After so many years, Danny, Boboy, and I have come back on the silver screen. Not since Blue Jeans, or Kakabakaba Ka Ba? or Kung Mangarap ka’t Magising have we appeared in movies with roles more than mere extras. Lasponggols is one of many finalists in the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2005 that was made by Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez, an independent film maker. He is a very tall guy whose love and enthusiasm for movies is undying. He is a big APO fan and that’s why he asked us to be in this film he wrote annd directed. The film was shot on a shoestring budget in a rustic barrio in the middle of Tarlac.
Actually, I have never felt comfortable doing movies or TV except when singing or hosting. Acting is an alien craft to me, or perhaps I just haven’t given it that much of a chance. For this film, I am an architect who is fed up with city life and opts to live in the barrio. The shooting was fun and very interesting, but I honestly don’t know how everything turned out. We did not do too many takes and everything we did, I felt was quite understated since we did not get any directorial feedback to sort of calibrate our portrayals. I am assuming, it was OK . Sana. But then this is me talking. I was rather intrigued when I received via email Sigfreid’s invitation to his film’s screening which he called ‘the worst film of the year’! I am not sure if he was joking although come to think of it, that’s Sigfreid–self-disparaging at times in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, or at least Boboy says. If I sound defensive, maybe I am. Ha ha! But who knows? I have not seen a single frame of the movie so I may be surprised! Boboy, the only one of us who has watched it said he was pleasantly surprised although he felt it was a tad too long.
Rapunzel Hernandez, Danny’s daughter in LASPONGGOLS
I believe there’s a screening this Friday, July 22 at the UP Film Institute sponsored by UP praxis. Do catch it.
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Lydia checks in Tuesday for her hysterectomy. I’m glad I got to talk this morning to the surgeon who operated on me last week. He took off the dressing on my neck and said I was healing pretty well. More than talk about my own condition, I asked all the nagging questions I had about recovering from a hysterectomy. While it is a major operation, Lydia can probably be driving in about two weeks although technically, full healing is about 5-months. That gives us both assurances that physical suffering will not be too prolonged.
I will be sleeping the hospital tomorrow and the next few days and so will not be checking this blog often–maybe from time to time if at all until she’s nice and settled back home here in our room. Once again, I ask for good healing thoughts, prayers and wishes from all of you.
Although I am still physically weak and lose my breath easily, I am glad to be caring for Lydia who shows no hesitation in doing so for us, her loved ones, when we are sick.
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I’ve added a new link among my Jim’s links on the right of the page. It leads you to Filphoto. It has two albums of pics from my old files. I thought I’d share them with everyone. Enjoy!
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Lastly, I thought I’d share an interesting question I asked my class to ponder on last week. These days, we are discussing the Filipino’s capacity to switch from English to Tagalog anytime, even in mid-sentence. It’s as if we have access to two worlds. It’s amazing when you sit in our class and listen to the discussion unravel and realize the implications of this.
Anyway, the big question is,..are you ready? Here it is: why do we talk to dogs and other pets in English? Hmmm.. This should keep you stumped and hanging till my next entry.
Till I write again which I hope will be soon.
We talk to Tagpi, our dog, in tagalog – but our cat, Meowski ignores us if we even say “halika dito” but tell her to “come here!” and she struts her stuff tords us.
tagalog din gamit namin kapag kausap namin ang aso namin, hindi kasi sya marunong mag english, lolz… kidding aside, nakasanayan na lang siguro namin na sa ganung paraan kausapi yung mga alagang aso. lalo na pag pinapagalitan namin sila 🙂
Wow! This is totally unexpected. Madalas puro ingles ang ginagamit sa pag-train ng mga hayop sa atin.
Hmmm.. Do you actually give orders in tagalog, asin ‘upo’, ‘halika dito’, diyan ka lang’ etc..?
amazing!
i caught “ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros” last week at the ccp and it was one of the best pinoy films i’ve watched in a long time. and i’m sure “lasponggols” is something worth remembering and worth watching so that’s what i’ll be doing this friday — watching it.
good luck on your wife’s operations. we are all praying that everything goes well.
bless you, mr jim, for so much love and caring you continue to have in your heart for lydia; not all wives are as lucky..
count my prayers for her speedy recovery.
i talk to my dogs in spanish LOL
“kaiser, ven aqui!”
wow, an acting comeback. heehee. i enjoyed watching your young selves in “Blue Jeans”. can’t wait to see “Lasponggols”. i’m curious as to what your kids think about your acting. 🙂
The Manila Times and our website carried this news:
APO Hiking Society makes acting comeback in ‘Lasponggols’
When Boboy Garrovillo told filmmaker Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez last year about the APO Hiking Society’s interest to be part of “Lasponggols,” but “it’s all a matter of when and where” given their hectic schedules, the Cinemalaya finalist moved heaven and earth just to make sure that the APO will make it as actors in his directorial debut.
