Nostalgia Bloggista: Cathy Babao

Name: Cathy Babao
Blog: http://www.nancydrewandme.blogspot.com

1. Where did you grow up, and what made that place special?
I grew up on a lovely tree-lined street in a quiet subdivision in Quezon City. When I was a child there were still many empty lots on our street and in the afternoons we would chase dragonflies and play with Makahiya plants. In the evenings there would still be fireflies. It was (and still is) a very safe neighborhood.

2. What was your favorite tv show, cartoon, or children’s show growing up? What did you like about these shows that made them your favorite?
I was a child of Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Eight is Enough and Little House On The Prairie. Melissa Sue Gilbert and I belong to the same age group I loved all the wholesome family shows and would look forward to watching them every week-end. I also enjoyed Petrocelli, Starsky and Hutch and S.W.A.T.

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Nicholas Stoodley – Living in the Twilight Zone

Chapter 5 – An Alien Culture

The early days were a bit of a blur. Here I was in a foreign and sometimes truly alien culture sweating it out in a climate more suited to alligators than Englishmen! Outside there were an amazing amount of people with guns! There were check points and Martial Law and I was opening a store selling RTW clothing with my name outside – I was even decidedly unsure about the whole venture! And then there was the publicity! I wasn’t really used to that. I’d had publicity before in Europe and had even appeared (drunk unfortunately and telling a dirty joke to the Premier of New South Wales) on TV in Australia, but the Philippines was so “personal”. Everyone seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time just gossiping about everyone else: who was bonking who and why and when and even HOW. It is hardly surprising that the Philippines ended up as the text capital of the world!

In the mid 70’s there wasn’t much choice when it came to press publicity because Marcos had closed down a lot of newspapers for not being too friendly to him so one was very much left with the Bulletin Today and it’s magazine, PANORAMA. Chelo Banal interviewed me one afternoon – a delightful young lady – and soon I was chatting away nineteen to the dozen with no thought at all. As far as I was concerned we were just gossiping. Wrong. “And what did I think of our local actors?” I had been asked. “Well,” I had stupidly said with no thought at all, “I think Christopher de Leon has about as much talent as a dead slug!” It had been a throw away line designed, I guess, to make me seem both clever and superior. Such is the naiveté of the young and inexperienced. Actually Christopher was the ONLY actor that I knew about at that time and he was, in fact, a good actor; but I was just having fun. Gossip. I was enjoying this. Christopher de Leon wasn’t. As far as he was concerned it was libel or slander or whatever, but it wasn’t Kosher and I was in for big legal trouble.

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Nostalgia Bloggista: Ala Paredes

Name: Angela ‘Ala’ Paredes
Blog: http://ala-ism.pansitan.net

1. Where did you grow up, and what made that place special?
I grew up on Katipunan, and it’s the best place to grow up on earth! Growing up on a university belt is to grow up in a place that’s forever dynamic and young. Plus, there are a million cheap restaurants to eat at, and every service in earth available, from book-binding to printing tarpaulin. Plus, you always have a beautiful place to escape to, either Ateneo or UP campus. Katipunera forever!

2. What was your favorite tv show, cartoon, or children’s show growing up? What did you like about these shows that made them your favorite?
I watched Jem and the Holograms religiously. She was Barbie gone glamrock! Ang cool lang niya talaga. She had everything, a glampop band, big pink hair, high-tech earrings, and a boyfriend who was in love with both her and her alter-ego. I have 3 Jem t-shirts

Oh, and I also loved SHAIDER, and came as Annie for Halloween 2 years ago. My boyfriend was Shaider, and we won 10,000 pesos at a costume contest for it.

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Nicholas Stoodley – Living in the Twilight Zone

Chapter 4 – Curfew Passes

Jeans were jeans were jeans. But not designer jeans. Not DESIGNER jeans! It was a new concept back then and I happened to land in the middle of Manila just at a time when Ready to Wear was about to burst forth in all its glory. Considering that jeans were the new “uniform” then it was about time to inject a bit of pizzazz into the arena. The first good idea I had was to make jeans for women in women’s sizes! Not an outlandish idea but something that hadn’t been done before. Previously they’d have to buy a pair of men’s jeans and have the waist taken in two or three inches. Great for the customer but hell for production double the patterns, double the everything. “How come,” I was asked, “is it REALLY necessary?” “After all.” etc etc etc. Bahala na. How often was I to come across THAT particular expression!

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Kiss FM Aircheck 1987 with AJ Fats

Do you remember how fun radio was back then? Do you even remember what it sounded like? Well here’s a chance for you to take a trip back in time and relive the great late-’80s Kiss FM days with our friend AJ Fats (aka BigBadJamMan), who has been so cool to share audio snippets from his 101.1 KISS-FM airchecks; recorded in 1987, during the midday shift. Listen closely to the events plugged, the commercials, the news of the day, and all the great music.

LISTEN HERE

ALSO AT NOSTALGIA MANILA

Daimos DX Tv Commercial
This is a rare video clip of the original Daimos DX toy advert that was aired in Japan, and most of Asia during the ’70s and early ’80s.

WATCH VIDEO

Fan Spot: Nostalgia Treasure “Ay ang galing!”

“Naaalala mo pa ba ito?” Everyone has some Nostalgia Treasure waiting to be found. Dig up your Nostalgia Treasure and share it with all our readers! Simply take photos of your Nostalgia Treasure and send them to: nostalgiamanilamail@yahoo.com and we’ll feature it at Nostalgia Manila.

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Nostalgia Bloggista: Wendell Capili

Name: Wendell Capili
Blog: http://todaimitaka.blogspot.com

1. Where did you grow up, and what made that place special?
I grew up in Sampaloc, Manila. It is special because it is situated within Manila’s university belt. Here, people come from all walks of life–the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor, the middle class, city-bred folks and those who come from the regions. It’s is very gentrified. There are people in the streets 24 hours a day, public transportation is easy, basic commodities are easily accessible.

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Cartoon Flashback: Remembering The Super 6

The Super 6 was an animated cartoon series which was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in 1966 and shown every Saturday morning during everyone’s favorite cartoon marathon show Saturday Fun Machine on RPN 9. The show starred an array of unforgettable superheroes under the supervision of the cheif dispatcher. The show consisted of three 5-6 minute shorts, and would open with a segment featuring Super Bwoing, and the latter featuring either one of the other five heroes or a segment featuring the three headed Brothers Matzoriley.

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