Song of the Year 2009: “Nobody” by The Wonder Girls

singing and dancing to Korean pop with Renzie Baluyut.

It’s undeniable.  “Nobody” by The Wonder Girls is everywhere.

See, it’s Christmas party season in the Philippines, and it’s customary for offices and schools and groups of friends everywhere to have real festive Christmas parties, involving lots of food, gift-giving, as well as singing and dancing.

And where singing and dancing is involved, chances are, you’ll have group presentations.  And when that happens, chances are, there’s going to be at least one group dancing to The Wonder Girls’ monster pop/dance hit, “Nobody”.

In case you’ve been living in a rock all these months,  The Wonder Girls are an all-chick pop group straight out of South Korea.  These ladies have been building up a following of some very passionate fans since they were formed in 2007.  They’ve come up with several hits already, as Korean pop enthusiasts would tell you– among others- “Tell Me”, “So Hot”, “Irony”, “Take It”, and of course, the song that made them such a mainstream sensation in the Philippines, “Nobody”.

“Nobody” is also a global phenomenon.  As I was putting this blog post together,  I was doing a search of videos on YouTube.  There are just *so many* fans of The Wonder Girls online, it’s just unbelievable.  How global is global?  Check out all the fans compiled on this nice little collage they put together:

The Philippines alone has all sorts of fans.  And why not?  They’re cute, they got an incredibly infectious pop sound going on, and they got some pretty interesting videos.  Just this weekend, I’ve been to at least four different Christmas gatherings, and if it’s not a Christmas party dance presentation, there’s a band going on, or a DJ playing some Wonder Girls music!

Heck, you even got American Idol Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks into the whole Wonder Girls craze.

Do you think it’d be an awesome idea to bring in the five lovely ladies from The Wonder Girls to perform live for their Filipino fans?  I’m sure there are lots out there.  And I’m fairly certain they’d want to catch them perform “Nobody” live on stage.  After all, our group (IMG Live!) is bringing in 20 international artists to perform for their Filipino fans on February 2010.  So why not The Wonder Girls?  Just a thought, really.

Hey, lots of stuff from The Wonder Girls are right up on their very own active YouTube channel.  You can also find them on MySpace, and on various fan sites all over the web dedicated to all things Wonder Girls.  Pictures, btw, are courtesy of Wikipedia.

Cheers, everyone!

The Urgency of Dealing with Climate Change | Blog Action Day 2009

a Blog Action Day 2009 post, with Renzie Baluyut.

After being hit by Typhoon Ondoy/International Storm Ketsana, Metro Manila has already moved on, albeit begrudgingly.  What can you do when a massive flood hits the city, really?  As soon as the waters subsided, we all just picked up the pieces and got back to work.  Life just had to go on.  So now, everyone is all about recovering and rebuilding.

So OK, the worst is probably over.  But the entire Typhoon Ondoy/ International Storm Ketsana episode was a complete eye-opener.  How could seemingly harmless everyday-variety tropical rain be so incredibly widespread and destructive?  You can read about my own personal Ondoy/Ketsana experience here.

Some people would lament about how corrupt and terribly inadequate the Philippine government is when it comes to disaster preparedness, city planning and population control.   You have politicians pandering for votes and tastelessly politicking at such an inopportune time.  Quite possibly true, I would say.  Heck,  I got the impression it was the regular folk- Filipinos from all over, and people from the international community, who really stepped up and made a difference helping each other out- a rare, but inspiring display of love for country, if you ask me.

Like I said, a wake-up call.

The blog posts I published a couple of weeks back was a slap-in-the-face wake up call, not just for people in Metro Manila, but for everyone around the country. Thanks to all the activity going on on Facebook at the height of the rains and flooding, I was able to keep track of important updates on rescue and relief operations, as well as Typhoon Ondoy/International Storm Ketsana pictures from all over the National Capital Region.

Let’s look at the bigger picture now.  Climate change.  Drastic changes in our atmosphere and environment causes shifts in global air currents, and therefore, changes in weather patterns all over the world.  The result: famine- because food production is hit, war- because conflicts will erupt over scarce resources, and yes, flooding- just like it did a couple of weeks back here in Metro Manila.

This December, world leaders will meet to discuss the global response to climate change- and this blog is part of the worldwide effort to make our collective blog statement be heard.

In the Philippines, we will be having our elections next year.  I sure hope people won’t forget what they had gone through with Typhoon Ondoy/International Storm Ketsana.  Remember the good people in government who actually made a difference in the aftermath of the floods.  Take note of the ones who don’t think it’s urgent enough to deal with population control, the environment, and more responsible city planning, just to get their grubby little fingers on more votes and taxpayer money.

