Paalam na, house (Tribute to AJ Matela 1982-2011)

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 13th, 2011

AJ and WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg at the back seat of my car. This was straight from Wordcamp 2010 in Manila.

Ang Buhay ni Boy by jayveef

I was listening to an old podcast I helped record back in 2007. It stars several friends from the Internet, with AJ taking center stage playing the role of “Boy” for this short radio play. I remember we all came together to Juned’s place to record this right after I told them I got a new podcast microphone. To fully appreciate this listen, you have to realize that everything spoken here was impromptu and I kept on rewinding AJ’s final lines as he closed the episode.

Pero marami din ako natutunan sa bahay na ito, pero kailangan ko nang umalis. Natutunan ko na kahit anong kailangan natin, kung paano tayo magmahal .. basta taos puso ang pagmamahal natin … yun ang importante. Tsaka natuto ko rin na hindi lahat ng … hindi mo naman kailangan maging beauty queen, hindi mo kailangan maging designer … hindi naman ganun ang lahat. Kung bakla ka, o bading ka hindi naman kailangan na tawagan kang i-stereotype. Hindi naman ganun lahat.

(…)

Natutunan ko lang basta taos sa puso ang pagmamahal mo mabubuhay ka ng maligaya. Aalis na ako. paalam na, house. — AJ Matela (September 10 1982- September 9 2011)

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AJ’s family and friends need our help to raise funds for his hospital bills. Please head on over here for details.

THREE =)

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 5th, 2010

Ananya just turned three (and time flies very fast!). RIght now she’s in her McDonald’s phase and in the tradition of happy childhood memories, a children’s party at McDonald’s is a staple achievement. I never had one when I was a kid (which explains a lot, JK!). So after booking the place (McDonald’s Festival Mall at Filinvest) and choosing the Disney Princess theme, all we did was sit back and relax. Really.

Parting shot: This is her singing her latest favorite, Bad Romance.

The Talisay Ruins: My Ancestral Home

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 14th, 2009

Finding the words to describe a piece of history that defines your roots isn’t an easy thing to write about. Believe me, I’ve slaved over a blank screen with my cursor blinking impatiently, urging me to write down words. And I guess there really is no better way to talk about the Talisay Ruins in a more intimate fashion than to tell a story.
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Ding! Level 28! Gratz!

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 4th, 2008

Congratulations! You have reached Rank 28!
You have gained Intelligence +1
You have gained Wisdom +2
You have gained Strength -1
You have gained Endurance -1
You have gained skill: “Receding Hairline Rank 2″
You will now take an additional 10% Fatigue from running
You have gained ability: “Peace of Mind” which can be used once per day

A rant to self:

You’re probably the most stubborn person I know, who can’t afford to glue himself to work in an office desk. You try your best to be calm and composed outside, but inside you are probably laughing, because you like to imagine people wearing clown suits (red nose, white make up) while they walk the streets or when they are talking to you. You are passionate and to a fault unbridled and it’s hard to predict what you’re going to do. You’re lazy. You’re not lazy. You get lost in what you do and when you finally come to your senses, you always wonder – hey, what did I just do? Thankfully you haven’t embarrassed yourself in public, at least not yet. Talk less. But make it count. Remember to always protect those close to you and never step on anybody if you want to succeed.

You need to play more guitar and drink less. Even though you claim to look like Joaquin Phoenix, you will still be Mr. Bean.

Belated happy birthday!

A Short Essay on the Family Dogs, Whilst Injecting Mothers Day in Non-Sequitur Nonchalance

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 10th, 2008

Today, my parents celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. We had lunch at the Bellevue in Alabang.

I did the math and since I’m turning 28 this year, being the eldest means that I came into the picture five years into their married life. Apparently in those five years my parents thrived with a lot of dogs, in the absence of children, to the extent that it was part of their home’s blueprint to have a cemented kennel to house our two German Shepherds beside the wet kitchen (today it serves the purpose of a stock room). The pugs and German Shepherds gave way to a single beagle which was then replaced in modern day by Hondo, our family dog and third pillow in bed.

We practically grew up with dogs. Here’s a photo of my brother with our first beagle which was stylized from the Joe Cool “Snoopy” franchise (Snoopy is Charlie Brown’s beagle):

In all its entirety – taking my parents’ wedding anniversary and mothers day celebration tomorrow, it is thus that I declare how I seem to attract and pacify animals, namely dogs, stray cats and some breeds of freshwater fish.

Wala lang.

Happy Mothers Day

Mixed reactions to Manila Ocean Park?

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 6th, 2008

I’ve only been to three ocean parks in my lifetime – Ocean Park and Sea World in Hong Kong and the Oceanarium in KLCC, Kuala Lumpur. This is thus the fourth ocean park I’ve set foot on in spite memories of the house being a “little ocean park” by itself when I was growing up.