The versatile trio of Garrovillo, Danny Javier, and Jim Paredes, who last appeared in a movie together in “Kakabakaba Ka Ba?” directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mike de Leon, threw their support for independent filmmaking by playing very significant roles in the black comedy about the ills of the local mainstream film industry. Garrovillo assumes the role of the barrio captain while Javier and Paredes play a blind former cameraman and an eccentric artist, respectively.
In “Lasponggols,” the APO brings their winning combination which makes them a total entertainment team that is unparalleled in the country. Acclaimed actor Jeffrey Quizon and Dwight Gaston play two film workers who pretend to be filmmakers Jon Red and Erik Matti.
Supporting them are Roence Santos as the barrio captain’s racketeer wife, Sasi Casas as the couple’s son, Soliman Cruz as their gay neighbor who pretends to be an artist, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino as a stage mother, Raul Morit as the village idiot, Pete Lacaba as an old utility boy, Marra PL Lanot as one of the town’s moralists, Hector Macaso and Ickay Eusebio as the richest people in the village, and Bombi Plata as the scheming assistant director.
Introducing commercial model Rapunzel Hernandez and Monet dela Cruz, the film also features cameo appearances by Ronnie Lazaro, Joel Torre, Kris Lacaba, Rox Lee, Khavn De La Cruz, Topel Lee, Paolo Villaluna, Ogi Sugatan, EJ Salcedo, Donald Camon, Randy Punsal, Karr Cotamora, Seymour Barros Sanchez, Richard Legaspi, Jules Katanyag, Norman Wilwayco, Odyssey Flores, and other personalities in the local digital filmmaking scene.
The APO, previously known as the Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, first gained recognition in 1973 when they gave a farewell concert at the plush Meralco Auditorium in Metro Manila. More than three decades after, they have made 22 record albums, hosted several television shows including their own noontime Sunday show “Sa Linggo nAPO Sila,” and launched successful major solo concerts and countless provincial, dinner, and corporate shows. They have performed in over 50 cities in the United States, in Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Japan to bring Original Pilipino Music to Filipinos the world over.
The APO were the first Filipino pop artists to perform at the Main Hall of New York’s esteemed Carnegie Hall in October of 1987. They have also performed at the equally prestigious Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada’s music capital. They were also the first Filipinos to perform in a public concert in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They were awarded the first Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino by Awit Awards – the Filipino equivalent of the Grammy. They have also been conferred the Tanglaw ng Lahi Award, the highest accolade given by the Jesuits in the field of culture and the arts. Both collectively and individually, the APO is easily the most creative group in Philippine entertainment today.
“Lasponggols” will be shown at the UP Film Institute/Cine Adarna on July 22, Friday, 7 p.m.
sa pampanga, kapampangan kung kausapin ang mga alagang askal. pagdating sa mga subdivisions dun, english nila kinakausap. baka kase status symbol un para sa iba (?)
because the language of instruction we know is English.? We learn in school thru english and so that is how we know how to teach animals.
Bigla kong naalala yung “syotang pa-class” hehehe
Hmm. Interesting insights, everyone. In my case, I only talk to them in English when I’m upset with them. Hmm. Come to think of it, minsan Tagalog rin. Argh.
Anyway, I will try to observe…hehe.
My mom had her hysterectomy a few years back. Everything had to be really painstakingly exact because she is diabetic.
Anyway…
Manong Jim, happy healing to you and your wife.
yeah that got me thinking.. i guess it sounds much better than telling “brownie” to upo , tayo takbo hehehe Oh Blue jeans was one of my faves…wonder we dont make movies like that anymore.. I’d definitely ask my sis to send me a copy of “lasponggols”
Mr. Jim I’ve been reading your blog for over a year now, it is just now that i had the guts to leave a comment… thank you for ur enriching stories and insights!
I pray for ur wife’s speedy recovery!
btw this may sound really random and even plain weird but u somewhat remind me of PM Tony Blair… =)
have a great day Mr. Jim
It’s not the dog, sir. The secret lies with the trainer. I wonder if we could also train the trapos (i.e., Pimentel, Lacson, Tito Sotto) to stop acting like ‘tutas’. hah-ha.
I thought you would enjoy the link below of Om Khoultom, the best Arabic singer during Naser’s time in Egypt. When she died 4 million Egyptians mourned her death. Listen to her voice !!
http://www.arab2.com/songs/om-kolthoum.htm
You may also want to check out Celia Cruz. The Cuban Latin Salsa Queen.
http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/salsa/artists/ccruz.html
Take care, Manong Jim.
Naalala ko nung nasa Davao pa kme minsan sa wikang Filipino o dili kaya sa Bisaya namin kinakausap ang aso namin hehehe
Bihira sa wikang Ingles. Gayun pa man mas madalas “actions ” o “gestures” natututo ang mga aso.