As for ourselves- to you, my dear reader and fellow denizen of the blogosphere- spread the word.  Educate people.  Recycle.  Heck, use less paper and plastic.  Switch off, power down and unplug whenever you can.  Do webinars.  Support the local markets.  Buy responsibly.  Plant some trees.  Visit websites and other blogs and learn more on how you can help in the continuing effort to deal with climate change.  Then spread the word, and educate people some more.

My blog supports Blog Action Day 2009 | Climate Change

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web.

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change is sponsored by Change.org.  This blog: The Life & Times of The Renzie Man, together with thousands of other blogs (11,483 other blogs to be exact) all around the world (from 155 countries), is part of the massive effort to get people to actually do something about dealing with climate change.

Cheers, everyone.

A Few Important Things You Need To Know…

Share This Post: “…this video will blow your mind!” –Renzie Baluyut

Seriously it will.

Not too long ago, I posted an article, pretty much evangelizing the importance of having a continuing desire for learning and discovery.  I go online and try to learn something new everyday, on top of reading a book, or immersing myself in some of the latest songs.

That last one was probably a habit I picked up from my days in radio.

In any case, I actually got a few friends into the same idea, and so we’ve been actively sharing all kinds of useful (as well as some not-too-useful) things with each other: links, blog posts and articles, ebooks, webinars and webcasts, podcasts and video.

One of the most interesting videos I’ve seen lately was this one posted by the good people of TeacherTube, which they shared over their YouTube channel.  Particularly of interest to business-folk and internet professionals, entrepreneurs and small business owners, as well as all sorts of marketing and media professionals.

That highly informative video, along with so much more great stuff, is available on TeacherTube.com’s official channel on YouTube.

Almost totally useless trivia: You were watching that video to the tune of Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now”. The song was released in 1999, from Fatboy Slim’s second studio album, You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.

A similar video and blog post can be found here on Keyboard Monkeys | Tips, Tricks and Advice for the Digital Entrepreneur.

Cheers, everyone.

Online Chatter on Philippine Typhoon Ondoy, part two

Share This Post: monitoring chatter on Facebook once more, through my friends’ and contacts’ status updates, with Renzie Baluyut.

For a list of rescue hotlines, links and resources, please click this link.

Help out the victims of Typhoon Ondoy /Kestsana.  Click on this link to find out how you can help today.

A couple of days back, I posted a transcript of sorts- a compilation of status updates on Facebook as my friends, colleagues and contacts sent out all kinds of messages related to the Typhoon Ondoy / International Storm Ketsana rescue and relief efforts.

It had been three days since Typhoon Ondoy / International Storm Ketsana had hit the Philippines.  This was the worst incident of flooding seen by Metro Manila in 42 years.  More than a month’s worth of rain crashed down on the city in just a relatively short span of 12 hours.

The damage was so bad- mainly because everyone was caught completely unaware, thinking it was just another rainy weekend.

Drainage in Metro Manila had already been terribly neglected to begin with- in fact, certain areas were already generally expected to flood up, even with the most regular of rainy days.

But with the sheer volume of rainwater, areas that never used to flood up at all suddenly found themselves sinking fast, as all that rain just kept pouring in at an alarming rate.  By mid-afternoon, 80% of Metro Manila was submerged in murky floodwater.

More pictures of the September 26 flooding can be seen here on a previous post of mine.

Photo taken by JM Rodriguez. Entire neighborhoods were submerged in water; as the flood recedes, mud-soaked furniture, vehicles and belongings are strewn all about the streets, mingling with garbage, and even the carcasses of animals and livestock and the decaying bodies of those who didn't make it through the weekend.

As of this writing, there are at least 240 dead, some 100,000 displaced, and at least 2 million people affected across 25 provinces, including Metro Manila and Rizal.

Relief and rescue operations have been going on for a couple of days now.  For Filipinos like myself who find themselves online the entire time, Facebook had been a steady stream of information as stories of selflessness and heroism, and all sorts of pictures and video have been coming in.

Here’s a compilation of status updates I got from some of my friends and colleagues- these were little messages taken from a 12-hour period, between 3PM of Sept 29 (Tuesday) to about 3AM the next day (Wednesday, Sept 30).

Despite stories of opportunists, looters, corruption, politicking, grandstanding, and even rumors of crocodiles lurking in the floodwaters, what I find heartwarming is the fact that ordinary Filipinos have banded together to aid in rescue and relief operations, passing on information and updates, giving (and doing) what they can, and encouraging so many more to join in.

Even those who have been hard hit are reaching out to those who have been hit even harder.

And so, the cleaning up and the rebuilding goes on.  Hopefully, this post gives you a better idea of what’s been going on in the Philippines through the messages of various people all over Metro Manila as they help out with the the survivors of Typhoon Ondoy / International Storm Ketsana.

