La Soul--"Rollerskating Jam"

What Makes You a Filipino?

What is the essence of a culture?


Is it language? Values? History?


Can we possibly pinpoint a single attribute that authenticates one's culture?

Recently, I discovered the Speak Out series on Youtube that originally aired on The Filipino Channel. A Filipino-centric talk show, Speak Out explores relevant issues in a town hall meeting-style forum.


So what happened when they got a group of Philippine and American-born Filipinos together to define the Pinoy identity ?


Well, let's just say it involved a heated debate about the subjective essence of Filipino-ness (you can watch the program HERE):

Assimilating into American culture...

• "The message that I received was that my Filipino-ness was not good enough. And that I will not be accepted by my accent and by the way I dress. In essence, I have to shed my self of my Filipino-ness."
  

The language debate...

• "They expect us to explain our [Filipino] club...you know...our mission statement in Tagalog. And then they came up and said, 'We don't think you should call yourself Filipino because you can't even speak the language!'"

• "How are you going to tell me that you're a Filipino organization and you can't even speak Tagalog?! The essence--the foundation--of that organization...you can't even explain!"
  

What is American?

• "What does Americanization mean or what is the American Dream? And who is American? When we think about this...when we think about this concept...most people think about White folks. So if a Filipino wants to be a Filipino American, are you trying to be White or trying to have the ideals of America--of freedom and democracy, and have wealth and privilege?"

What is Filipino?

• "Let's just reverse the question: What does it mean to be Filipino? Does it mean chinellas (slippers) in the winter? Or does it mean putting our parents on a pedestal? "
  

Needless to say, the program stirred up a lot of strong feelings regarding the cultural authenticity of a Filipino, and I have to say I was getting pretty riled-up in the process! I guess the whole debate caught me off guard since I didn't realize such a strong rift existed between these two groups of Filipinos...but then...after thinking about it, I started to get it.

How can we strip one of their Filipino-ness on account of the fact that they may not speak Tagalog, but instead speak "fluent" English? Many of our parents believed that raising us in North America accent-free would allow us to become more successful within the larger culture, having encountered their own challenges with discrimination when immigrating to the new country. But the the seed of European superiority was obviously planted long ago...

Why do we often convince new Filipino immigrants that being American or being Canadian trumps being Pinoy? What is really dividing us? Why do Filipino American and Canadian kids often ignore their Philippine-born counterparts at school? Is it really because of their accents? OR is it because new Filipino immigrants remind us that we came from a place that's often been suppressed by our "good English" and North American privilege?

So what makes you a Filipino?

Family
loyalty is layers
of strength
as many Pinays
runs through my veins
my brown skin
at times
triggered the taunts
that have lingered
along
with Those dark times
All Pinoys share
the mountain
from which I see the world
and the way
that world
wishes to see me.

PART I: Cheers to Staff Parties, First Dates, and Kickin' it with The New Deal!

Above: image borrowed from Little Things: The Snapshot Side of MelvinKobe & Jorid Van Laer

Mr. Bamboo is always like, "When are you ever going to write about me in your blog?"


To which I usually reply, "Whenever I feel like it."


Well, I suppose the time has come...


Back in 2001, I landed a summer job as a hostess at a local Mexican restaurant. I know, it wasn't very glamourous but it did have its perks: As a starving university student, you could make just enough to pay your bills and then use your tip money to support your ridiculously booming social life. Talk about priorities, eh? An added bonus was the fact that all of my co-workers actually made my job enjoyable so it wasn't a surprise that we would often tear-up the town together outside of work.

So on one such occasion...

My employer threw a killer staff party. And by killer, I almost mean this literally. The restaurant also owned a popular club in town so they reserved a section of the bar for staff and guests only. Oh yeah, and it was an open bar event which had the potential of turning the night into quite a sh*t show considering they were dealing with a bunch of rowdy 18-24 year-olds (FYI: the legal drinking age is 18 in my hometown).

