know as "Tita Cory", the P.I's first female president, she stopped Marcos' dictatorship, and spurred peaceful protests that started others around the world, even one that inspired and ended communist rule in Eastern Europe. Her "People Power" movement will never be forgotten!




"She was headstrong and single-minded in one goal, and that was to remove all vestiges of an entrenched dictatorship," Raul C. Pangalangan, former dean of the Law School at the University of the Philippines, said earlier this month. "We all owe her in a big way."

"During Ninoy's incarceration and before my presidency, I used to ask why it had always to be us to make the sacrifice," she said in a 2007 interview with The Philippine Star newspaper. "And then, when Ninoy died, I would say, 'Why does it have to be me now?' It seemed like we were always the sacrificial lamb."

She returned to the Philippines three days later. One week after that, she led the largest funeral procession Manila had seen. Crowd estimates ranged as high as 2 million.

With public opposition mounting against Marcos, he stunned the nation in November 1985 by calling a snap election in a bid to shore up his mandate. The opposition, including then Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, urged Aquino to run.

After a fierce campaign, the vote was held on Feb. 7, 1986. The National Assembly declared Marcos the winner, but journalists, foreign observers and church leaders alleged massive fraud.

With the result in dispute, a group of military officers mutinied against Marcos on Feb. 22 and holed up with a small force in a military camp in Manila.

Over the following three days, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos responded to a call by the Roman Catholic Church to jam the broad highway in front of the camp to prevent an attack by Marcos forces.

On the third day, against the advice of her security detail, Aquino appeared at the rally alongside the mutineers, led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, the military vice chief of staff and Marcos' cousin.

From a makeshift platform, she declared: "For the first time in the history of the world, a civilian population has been called to defend the military."

The military chiefs pledged their loyalty to Aquino and charged that Marcos had won the election by fraud.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan, a longtime supporter of Marcos, called on him to resign. "Attempts to prolong the life of the present regime by violence are futile," the White House said. American officials offered to fly Marcos out of the Philippines.

On Feb. 25, Marcos and his family went to the U.S.-run Clark Air Base outside Manila and flew to Hawaii, where he died three years later.

The same day, Aquino was sworn in as the Philippines' first female leader.

via - yahoo news & CNN

lately, I've just been on a dubstep, ambient, lo fi, musical tip, and I'm lovin it. The beats I feel make me feel the most secure about who I am as an emcee, and I feel like it allows me to just fall in place with the lyrics and pour it out from the soul honestly and unapologetically, and even more importantly, confidently. But a couple more finds from bouncing around music to music site. Ch Check em out! Dabrye has ill ill beats, and Flying Lotus just fills the tracks with such a vibe, and allows for a mind that wants to write to construct around it!

This Track is ILL! A we need mouth to mouth CPR type of track!


The pen just runs off on it's own on this track.

big thanks to brotha man Lou, for posting JussJef's guitar on his facebook, so I've got to spread the love, this man is amazing on the guitar, and he makes Weezy's track about treating his little guy like a lollipop seem like an expert composition! Ch Ch check it!

haha, never thought I'd be interviewed, but I did a webcast interview last week with a couple Jim and Beth Hood who wrote a book called "Road Map to the Real World", and are uber cool folks, who are doing things aligned with what Roadtrip Nation is trying to do.

check it out yo.

http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-podcasts/106-road-map-to-the-real-world-with-beth-and-jim/3523-week0931

check out their site as well

http://www.roadmaptotherealworld.com

a some interesting trailers of movies I wanna check out.

one of the dopest things about working @ road trip is not only having the resources here to pursue the audio, video, music aspects of my life that I wanna expand, but the little nuggets of wisdom that you come across on the daily whether it be from ide-a-ting, chatting, or working with the content. At any given moment you can be struck with an epiphany, or a slight catharsis that further molds your thinking, or gets you hyped as what on your personal goals.

I was going through the interviews on the website for some new interviews were about to put online, and I heard a cool quote used by Michael Jager, he's the founder of the creative firm for Burton.

"The world will conspire to support you, if you really magnify what it is you believe in, and people will rally around you" - Simon Woodruff.