Around 3:00 PM (GMT +8:00) Sept 29

From Paolo Marinduque:
HONDA & NISSAN OFFERS FREE TOWING! 09228504452 -09224452242 -09228997959. (reposted from a friend)

From Jonas Diego:
says If you know of overpricing for meds/basic goods DTI hotline at 751-3330. Save receipts as evidence! http://plurk.com/p/23e0s3

From Ricky Baizas:
BULACAN HAS NOT YET RECEIVED RELIEF GOODS FROM THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, So that we can help our fellow Filipinos there in BULACAN, you can send your donations in cash but PREFERABLY IN KIND at… #1 MAY ST. CONGRESSIONAL VILLAGE PRO…JECT 8, QUEZON CITY. You can reach my staff through contact nos. 02-9274776/ 09212611308/ 09291816111.

From Leah Camilla R. Besa-Jimenez:
For International Donors, go straight to Red Cross PH through Paypal http://bit.ly/3PKdUM. Here are other sites where you can also easily donate http://bit.ly/wDbJj , http://bit.ly/2OzLZ0 , http://bit.ly/4bjCsW and MyAyala http://bit.ly/3zH5Tu . Please repost and retweet.

From Jenn Manigao:
Looks like Tropical Storm Parma and Tropical Depression 18 will spare the Philippines this week. Will check again tomorrow. Here are the links:  http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/wp200919_5day.html#a_topad

From Jane Tenefrancia Uymatiao:
Repost from Noelle: VICTORY ORTIGAS UPDATE: We need trucks, vans, vehicles to help deploy relief goods! (Particularly to Canyogan, Pasig) Please call 631-1212.

From Tracy Abad:
Brg PALASAN in Valenzuela is in need of DONATIONS! coordinate with brgy capt. EDDIE Lzada 09178970187 – They’ve been asking for help since saturday and they were DENIED of HELP by their own MAYOR because of political issues. Please HELP! (from Soki)

From Charo Limaco:
Repost: Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health is looking for areas that needmedical assistance. Peferrably areas that have not received any yet. They are planning to deploy on thursday. Please contact ANNE GOMEZ 09175330815.

From Leslie Dioko-Cariaso:
REPOST – HARD BOILED EGGS AND SABA BANANAS ARE GOOD FOOD TO DONATE AMONG ALL THE OTHER THINGS YOU CAN SPARE! IT DOES NOT NEED PLASTIC
OR A CAN OPENER AND IT IS LOADED WITH NUTRIENTS. AFFORDABLE IN BULK. PLEASE TAKE NOTE, PASS THIS ON! I suggest we also share bath soaps, alcohol, toilet paper, baby powder, comb, towels, etc. anything for personal hygiene.

Around 4:00 PM (GMT +8:00) Sept 29

From Cacay Moras:
If you have friends and family who are stuck in their houses and need assistance, please contact Red Cross 143, MMDA 136, NDCC 9115061 & Coast Guard 5276136 for rescue. Provide street names, roof colors, landmarks, etc. so that it is easier to find them.

From Eric Kahn:
with all the help going out in plastic bags, styropore trays, plastic cups plastic spoons, tin cans, plastic bottles etc. please dont make the mistake of just throwing them on the side of the streets again. Trash is one of the major casues of flooding.  This will all happen again if we arent vigilant.

From Josa S. Quintas:
volunteer doctors and nurses please proceed to PNRC Shaw Blvd. near Kapitolyo Rotonda Mandaluyong City tomorrow by 10am to be deployed to different areas that need medical assistance.

From Leah Camilla R. Besa-Jimenez:
From Mark Ruiz’s sister Meg : DONATIONS ON WHEELS! If you have donations to give but no means to transport (cash/clothes/food/hygiene prods), pls contact us: Raine-09177974098, Meg-09326991794, Gerald-09189791229 and we will deliver your goods to a relief center! Delivering HOPE to the HOPELESS! Through Jan Chavez-Arceo.

From Maricris Irene ‘iRis’ Tamolang:
At the NDCC meeting, Frisco Nilo of PAGASA said another tropical disturbance may enter the Philippine area of responsibility by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning and make landfall in Northern Luzon or Central Luzon early next week.Frisco, meanwhile, calmed fears over the coming storm that will be named “Peping.”

From Luz Imperial-Harvey:
c/o Rollie Inocencio: Att’n relief workers in PASIG: exact address: 2 banuyo st. Phase 8 Marietta Romeo village Rosario pasig brgy. Sta lucia. Luz Imperial-Harvey is looking for her parents, a bed-ridden sister and her son. Please assist. Thank you!

From Neil Galang:
PASIG RED CROSS : We have enough volunteers but in need of more vehicles for the deployment of relief goods. Vans, pickups or trucks needed.

From Chiz Escudero:
Also please send help to Sta. Maria, Bulacan. Nobody, not even the local officials, have taken action to address the calamity.

