Philippine Newspapers - Philippine Asian News Today

The great journalist and drama­tist Gene Fowler once said, “writing is easy: all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” The past couple of months were much easier for me - I kept on staring at a blank computer screen until my head goes down bonk on to the key­board, snoring. I’ve always felt ageing has really taken its toll and all I want­ed for Christmas is a warm electric blanket and a rocking chair.
My wife always say I’m over-react­ing since I broke the fifty-five mark. She prods me to think young instead. And so last Sunday I agreed to watch that tribute to the Beatles show at Red Robinson’s by that amazing group called Fab Four, a dead-ringer for the famous lads from Liverpool. We enjoyed the show but what I enjoyed more was the feeling of be­ing much younger amidst those age­ing baby-boomers who, considering they were Beatle fanatics, I reckon are now in their sixties and seventees or so. Finally, I felt much better among the ancients and antique.

Ever since crossing the thin line between being an adult and a se­nior I’ve always wondered if I do look the part, so every time we eat out I try getting the discounted senior specials, and every time, much to my disappointment, the waitresses don’t even bother verifying my age. Do I really look that old, I asked my wife. Of course not, she assures me, compared to Dolphy, you look a lot younger.

Ah, my idol as a kid, Dolphy. Now I can talk about this respectable icon of Philippine comedy who was very recently here in Vancouver to re­ceive tribute himself. I learned that a group calling themselves Rizalistas have knighted Dolphy during a tacky ritual supposedly in the name of the great hero Dr. Jose Rizal. I thought that might be part of the comedy but it wasn’t - it’s a fantasy. Of course there’s a very thin line between fan­tasy and lunacy. What’s worse, I heard, was the hos­pitality afforded the superstar. Instead of billeting the entourage in a classy hotel in Vancouver they stashed them in a Holiday Inn in Surrey. Instead of fine dining they brought them home-cooked meals that they ate at the free-breakfast lounge in the ho­tel. Then when the poor guy wanted to go shopping they brought him to Walmart and the Loonie store. During the signing of his biography book, they fed him rice and menudo, penny-pinching even for a BigMac, yet the organizers, I heard, charged fifteen bucks for each signing.

I was going to say kudos to the producers, instead, “kutos” (knock on your skulls). That’s not Filipino-Canadian hospitality - that’s sheer greed and incompetence. After taking advantage of the su­perstar to pocket a few thousand dollars the least you could have done is treat the guy with respect. Ah. Pinoy talaga!

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