Random Philippine musings
- Thread starter jay helfert
- Start date
Pi
Jay, your part in this thread has been some of the best reading I've read on this forum. I've never been to the PI and reading about your experiences there is as good as it gets next to being there yourself. Please keep the stories coming as ill never get tired reading them.
James
Jay, your part in this thread has been some of the best reading I've read on this forum. I've never been to the PI and reading about your experiences there is as good as it gets next to being there yourself. Please keep the stories coming as ill never get tired reading them.
James
Been here two days now and spending most of my time with my daughter and her family. She is begging me for "Baby Alive" so that is my task today. Jalo is a little bundle of energy and will definitely keep my young. :wink:
No time for pool yet, maybe later. One interesting thing, yesterday I'm laying in bed and on ESPN Star Asia comes the finals of the Tunica Ten Ball between Johnny and Alex. They devoted two hours to this match and showed it almost in it's entirety. They edited out all the time between games. It was funny to watch myself out there watching hits etc. :smile:
Mark Wilson and Danny D. did a nice job of commentating as well. It was a very cool match, going 14-14! Johnny had a shot in the last game too. This only speaks for how popular pool is on TV over here. That was being shown all over Asia!
No time for pool yet, maybe later. One interesting thing, yesterday I'm laying in bed and on ESPN Star Asia comes the finals of the Tunica Ten Ball between Johnny and Alex. They devoted two hours to this match and showed it almost in it's entirety. They edited out all the time between games. It was funny to watch myself out there watching hits etc. :smile:
Mark Wilson and Danny D. did a nice job of commentating as well. It was a very cool match, going 14-14! Johnny had a shot in the last game too. This only speaks for how popular pool is on TV over here. That was being shown all over Asia!
I love your enthusiam Jay. If you post - just half as excited and blessed as you represent yourself in life, and I trust you do, you're a
fortunate man. Seems to me you've navigated some treachorous waters rather well, on your own terms. I'm genuinely happy for you.
Regardless, I still need the last two - you tightwad dodger. :grin-square:
Yesterday afternoon I turn on ESPN Star Asia and what is on but a 2012 Derby City One Pocket match between Scott Frost and Sylver Ochoa. Yes, you heard me right, One Pocket on network TV here! And they showed the match in its entirety, five full games, safeties and all! Scott won 3-2.
P.S. Jalo got her Baby Alive; it walks, it talks, it even wets her pants!
P.S. Jalo got her Baby Alive; it walks, it talks, it even wets her pants!
Yesterday they showed the entire Bank Pool ring game (three hours worth!). I couldn't believe it, only in the Philippines! You want to see pool on TV, just come here and you can watch EVERY televised tournament. :wink:
ChrisBanks
Banned
That's one thing I've not seen yet, and I hope to some day!
Pangit
Banned
It's endemic to the PI. No matter where....the girls on a long shot...no bridge...no left hand.... they won't even consider it.
There is only one choice.. Hold the cue by the business end with one hand... and slide the butt-end on the table and use the bumper as a de facto cue tip.
I say "girls", it's against the rules to use a cue in that manner...and then they start to sit on the side of table without a foot on the floor...and "discretely" give me a beaver flash with that short skirt on....purrrr
You can't "call" that... there are some things more important than pool rules. I'm getting hustled!
There is only one choice.. Hold the cue by the business end with one hand... and slide the butt-end on the table and use the bumper as a de facto cue tip.
I say "girls", it's against the rules to use a cue in that manner...and then they start to sit on the side of table without a foot on the floor...and "discretely" give me a beaver flash with that short skirt on....purrrr
You can't "call" that... there are some things more important than pool rules. I'm getting hustled!
It was New Years here last night and it's bombs away in Manila, loud explosians and gun shots for hours. Their idea of a small firecracker is something the size of a cherry bomb or M-80! Lots of missing fingers here every year. A good night to stay indoors.