It was huge for me in that I've been working on lately putting myself out there as far as trying to wear and carry what I believe in, and the things I'm going for wihout being apologetic for it, or feeling self conscious. Here at Road trip is also inspiring because I learn from people here who are fearless about owning their own personal nuances and quirks, and are willing to project out the things they are passionate about. Hopefully this daily learning's gonna let me just let it go in my music, and not be apologetic for not fitting into a box, and as Michal Jager advises, "Do it with balls, you can do whatever the hell you want". holler. p.l.p

When I first heard her vocals on the Thin White Duke's remix of Royksopp's "What Else Is There" I thought Karin Dreijer Andersson was Sia. But after finding that out, and wiki ing Andersson, I saw she was part of an electro duo called The Knife. I found this track Marbles and I really dig how the elements of the beats almost seem bare, but there's something about it that just comes across tidy and in place and draws me in, and I really love Andersson's vocals. Ch ch check it, P.L.P

I was using stumble! and one of the pages took me to the home page of this Hungarian Movie, Taxidermia (I pasted the description from it's wiki down below). After the trailer the feeling I get is a Hungarian Big Fish with a twisted dark sense of comedy and dope cinematography. A bunch of reviews are pretty crazy, and all seem to tak about how twisted, funny, genre defying, and mesmerizing the movie is. The director Gyorgy Palfi, also has another critically acclaimed movie, Hukkle . After researching a bit, I think I gotta for sure find this movie and check it out.

Here's a link to the trailer. ENJOY! P.L.P

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1775763993/

Taxidermia is a 2006 Hungarian film directed by György Pálfi. The film focuses on three generations of men from Hungary, beginning with a military orderly during the Second World War, moving on to an aspiring speed-eater during the Cold War, and concluding with a taxidermist during modern times. The film is surreal in nature with elements of dark comedy and horror.

NOVEMBER 14, ITS GOING DOWN, I'M STARTING TO SAVE NOW, AND WITNESSING.

some excerpts from Ben Smith's article I saw on Yahoo News, about Obama's tenure as president recently.

Finally, we’re starting to see him sweat.

President Barack Obama made his personal icy cool the trademark of his campaign, the tenor of his White House and the hallmark of an early run of successes at home and abroad. But as the glamour wears off and a long, frustrating summer wears on, he is being forced to improvise — stooping to respond to political foes and adjusting his tactics and demeanor for the trench warfare of a legislative agenda.

“This is when it gets harder,” the president told supporters June 30.

And so it has.

In turn, Obama has adjusted, deviating from the playbook on every front.

The cool president has turned hot on the stump, stripping to shirtsleeves to lambaste doubters in New Jersey Thursday. He departed from his prepared remarks last week to accept a Republican challenge to take personal ownership of the economy: “That’s fine. Give it to me,” he said.

The tightly programmed White House also is champing at the bit, kicking off what officials say will be a relentless three-week push on health care, starting with the hastily scheduled Friday address. But its first event might have backfired a bit. Its main consequence was proving that the magnetism of Obama’s personal appearances has worn off, as it drew little media attention and a dismissive tweet from the key Senate Republican, Chuck Grassley of Iowa: “Waste of time.”

It’s the third quarter, he’s down by a point, and he’s got his best player on the bench – what really is going to be important is the fall,” said James Carville, the veteran Democratic observer.

“If he gets what’s perceived to be some kind of a major health care thing, gets the climate bill through, if the economy recovers, then we’ll all say he had a hell of a summer. Conversely, if the thing falls apart, we’ll say that by July the 19th we could tell the thing was going bad.”

I'm sticking with my man Obama to pull through this. The most encouraging section of the article for me:

White House Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer dismissed the suggestion that Obama should be expected to succeed effortlessly – or that he’s on a path toward failure on any of these varied fronts.

“Obama and his team have been down this road dozens of times and been declared dead many times and always succeeded,” he said. “No one gets rich betting against Barack Obama.”

game time Obama, game time! P.L.P

via - yahoo news

You ever know you just want something.
Whatever form this thing may be, you feel that undoubted certainty of its place in your life.
At any other point in my life not having what I want would drive me crazy.
It would lead to over analyzing, drawing questions of my inadequacy,
and a need to over compensate in other areas of my life.
But this new want, has lead me into dope awakening and realization.
This new found balance in life, it gives me the equilibrium to live in the grey,
handling highs and lows and blending them into a singular existence, all within
the same composition of life's splendid progression.
I've been lost in transitions and uncertainty for the past couple years
at times i felt like an abandoned buoy, floating in hopes of finding a beacon.
But that glimmer in the distance, has finally arrived,
and it's shedding light and insight on new concepts I would never had been able to grasp
had life not taken its course.
I'm thankful, and here I am, faced with that which I want but can't have,
but I've got confidence in that it needs seasoning before it's ready for me, and I need
to continue to gain more balance and aspects to my person, but I'll be seeing you in the future,
I've got all the time in the world.

fresh reflective music, ...fo sho...