Photo from Marizel Sarangelo, taken from a neighborhood in Fairview, Quezon City.

Renzie’s Typhoon Ondoy Experience

Share This Post: personal post-disaster processing, with Renzie Baluyut.

It is the end of Day Two- the second day after Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana poured down an unearthly amount of rain over the entire city .  I headed for the Pasig apartment earlier on, which was actually the first time since the floodwaters hit.

Taken by my friend, Jam Mayer-Flores, who was on her way with her husband Mon, to rescue some friends and family in Marikina the day after the rains hit.

The entire time that Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana was raining down on Metro Manila, I was fortunate enough to have been in the Quezon City office (well, it’s actually a house that doubles as an office).

I remembered it was raining the night before, just as I was getting ready for bed.  No real cause for alarm- it wasn’t even storm-level rains.  Just regular rainy-season-variety rain.  The only indication I had that there was something wrong was when I woke up the next day, and was told that the cars parked in the backyard had to be moved because the water levels were rising.

Turns out it had been raining all night- which by itself, wasn’t much of an indication- but when we looked out the window, there it was: there was a lake forming in the backyard- something that has never happened before, according to one of our partners, who pretty much lived in this area of Quezon City all her life.

Over a late breakfast (it was almost noon by this time), reports were already pouring in on how certain parts of Quezon City were experiencing flash floods.   Now normally with this kind of rain, you’d already expect the usual places to be flooded up- España/Quezon Boulevard, the area of Banawe and Del Monte, Araneta Avenue, parts of Cubao perhaps.  Elsewhere in Metro Manila- the area of Navotas and Malabon flood up pretty quickly too, as are areas along dela Rosa, Buendia, Pasong Tamo and Vito Cruz Extension in Makati, as well as parts of Taft Avenue in Mandaluyong and the Boni Circle in Mandaluyong.

And then we hear Timog Avenue is flooding up, as well as parts of Valle Verde (in Pasig City) and Greenbelt (in Makati).  You usually don’t have floods in those areas.  A quick look online was what we needed, and the chatter on Facebook was confirming the unbelievable: the entire Metro Manila was flooding up.

How could this happen, I thought to myself.  Was it an issue of drainage?  Apparently much more water was coming in than there was going out.  It was much later on that I realized: it was the sheer volume of water.

It wasn’t one of those days when it’s raining in Quezon City, but it wasn’t raining in Makati or in Parañaque.  It was raining EVERYWHERE in Metro Manila.  For what seemed to be eight straight hours right about now.  So much water in so little time.  Some people were even comparing Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana with Hurricane Katrina:

Hurricane Katrina dumped OVER AN INCH of rainfall in Louisiana for 3 hours and another 0.5 inches per hour over the next 5 hours on August 29, 2005. Ondoy dumped an AVERAGE OF 2.24 INCHES per hour for six hours… and is still going.

I thought it was an unfair comparison.  Katrina at least, had the courtesy to announce her presence with strong- well, hurricane-force winds.  Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana was a sneaky little bastard.  Metro Manila had no idea whatsoever.  We were all lulled into a false sense of security thinking that it was just another rainy day.

Marcos Highway all muddied up. This used to be a busy thoroughfare, but now looks like a scene straight out of a post-apocalyptic future. Marikina, Pasig and Cainta are some of the areas hardest hit by Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana

As you can see from the pictures, it’s a completely different, and ultimately tragic, story. Almost a hundred lives have been lost, a lot more missing or still unaccounted for, on top of several thousands displaced, and property damage that’s just completely unheard of.

The rains have stopped as early as Sunday.  Rescue and relief operations were underway.  The whole Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana incident made me think:  would something like this ever happen again?  Some people said flooding like this last happened some 42 years ago.  But with the way climate change has been messing around with the regular air patterns and weather conditions, I say this is just a taste of things to come.

Something to think about, really.

Now, I haven’t been home in days.  Not for lack of trying.  As of this writing, the water levels were still hip-deep.  People were wading through the murky muddy floodwaters trying to get all sorts of supplies: fresh drinking water, food, diapers for the babies.  And while I know the apartment sustained a considerable amount of water damage, I know others have it much worse than I do, and that my problems, however significant, really pales in comparison.

Nevertheless, we pick up the pieces and move on.  And as we do so, we help others along the way.

Another picture taken by Mon and Jam. You'd see overturned vehicles everywhere as a result of floodwaters tearing through the streets the day before. Yes, it was that bad.

Click here if you want to know how you can help the victims of Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana.

You can also check out my previous posts on Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana here.

• A list of relief and rescue/information hot lines, as well as other links and resources on all things Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana.
• Get an idea of how bad things were the day Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana hit Metro Manila; check out the chatter I was monitoring on Facebook at the time.
• Pictures the day Typhoon Ondoy /Ketsana came crashing down on an unsuspecting  city.