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Just hanging out with my GF and family here. I go next week to the U.S. Embassy to hopefully get my daughter's passport. :thumbup2:
Sent you a Christmas PM
At the airport, ready to board my plane. A few last odds and ends. You must show extreme patience here when dealing with the locals. They don't move or act quickly. A simple request for extra napkins (tissues) can result in a several minute wait. Ask for an extra fork, spoon or some sugar and be prepared to wait.
Always use caution when walking here - ANYWHERE! There are holes in the pavement and broken edges all over. There is not a lot of care or prioriy given to a damaged sidewalk. Be especially careful when walking at night. I cut a terrible gash (not on this trip) from a broken piece of metal sticking up from the ground. Many places are not well lighted.
Noit much time for pool on this trip. Did have one long session of One Pocket with Dennis Orcollo's older brother Julius. We weren't playing for anything but pride. He won a long set 5-3. I used a cue that was handed to me, but that's okay. I see on another thread they are discussing playing on bad equipment. Well you would be hard pressed to find worse tables than you see in the small pool rooms over here. To me that is part of the challenge, to be able to adjust to the conditions that I'm faced with. In the old days in the USA, we would play on some junk tables using house cues. If you brought your own cue you couldn't get a game! I used to carry a small tool to work a tip and some fine ebony paper to smooth the shaft.
I had one memorable game though. The trike to the bus station drove past a small pool room with three tables, all going at the time. It was right at the entrance to the bus station so I asked the driver to stop. My girlfriend, her sister and friend all got out with me and I told them that I wanted to play. Right away the guys in there are asking me if I want a game. Sure I say, I want to play their best player. They are all laughing at the funny foreigner. I have to wait for a table to open after the game in progress is over.
Now they ask me again and I say yes I'm ready. They rack the balls and one guy hands me a cue. It's heavy and I don't like it. I ask another player who just finished if I could try his cue. He hands it to me and it's shorter, lighter and straighter. I have my cue! Naturally the game is Rotation, that goes without saying. The game starts with him breaking and I have the first shot at the one. I make it but the two is more difficult. I try slow rolling the ball in the side but it rolls off a couple of inches. I know now not to slow roll anything. Talk about a junk table, this table was the pits. I love it! I must learn fast the rails, the speed and the rolls. I watch carefully as he runs a couple of balls. The low numbered balls mean almost nothing at this game. I get a couple of shots and begin to get a feel for the table. Soon he leaves me wide open on the six ball. I make it and play perfect two rail shape for the seven. The crowd (there must have been 25-30 guys all watching now) gives me a Tagolog salute for this good shot. Now everything opens up, seven in the corner, nine in the side (the eight was down already), nice cut in the opposite side on the ten and now they tell me I need one ball. I got funny on the eleven ball and it's path to the corner is blocked by the thirteen. I take a look and tell them I will shoot a trick shot. I'm such a ham! I can visualize the combination bank cross corner on the thirteen. I just see it real good and am pretty confident that I can come close. The eleven is sitting nice on the thirteen, a good angle for this shot. I take my time and fire away. The two balls cross paths near the far corner, almost kissing, but the thirteen flies straight in the pocket! Boom, I won the game and let out a roar - HIYAAAAA!!! I throw my cue on the table and walk triumphantly away, everybody making noise now. I had won this crowd over with this one shot. For me this is my ultimate high in pool, not simply money won, but to do something memorable. I know they will remember me when I come back that way.
Always use caution when walking here - ANYWHERE! There are holes in the pavement and broken edges all over. There is not a lot of care or prioriy given to a damaged sidewalk. Be especially careful when walking at night. I cut a terrible gash (not on this trip) from a broken piece of metal sticking up from the ground. Many places are not well lighted.
Noit much time for pool on this trip. Did have one long session of One Pocket with Dennis Orcollo's older brother Julius. We weren't playing for anything but pride. He won a long set 5-3. I used a cue that was handed to me, but that's okay. I see on another thread they are discussing playing on bad equipment. Well you would be hard pressed to find worse tables than you see in the small pool rooms over here. To me that is part of the challenge, to be able to adjust to the conditions that I'm faced with. In the old days in the USA, we would play on some junk tables using house cues. If you brought your own cue you couldn't get a game! I used to carry a small tool to work a tip and some fine ebony paper to smooth the shaft.