I don't consider myself as someone who likes to fight, someone whose looking to lean back with my hand in my pants and do a rock away. For sure I consider myself to be the exact opposite, but a funny thing's happened since i joined the gym last week.

It started last night, when I got off work and got ready to go to boxing. I got to the gym but the parking lot was full and I didn't want the trouble of parking down the block, and plus kunal and ashwin were gonna play ball so i rationalized not going to the gym and headed home, but before I got to the light i mentally bitchslapped myself, ha, and was like what the hell, get your ass back there, so i busted a highly illegal U and headed into to the gym.

Turns out I was late for the boxing class, so I talked to the owner Brian, and he was like just take the Muay Thai class. I thought it was gonna be an intro class, nice and easy but not the work out like boxing, I was wrong.

The warmup was a thousand situps, and Jason the instructor gave us his disclaimer that Muay Thai was not a gentle sport, its rough, and its raw, and that some nights we would go home banged up for sure. At that point I was like damn, I'm in over my head, but then he touched on stuff that hit me later. He spoke about the respect factor on the mat, he spoke about how the folks in the class are a family, and that he didn't teach Muay Thai to make money, but to help people get better. He said that when we spar and we hurt someone we didn't finish them off, yet you encourage them finish.

But after that we went through one of the most grueling workouts, and my partner Mitchell, a cool cat, but freaking kicked like he had bricks in his feet. During one of the drills he completely shut my leg down it went a bit numb and I was wincing everytime he kicked me. After that we went into the clench drills that brought me back to wrestling days, and just the complete exhaustion you feel when your battling someone with everything you've got and it's a stalemate. I weighed myself after and I lost 3 pounds, and I was dripping, and my whole body was hurting.

What's crazy though was the sense of accomplishment I felt with getting through the workout. I thought about it later, and I think I came to the realization that, even though I'm not a fan of pain and fighting in general, the mental toughness and focus you need to be in there, is something I got from the whole situation with Dad, and the fact that you've dealt with things in your life you never could have prepared for, life rocks you in the gut, and it's not like you've dealt with it before, but you get through it, and you become all the better for it. When you go through the worst pain you've ever felt, and you come out of it, everything else seems so very tangible and possible. I'm just thankful for that, and even more so for the fact that I feel like I'm reaching this point where my mental peace is coming into accord with my physical.

Jason also said something that I've been marinating on and wanna improve upon. He was referring to a quote about over thinking

He said to think but not to overthink.
Overthinking leads to doubt
and doubt leads to hesitation
and hesitation leads to inactivity.

It's a lesson that I can use both mentally and physically.

Check out The Colourist, my roadtrip Mother Maya, who filmed my trip to NZ last summer, who is not only now the director of the Roadtrip Nation TV series, but also is the freaking shiznit drummer of a band and even gets down on vocals, she's got an soothing melodic voice that could definitely put small children at ease and into a deep slumber!

They played last night at Cinespace, and I literally saw Maya become a hero for a bunch of the teenage girls in the audience, but also for me as well! Kunee brought it to my attention that Thomas Bangalter once played there, so in theory Maya has now played at a venue along the Hollywoood Walk of Fame, and played in the same venue as Daft Punk! Crazy son, Crazy! But check it out, The Colourist is legit, their guitarists have some sick riffs, and cool cool vibe when they're connecting with the crowd, and Maya is one of the most humble, yet most talented cats you'll meet around.

Here's footage from a performance they did last month at Detroit bar. Enjoy! P.L.P

free writing to the Moon,
day turns to dusk but still we consume
constant cycles vital to the cog
essential as the flow accentuates blog
not a drop of the knowledge,
just collectivist conscience
of what we know to be honest
refuse to exist as repetitive
refuse to view life as expletives
the transformation of self stays relative
so i refuse to use their rubric to measure it

-Starting today at the boxing gym. check it out, Brian Hood's American Gym . I checked it out yesterday, and since boxing a little with Errol has really gotten me in a lot better shape than playing ball and jogging, I joined. I sat in on their sparring sessions and some people just training hard, and it got me hella pumped to start! Looking forward to it, and gotta reach the goal, I told Kenny I'd be in the 150's by the time he leaves for Japan in August.