So after my co-workers and I did some mandatory schmoozing over a couple of complimentary cocktails, we soon hit the dance floor where we remained for the duration of the evening, only taking 5 every ten songs or so when the DJ decided to play a slow jam. And when "No Woman No Cry" came on, we all simultaneously made a bee-line towards the bar to grab another high ball when someone...mind you, a tall strapping young man...intercepted our current mission.

TSYM: Hey, you wanna dance?

Silence.

CO-WORKER: Um...I think he's talking to you BB [as she not-so-subtly elbowed me right smack in the chest while "whispering" this into my ear].

ME: Uh...yeah...sure. [I figured he was easy on the eyes so why not?]

So we danced. But don't worry, it wasn't one of those cheesy slow dance moments reminiscent of high school in which you awkwardly clutch onto your partner for dear life and rock back and forth like a pendulum as "Stairway to Heaven" blasts from the gymnasium speakers. Instead, we danced in mock-ballroom style, complete with exaggerated impromptu twirls which left us both in a fit of giggles by the end of Bob's song. And while I'm the sure that the open bar had a lot to do with our silly state, I was genuinely enjoying this guy's company. But my good sense reminded me that this was a crazy staff party and he was some random dude I had just met, so several of these one-night connections had probably been made throughout the evening.


By the time last call rolled around shortly after, TSYM and I went our separate ways to re-group and find our obnoxiously hammered friends. I was definitely ready for a gallon of water and my fluffy duvet so I quickly said my good-byes and booked it out of there so I could hail a cab before other taxi vultures even had a chance. Right as I had one foot firmly planted into my eagerly awaiting cab, I noticed TSYM walking right towards me...

TSYM: Wow, someone's in a hurry!

ME: Yup, I'm pretty wiped-out so I'm trying to beat that crazy post-bar rush...

TSYM: No kidding...um...so it was nice to meet you...and we really should hang out sometime. Can I have your number?

ME: [Right, I haven't heard that one before, but I still scribbled my damn number on the back an old receipt I had fished out of my bulging wallet.] Yeah, OK.

TSYM: Cool. Thanks! I'll definitely give you a ring sometime...

ME: Sounds good, bye! [It's been real, dude.]

********

Thankfully, I had booked the next day off work so I could pathetically mope around the house and rehydrate myself from the night before. When a girlfriend had phoned to re-hash staff party shenanigans, my little slow dance incident unfortunately did not go unmentioned:

GIRLFRIEND: So who was that guy you were making googly eyes with on the dance floor?

ME: Googly eyes?? Do people even say that anymore? OK, so his name is G and it wasn't a big deal. We were just dancing.

GIRLFRIEND: Oh c'mon! He was totally into you! It was the way he was looking at you!

ME: Honey, the way he was looking at me probably had something to do with all of the free booze that was being shoved down our throats last night!

GIRLFRIEND: You're such a cynic! Besides, he was damn cute.

BEEP. [Sweet, my other line. Saved by the bell.] BEEP.

ME: Just a sec--my other line...Hello?

CLICK. Damn, they hung up.

ME: Hello?

GIRLFRIEND: So who was it?

ME: I'm not sure, I just missed the call.

GIRLFRIEND: Hey wait a minute, did you give what's-his-name your number?

ME: Yeah but--

GIRLFRIEND: Oh man, it was probably HIM!!

ME: I serioulsy doubt it.

GIRLFRIEND: Star-69 it!

ME: What??

GIRLFRIEND: You know, star-69 the call so you can find out who it was...

ME: All right, Eager Beaver, you are soooo relentless!! haha! So what if it was him? He's just some random guy that I had a brief, 15-minute encounter with--end of story! Besides, how cliche is it to meet someone at a bar, let alone at a drunken gong show of a staff party??

GIRLFRIEND: Seriously, there's no action in my love life right now and frankly, there's not a lot of activity in yours either! So as your friend, I command you to hang up the phone right now and find out if he freakin' called you! What do you honestly have to lose?

OK, she did have a point...

To be continued...