I had one memorable game though. The trike to the bus station drove past a small pool room with three tables, all going at the time. It was right at the entrance to the bus station so I asked the driver to stop. My girlfriend, her sister and friend all got out with me and I told them that I wanted to play. Right away the guys in there are asking me if I want a game. Sure I say, I want to play their best player. They are all laughing at the funny foreigner. I have to wait for a table to open after the game in progress is over.
Now they ask me again and I say yes I'm ready. They rack the balls and one guy hands me a cue. It's heavy and I don't like it. I ask another player who just finished if I could try his cue. He hands it to me and it's shorter, lighter and straighter. I have my cue! Naturally the game is Rotation, that goes without saying. The game starts with him breaking and I have the first shot at the one. I make it but the two is more difficult. I try slow rolling the ball in the side but it rolls off a couple of inches. I know now not to slow roll anything. Talk about a junk table, this table was the pits. I love it! I must learn fast the rails, the speed and the rolls. I watch carefully as he runs a couple of balls. The low numbered balls mean almost nothing at this game. I get a couple of shots and begin to get a feel for the table. Soon he leaves me wide open on the six ball. I make it and play perfect two rail shape for the seven. The crowd (there must have been 25-30 guys all watching now) gives me a Tagolog salute for this good shot. Now everything opens up, seven in the corner, nine in the side (the eight was down already), nice cut in the opposite side on the ten and now they tell me I need one ball. I got funny on the eleven ball and it's path to the corner is blocked by the thirteen. I take a look and tell them I will shoot a trick shot. I'm such a ham! I can visualize the combination bank cross corner on the thirteen. I just see it real good and am pretty confident that I can come close. The eleven is sitting nice on the thirteen, a good angle for this shot. I take my time and fire away. The two balls cross paths near the far corner, almost kissing, but the thirteen flies straight in the pocket! Boom, I won the game and let out a roar - HIYAAAAA!!! I throw my cue on the table and walk triumphantly away, everybody making noise now. I had won this crowd over with this one shot. For me this is my ultimate high in pool, not simply money won, but to do something memorable. I know they will remember me when I come back that way.
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Here here. Hey Scott I was in class with you at pool school in Dallas years ago.
Pangit
Banned
Philippines ban plastic bags. Sounds good on the surface..pollution as it is? This stuff has been brewing for awhile...just happened.
Maybe the Pinoy government should launch an "education" initiative and teach the un-educated masses to not mindlessly throw their plastic bags all over the country???
Several years ago when I first meet my wife...we bought something in plastic and she unwrapped it..and threw it on the ground without a second thought. I picked it up and verbally dressed her down..."It's your country" You can carry it in your hand, and put it in a trash can about 15 meters down the street???
The way Pinoy's abuse "THEIR" environment....all you can do is shake your head.
http://www.colorfulrag.com/2011/04/ban-on-plastic-bags-in-philippines.html
Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill (SB No. 2759) to ban the use of plastic bags in retail stores and supermarkets. Basically, it would expand the coverage of the plastic ban in Muntinlupa, so as to encompass the entire Philippines.
I didn’t realize that my already low opinion of that vote-whoring imbecile could get any lower. She derides “cost-effective” plastic bags, as though such cost-effectiveness did not enable companies to employ more workers and provide better services for customers. Loren takes it for granted that company operations will go on as usual, sans the use of plastic bags. How wrong she is.
As a friend of mine from Muntinlupa pointed out recently, if it weren’t for his family’s circumventing the current ban on plastics, they would not be in a position to maintain their business. And now Loren wants to do this nationwide?!
She frames her bill as ‘environmental,’ and she cites data about how plastics clog drains and are difficult to dispose. This is completely missing the problem, which is not one of plastics per se, but respect and protection of private property. Plastic is not wasteful in itself, just as fire is not harmful in itself.