-Oh man, we're about to have a little viewing party here at Roadtrip, for our series' first episode, I'm pretty nervous, but def excited, and I know it's gonna be surreal seeing Dad on the screen and hearing him talk, and then just reliving that whole ridonkulous travelling and learning experience that's changed me and set me on a certain path for the rest of my life!

check out this track from Little People, "Moon". This is def one of the vibes that I feel as far as writing and what spurs my thoughts and gets me going reflectively and creates an intact stream of consciousness for me. If anyone out there knows of any other artists or any music with this type of sound I'd love for you to pass on a recommendation to me! Enjoy! P.L.P

"Lovelife"

Individually wrapped, placed in neat little rows
Becoming A piece, of everything that grows
Some numbers, A name, to indicate you played the game
Came empty handed and left the same
A soul is A soul and A shell is A shell
The border in between is full of everything you felt
Some cling to A cross because they're tired and lost
They leave it up to the weather to measure the cost
And everytime I look within I recognize the darkness
Familiar to the image of the artist
Staring at the bathroom mirror in A strangers apartment
Can't remember her name, don't remember how I got here
But here I am, thinking about death again
Humbles out the stress, helps the breath get in
I need to check my friends as well as my next of kin
To let them know I love them all to the end
And when the soul begins to reap, I think she'll know me from the sleep
I keep caught in the corner of my bloodshot eyes
And if she has the nerve, to let me dump a couple last words
I'm gonna turn to the earth and scream "Love your life!"
Love your life, quite cliche but I guess thats me
A ball of pop culture with some arms and feet
As discrete as I've tried to keep the drama and cancer
It's no secret I hunger for someone to feed the answers
I never expected a bowl of cherries
I'm just a virgo trying to find my own version of the virgin mary
And when I let them carry me to a cemetary
I wanna be buried with a pocket full of clarity

[Chorus]
Now, how many times must you prove you're an angel
How many more demons do you have to strangle
How much longer must you remain in this dream
Before I finally figure out if you're insane or a genius

How many times must you prove you're an angel
How many more demons do you have to strangle
How much longer must you remain in this dream
Before I finally figure out if you're insane or a genius

Let no tears to fall from none of y'all
Just remember it all, the beauty as well as the flaws
L-O-V-E L-I-F-E
Here lies Sean, finally free
And as I look across the sea I smile at the sun
While it feeds the weeds the nutrition they need
The people still breathe, the city still bleeds
I'm going to love it to death and keep planting my seeds
I'm going to love it to death and keep an eye on the seeds
I'll be in love till im dead, I keep reaching the seeds
I'll give all I got left just to teach you to read
Love life to the death and keep planting my seeds
And when the soul begins to reap, I think she'll know me from the sleep
I keep caught in the corner of my bloodshot eyes
And if she has the nerve, to let me dump a couple last words
I'm gonna turn to the earth and scream (Love your life)

I think the biggest lesson I've learned in the past 2 years, is just how precious life is, and the utmost importance of making the most of it, making it count, and using your life as a vehicle of change or some sort of positive resonance on the world before you pass.

Going home this weekend we visited Tito Jack in the hospital as he had surgery at Stanford for his cancer at the base of nasal cavity and head. We visited him Friday night, and hung out with the family at the hospital, and it was so reminiscent of the times we spent when Dad was in the hospital fighting.

In these times I see the most amazing resilience and the strength of my family's collective spirit, as they all spend their time in the hospital comforting each other and focusing on the positive and focusing on keeping everyone's spirits as high as possible.

Today, the doctors were supposed to go back and do another surgery on Tito Jack, but they couldn't do anything, as the cancer's spread aggressively to his lymph nodes as well. I just spoke with Mom and she as well kept wanting me to see how precious life was, and how important it is to make the most of it, lesson taken. P.L.P

Who said stoners aren't productive?

WASHINGTON – Actor Kal Penn started a new job Monday as a liaison between the White House and Asian communities.

The Indian-American actor is taking a break from Hollywood to work as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison, with a focus on connecting President Barack Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts groups.

Penn had a recurring role on Fox's TV show "House" and starred in several films including "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" and its sequel, "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay"

Penn, who backed Obama during the campaign, said the new job has nothing to do with his life as an actor.

"I expect to be treated just like any other staff member," he told reporters on a conference call.

He is even applying this quest for a fresh start to his identity, saying he will use his given name, Kalpen Modi, instead of his acting moniker while working for the Obama administration.

Penn described the public liaison office as the "front door to the White House." He said his job would be engaging with constituent communities and making sure they feel that they have a seat at the table.

Asked about the differences between the new job and his work in Hollywood, Penn joked that he now wears a suit.