Isasama ko sa aking pagdarasal ang iyong maybahay.
Mag-ampo lang ta silingan 🙂
Hi, More on dogs… yung aso naming si Tagpi, alam nya ang iba’t ibang pag psssst-ssst tssst HOY ng tatay ko. May pssst syang pag medyo gigil, uupo na yung aso namin, pag nag sssst ssst syang parang malambing, lalapit si Tagpi – pati kami trained kami sa psssst tsssstttt ng tatay namin. Pero madalas tagalog naming kausapin yung aso, like if we want him to stay “psst dyan ka lang” with hand gestures – siguro kala ni Tagpi ang pangalan nya psssst – it never dawn on me until today. hmmmmmm.
gumagalang,
Ang may-ari kay Tagpi at Meowski
“why do we talk to dogs and other pets in English?”
Interesting question. I’ve thought of it this way: dogs and other animals can be seen as ‘foriegners’. From past observation, the everyday Filipino usually uses English to communicate with a non-Filipino person/foriegner. Another idea is that Filipinos could just be subconsciously practicing their English on their beloved pets, without having the normal fear or anxiety when talking to a foriegner in English.
Whenever I’m at my dad’s house, we talk to the dog in Tagalog. Ha ha! It’s reverse for us!
Also, reading the comments in Tagalog make me realize that I need to go brush up before I study there next year!
And more importantly, I hope Lydia has a speedy recovery!
sir jim siguro nasanay lang yung aso namin sa mga naririnig nya sa paligid nya, i mean kapag tinatawag namin sya we used the word “halika dito” (with matching turo kung saan pinapapunta) kapag pinapaalis naman namin sya sinasabi namin na “alis, doon ka” (sabay taas ng kamay na para bang papaluin) 🙂
hi mr. jim!
sa bahay namin we talk to our dogs, in english, i don’t know why, pero i think they understand, ksi sumusunod naman sila.
Don’t worry so much about your wife. I know the operation will be successful. God is really good. Our prayers are with you and your family.
we talk to our pet in tagalog…but then again that’s because i live in the province…ang cavite pa, tagalog na tagalog kami….
but the whole switching to tagalog and then english even in midsentence…hmmm i never really thought of that…guess it’s something that we take for granted by being bilingual…
siguro, depende sa amo ng aso yun… yung aso namin, di ko kinakausap eh =)
pero tama ka, most people talk to dogs in english… bakit nga kaya???
diwata: jhing?
alam ko yung sagot sa DOG question!!! haay… so lucky to have been your student ..even though it felt like it was only for a short time.. it feels like yesterday only.. and alot of our class discussions are still fresh in my memory 🙂 [if only memorizing the new VAT LAW and the Civil Code worked the same way in my brain!!!] haaay!
i hope you and your wife are both well in every aspect. i always pray for your whole family 🙂
checked out your filphoto at “naginggit” naman ako and had this certain excitement/urge to upload stuff especially now that i feel that im stagnating when it comes to pictures… so many ideas.. never enough time or NONE at all…
na-enganyo naman ako mag shoot agad!… its funny how I can turn from extremely sick of my day to “excited-to-shoot” mode after reading your blog and uploading photos!!! excited na ako… hmmm… till nextime!!!! 🙂
Ala has written on her blog a poignant yet thoughtful (open)letter to Ananda about your family. I was esp. impressed by how she has written so lovingly about her Dad who have had to work so hard to keep the bond of harmony, love and peace in the Paredes household.
She truly is a chip off the old block. I can only hope that my own daughter would write such a profound and touching tribute about me and my husband, someday.
But, yes, we indeed do reap what we sow.
Peace, grace and love of God to you and your family.
hello po 🙂
gaya ni ludwig vandrost, gamit ko rin ang wikang kapampangan sa pakikipag-usap sa alaga naming aso. hindi lamang sa bahay kundi pati na rin sa mga kapit-bahay. madalang gamitin ang wikang tagalog at mas lalo na ang wikang ingles. siguro dahil pawang askal lamang mga alaga namin :). siguro kung me lahing imported pwede pang kausapin ng ingles 🙂
may wellness be yours. happy weekend to you and your family.
Manong Jim — bwahahaha! — I loved that. Gosh, we are old, Jaime.
Anyway: we had Maddie, our first German Shepherd, now deceased and sorely missed, undergo obedience classes. Soon after, Carlitos saw our driver and houseboy make commands Maddie would really follow. He tried making the same commands, but Maddie kept on ignoring him. So, one day, out of jealousy, he creeps in and tries to find out why Maddie never paid him attention. Iyun pala, Ingles Bisaya ang sinusunod ni Maddie. As in, “hell” for “heel,” and “set” for “sit” and “Pli did” for “play dead.” It turns out the Dog School instructor was Bisaya, as were our driver, our houseboy, and moi.
ina-associate kasi naten ang mga pets sa mga foreigners kasi di tayo pareho diba?… pag me kanita kang foreigner english kaagad ang medium nyong mag communicate dba? nake tatak na sa subconscious naten na basta di natin kagaya english na agad.