There have been mixed reactions of the public with the soft opening of the Manila Ocean Park: I would actually call this post a biased perspective because I’m a “hobbyist in recession” – put me in a room with fish and I’m happy. We used to keep several tanks of freshwater fish, where my favorite keeps were gouramis, corydoras, loaches, certain types of cichlids and livebearers.
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In vitae memoriam

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 14th, 2008

The family has been quite busy with our grandma’s funeral preparations. One thing that my cousins realized is that it was a little difficult finding a lot of stock photos of her. We’d have to segregate everything from the seven children’s families, scan them and then push them all to iPhoto for a themed slideshow.

I was having a conversation with my cousin who’s a film director and we came to agree that if it were our generation, finding photos would be so much easier as our lives are pretty much public in Facebook, Multiply and Friendster. Not to mention our blogs as well. What would it be like, 50 years from now when it came to storing our memories online?

One of the resolutions among the cousins would be to start a centralized photo repository. Maybe on Flickr or Multiply because it is very easy to batch upload. And then maybe link them all to a blog or something. The objective would be to come up with an organized way for anyone in the family to have access to these gems and contribute.

Any suggestions?

Mommy Darling

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 13th, 2008

EDIT 2: Photos of the last mass and burial rites are here for family and friends to view.

Those close to the Fernandez and Javellana side of my family have always considered my grandmother “Mommy Darling” to be larger than life. She has always been the epitome of grace and art and an inspiration to us, especially to the cousins to be excellent in our pursuit of everything creative. I am lucky to be blessed by a huge clan (we’re the typical noisy Ilonggo clan ) that spend regular Sunday reunions in Blue Ridge. We’re all pretty close. In these fast times, it is hard to keep close to family. All of us 35 grandchildren are great.

Mommy Darling (she didn’t like being called lola — and so yes, lolo was also ‘Daddy Darling’ to us) was especially influential to me because of how she supported my musical endeavors (In her 70′s she was still dancing ballet!). She bought me a Washburn Festival series when I was in college so that I could play for her 75th birthday. She is the root cause of why I love writing, why I love photography and why I’ve learned to appreciate art.

My fondest memory of her was when she decided to treat all her grandchildren to a European tour a few years back. She would have to stress that if the parents wanted to go (her 7 children), they would have to pay for their own fares. So there we were in a tour of Europe for a month with my grandma, nephews and nieces.

Mommy Darling passed away silently on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, on February 11 2008 while praying the rosary. It is no coincidence that she wished to die on the feast day of her namesake.

I would also like to thank those who visited last night – Sasha and Rico, Juned and Markku and Phoebe of course. Thank you as well to everyone who sent emails and SMS. Really sorry that I cannot always reply but yes, I got them all. My grandma’s remains lie at Christ the King in Greenmeadows and her remains will be transferred this Saturday after the 8:30 am mass to Loyola Marikina, where Daddy Darling waits for her.

There were no tears last night. Everyone was happy. Mommy Darling lived a full life filled with so much love. It is such an envied way to pass through to the next life.

EDIT: So funny that today, she was wearing blue and yesterday she was in a white dress! Thanks to Juned, Noemi and Lauren for passing by tonight as well, together with the SMS messages from everyone else.

A Big Congratulations!

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 10th, 2008

The caption says:

Noemi Lardizabal-Dado and Butch Dado said their vows and made it clear on Facebook. They’re married.

I got a pleasant surprise today in my Facebook feed. Congratulations to Butch and Noemi for tying the knot! We’re all happy for the two of you and I’m sure that all your online friends wish you the best

(Isn’t Facebook just too funny sometimes?)

3% of LBC deliveries are inflated balloons (and other strange tales with Express Regalo)

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 27th, 2008

Easily one of the more fascinating press conferences I attended this year was last week’s dinner with eLBC’s Express Regalo. I’ve never really been in touch with the local shipping industry and found LBC’s online store to be quite a remarkable set up. They ship anything from lechon, to balloons, to consumer goods, Boyoyong Clown party packages — and get this – even pedicabs (yes dear friends, our local pedicab industry is championed by eLBC)!
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Philippine Blogosphere Pitch: Why not aim for the Anvil Awards?

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 26th, 2007

Every year, the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) gives out a set of Anvil Awards for remarkable public relations campaigns done in the Philippines.

The ANVIL is a symbol of excellence in public relations in the Philippines awarded by a distinguished multi-sectoral jury for outstanding public relations programs and tools designed and implemented in the past year. The Anvil Awards competition is conducted annually by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.

The Anvil symbolizes excellence and quality. The standards for winning are high. No award is given unless the standards are met.

There are four award categories:

The Anvil Award of Merit
The Anvil Award of Excellence
The Bronze Anvil Award
THE GRAND ANVIL AWARD

What exactly am I pitching? Why can’t we pitch the ongoing Filipinas Campaign as an entry in the 44th Anvil Awards happening in February 2009. This February 2008 is the awarding for the Anvil for campaigns done between October 31 2006 to October 31 2007. Though it would be too late to include the Filipinas Campaign as an entry to the 43rd Anvil Awards, it can still very well make it into the 44th.
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