When pressed about preparing for his first day on the job Monday morning, he said, "I brushed my teeth; I did floss, used mouthwash ... took the bus to work, same thing that everybody does."

via - Yahoo

i was clearing out my old comp here at home for mom to use and I found some old writings that I wrote before i started my blog, really interesting to me now to see my mindset then and to track where i am with it now.

February 6, 2008 1:33 AM

I guess i am a idealistic dreamer, maybe hopeless at that. I see the world as a huge ball of clay, just waiting for someone to be the next to step up and be the one help mold a section into the vision of positivity and change that they might see fit. But what happens when you deep down know you posess those qualities but you feel that you are the one thing that doesnt fit? A lot of second guessing, a lot of discounting your own true feelings, an envy of others that rides the line of admiration and motivation, and the possible incompetence of yourself. But if anything it gives you if you a will a curve on which you work, seeing the heights of which one truly can attain, but also show you the fruits of complacency as you sit in your chair aimlessley surfing the internet filling your time with just enough you tube and facebook in that small block of time to keep you from being productive. Its harmless in the moment, but after thinking about it further, its basically the concept of a penny saved is a penny earned, but of course in this instance it works in the reverse. If i could recall each moment that i felt i had just one quality idea, line, or scene, yet i failed to write it down or record it out of simple ineptness and procrastination, i feel like i might already have enough material for that script that always seems to be a plan, but always fails to materialize.......

if im gonna make a difference, i want it to resound, i want it to crack previous thoughts of ignorance, i want it to make it impossible to feel indifferent on certain issues, I want to stand in front of a congregation and speak from the heart and i wanna know that whatever i say will inspire others and that i could speak with a freedom, of freedom of implied recklessness, but knowing that the heart and soul ive been able galvanize somewhat would never allow me to inspire negativity, or move others to act in a way benefitting self first. I want to pick up a fellow person and know that we stand on the same ground and even in some regard i stand below them hoping to be a passageway to restoring faith in common man and the belief that people are born good, and have the capability to recognize kindness in any circumstance and can make a concerted effort to perpetuate those gracious acts....

Had a dope farewell night for Omaro, after getting booted from the last flight home, so I guess I'm just gonna pull the all nighter, sit and reflect til my flight at 6:45. I wanted to get home tonight since Ate was gonna be in Brazil, and Kuya is heading off for the weekend so I could keep mom company, and get a chance to see Tito Jack(Dad's Bro). He's also been battling cancer and was in surgery for over 14 hours tonight, and unfortunately it has spread, but I know Tito Jack will fight on with that charismatic personality of his and carry on in his jovial manner that'll inspire us all.

It blows my mind when i think about the events occurring around us in our world, from Iran to North Korea, to the deaths of the popular figures in society.

It brought me to contemplation, of is it that time in my life where I'm getting older and that life isn't this postive experience as much as I try to make it for myself, and is actually a difficult experience where suffering is in abundance? In college I definitely saw the world as more black and white as far as a great place filled with opportunity.

I guess as you grow older and you run into your own struggles, and deal with the changes in life that come with passing time, you reach a fork in the road to make a decision about the way you view life, and how you choose to deal with what occurs in it. I think I'm at that point.

While I have grown and I don't see life as much anymore as this black and white portrait, and I don't see it as this constant rising high, I see the peaks, I see the valleys, and I see the gray area. I see the suffering, I see the pain, even more so I feel it myself.

But what also has grown I guess, is the capacity to understand contentment in life. That life and our outlook upon shouldn't be dictated by the highs and lows of constant and ever changing temporary things. I wanna live in that gray area, where the joys and the sorrows, the melancholy and the glorious are all embedded into the experience of life, where loss shows you truly what you have, where gains symbolize just how blessed one is. I'm learning to place stock in the permanent and defining aspects of my life. The work I wish to do, The values I believe in, and my application of those to the world to hopefully leave it better than when i came into it. So I'm facing it, life isn't the 100% pleasant ride, but it is a profound experience that if we continue to accept and learn from every step of the way, can lead us to something much more powerful than exciting moments, and life highs, but to a sense of fulfillment and purpose for our lives. Sorry if it sound like im rambling, but everything going in my life has got me in this constant state of analyzing, and I just needed to decompress it in some sort of way, good night.
Peace.Love.Positivity.

So much swirling around
infinite whizzing.
As wishful conjecture,
overtures in harmony
if bliss lies within the ignorance
calculated progressions
find answers in omnipotence.
elementary steps
one foot in front of another
rhythmic resonance
to a groove filled tempo
discovering inner sanctum
fortified to let go
petty pension to a pence
im building to the crescendo.