*most pipol wont agree with me kasi subconscious nga dba?..
You mean our ‘colonial mentality’ syndrome kicks in everytime we see a dog? That explains why, sometimes, we seem to act like ‘tutas’ when we are around foreigners.
Actually, that’s very hilarious! hah-ha-ha!! That’s actually very insightful of you, Jed. I like it.
Pasensya na po, Manong Jim. Bumanat na naman ako.
we talk to our dogs in tagalog most of the time & sometimes taglish.
both you & your wife will be in my prayers. God bless!
HELLO! Just letting you know of our presence in the cyberspace. We are not in private practice. We are in the helping and caring profession, a service profession to help people enhance the quality of their lives. Please help us disseminate the PINOY TEACHERS NETWORK.
You might want to be part of Pinoy Top Blog which aims to collect a list of Filipino blogs.
Check it out 🙂
Ugh! it’s Pinoy Top Blogs! >:P
just read your blog after a few days of absence since i went to rome for 5 days before i flew to manila last thursday.
hope & pray for lydia’s speedy recovery. a CA survivor is a fighter!
Maybe we talk to pets in english because most of the command words are shorter (sit vs. upo, come here vs. halika dito, stay vs. diyan ka lang). Dogs seem to respond better to shorter words, maybe becaue they’re easier to remembeer. I’ve had to give dogs nicknames because they have trouble recognizing 3 or 4 syllable words, even in their own names.
Binabalik ko ang aking alaala noong bata pa ako at may alagang aso. Kahit askal nga pala ang aming alaga sa wikang Ingles din siya hinasa. Sit, walk, jump mga utos niyang natutunan bagamat sa aming tahanan hindi kami nagsasalita ng wikang dayuhan.
hahaha. thanks! drakulita
You are welcome, drakulito.
I like your site. nice work.
english commands are shorter? 🙂
^and i just wanna, this is how we also name science terms. because english is shorter (or so my bio prof told me) 🙂
hmmm. a mystery indeed. 🙂
Perhaps, it’s easier to speak to our pets in english because we know they won’t criticize our mistakes. hehe just a wild guess.
But with our dachshund Tino, he’s pretty much comfortable hearing “‘bas” (short for labas — go out), “ubos” (in case he’s doesn’t finish his food), “baba”… among others…
My mom had undergone hysterectomy too, May of last year. I was the one who stayed in the hospital to take care of her basic needs. Being there helped her out in recovering. She’s doing great now.
Hoping all goes well. 🙂
Hi! I’m a random surfer and stumbled upon your blog in one of my friends’ blog links.
In response to the question — similar to bibeth orteza’s comment, our househelp speaks to our dog in her native tongue, Bisaya. In fact, our dog hardly responds to our commands whenever we speak to him in English or Tagalog. And even in our attempts to speak to him in Bisaya, he won’t even listen. Truth of the matter is, our dog is an aging mut. Hehehe, proves to show how truly hard it is to teach old dogs new tricks, eh?
Anyway, I should be frequenting this blog more often. Hope your wife will be well soon 🙂
I am hoping for Lydia’s fast recovery and yours too. I hope the removal of your bump won’t have any effect on your singing, otherwise, it will be a big dent on our OPM.
Thank you po for promoting Lasponggols 🙂
-june taguiwalo
To everyone who wrote, thank you for your prayers and good wishes! Lydia is recovering quite well. And I really enjoyed everyone’s haka-haka about why we talk to our pets the way we do. Bakit nga ba? heh heh! Sign up in my class and you MAY get the answer!
hi sir Jim!
Firstly, my condoloences.
Kakaba is really one of my fave films. Did you right the original songs used in the movie such as “Bigyan niyo po Kami” and “Sisikat din ako”? They should re-issue the film on dvd along with a soundtrack!
“LASPONGGOLS” will again have a special screening on October 1 at the UP Film Institute at 1:00PM-3:00PM and then at P4:00PM to 6:00PM. My other film “Ang Anak Ni Brocka” will again have a screening from 6:30PM to 9:00PM. The films will be shown alongside my music videos for Sugarfree (“Hari Ng Sablay”), Hale (“The Day You Said Goodnight”), and Kyla (“Til They Take My Heart Away”) in between. Hope you can come with your family and friends. Spread the word.
my 4-yr-old julia talks to my 6-month-old mini schnauzer in french!
bakit nga kaya ganun? hahaha!
~chelli