There are perfectly proper ways to get rid of plastics without corresponding pollution, just as there are perfectly proper ways of disposing of asbestos or PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls); the cost of doing so ought to be considered though, admittedly. Compounding the problem is that government ownership of infrastructure and water resources promotes a disregard for keeping these places clean.
What’s more, plastic bags are reusable. But no, Loren wants to use some other type of bag, namely the less reusable paper. And as the Simon & Garfunkel song goes, “If I only could, I surely would.” Companies, especially the smaller ones, just do not have the money to do as she pleases, nor do they have money to pay the fines she wants to coerce out of them. Why do these goddamn senators always assume the worst of people?
The fact is, paper bags are not necessarily less polluting than plastic bags, as these articles point out:
Which is more environmentally friendly: Paper or plastic?
Paper or plastic?
And what about the effect this will have on logging, and floods? Environmentally friendly, indeed.
In short, this political posturing of Loren, to maintain her ‘environmental activist’ image, is just a lot of bullshit, to quote Penn Jillette. Her phony advocacy as found in her Senate bill to ban plastic bags will only put many jobs at risk, and reduce Filipinos’ productivity, without any benefit to Mother Nature.
Maybe the Pinoy government should launch an "education" initiative and teach the un-educated masses to not mindlessly throw their plastic bags all over the country???
Several years ago when I first meet my wife...we bought something in plastic and she unwrapped it..and threw it on the ground without a second thought. I picked it up and verbally dressed her down..."It's your country" You can carry it in your hand, and put it in a trash can about 15 meters down the street???
The way Pinoy's abuse "THEIR" environment....all you can do is shake your head.
http://www.colorfulrag.com/2011/04/ban-on-plastic-bags-in-philippines.html
Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill (SB No. 2759) to ban the use of plastic bags in retail stores and supermarkets. Basically, it would expand the coverage of the plastic ban in Muntinlupa, so as to encompass the entire Philippines.
I didn’t realize that my already low opinion of that vote-whoring imbecile could get any lower. She derides “cost-effective” plastic bags, as though such cost-effectiveness did not enable companies to employ more workers and provide better services for customers. Loren takes it for granted that company operations will go on as usual, sans the use of plastic bags. How wrong she is.
As a friend of mine from Muntinlupa pointed out recently, if it weren’t for his family’s circumventing the current ban on plastics, they would not be in a position to maintain their business. And now Loren wants to do this nationwide?!
She frames her bill as ‘environmental,’ and she cites data about how plastics clog drains and are difficult to dispose. This is completely missing the problem, which is not one of plastics per se, but respect and protection of private property. Plastic is not wasteful in itself, just as fire is not harmful in itself.
There are perfectly proper ways to get rid of plastics without corresponding pollution, just as there are perfectly proper ways of disposing of asbestos or PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls); the cost of doing so ought to be considered though, admittedly. Compounding the problem is that government ownership of infrastructure and water resources promotes a disregard for keeping these places clean.
What’s more, plastic bags are reusable. But no, Loren wants to use some other type of bag, namely the less reusable paper. And as the Simon & Garfunkel song goes, “If I only could, I surely would.” Companies, especially the smaller ones, just do not have the money to do as she pleases, nor do they have money to pay the fines she wants to coerce out of them. Why do these goddamn senators always assume the worst of people?
The fact is, paper bags are not necessarily less polluting than plastic bags, as these articles point out:
Which is more environmentally friendly: Paper or plastic?
Paper or plastic?
And what about the effect this will have on logging, and floods? Environmentally friendly, indeed.
In short, this political posturing of Loren, to maintain her ‘environmental activist’ image, is just a lot of bullshit, to quote Penn Jillette. Her phony advocacy as found in her Senate bill to ban plastic bags will only put many jobs at risk, and reduce Filipinos’ productivity, without any benefit to Mother Nature.