By Jesse Jose

A Cup O' Kapeng Barako

I t was a blast.

In my previous column, "On Pakyaw, Miss Raj, Bristol . . . And On My Ripe Old Age," I mentioned that I recently celebrated my 70th birthday. 

Indeed, it was a blast of a celebration, celebrated in conjunction with a second reception of my son Chris's marriage to Jaclyn Rostie. They got married in Boulder, Colorado. There was a grand reception there at the grand St. Juliene Hotel. But my wife and I held another reception a couple of weeks later here at the Emerald Downs of Auburn, Washington, for friends and relatives who were not able to make it to Colorado for the wedding.

I am not going to stop saying it. In fact, I want to scream it to the whole world. Chris and Jaclyn are both broadcast journalists. Chris now works for FOX News Denver, which is a big-time market in broadcast journalism, compared to those little TV stations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he used to work right after graduating from the Edward R. Murrow College of Broadcast Journalism, at WSU in Pullman. Jaclyn graduated from Regis University in Denver and now works for ABC News in Colorado Springs.

So, in a way, it was three-event celebration.       

It was a blast of a party. I drank several glasses of red wine. I can't remember how many. I think I got drunk a little. Well, I was celebrating. I was happy. Most of my friends were there. My wife's friends were there. My wife's relatives from Vancouver, Canada, were all there, en masse. And some of the people I go to church with in our church here in Auburn were there, too.

There was food galore and an "open bar." And there was a live band that played "disco" music, so I danced the "maski-paps" all night long ... and celebrated to my heart's content. Heck, why not? It was my son, Chris's wedding reception. It was also a celebration and a toast to his success in his chosen, highly-competitive career. And it was my 70th birthday! Heck, yeah! I celebrated. Partied. And got drunk. Well, wouldn't you? And those people who were invited, but did not come, they all missed a good party.

GREETINGS FROM CYBERSPACE FRIENDS: To top all these, like icing on a cake, a couple of my cyberspace friends, Romy Marquez of Toronta, Canada, and Ed Navarra, of Detroit, Michigan, who are columnists themselves in their respective turfs, greeted me "Happy 70th birthday!"  They also wished me more -- many more -- birthdays to come.

A greeting also came from John "Bis" Bisbano of Port St. Lucie, Florida. I used to work with Bis when we were sheriff deputies for the Martin County Sheriff's Office in Florida. I also a got a greeting from my friend and next-door neighbor and walking partner, Jerry Lytle.  Jerry is a retired truck driver, who drove those 16-wheelers coast to coast in his heydays. When we take our walks, Jerry and I would talk and talk about politics and current events and about gossips in our neighborhood.

To me, it's a big deal when a friend has taken the time to greet and wish me a "Happy 70th Birthday."  To me, these people are friends in the truest sense of the word. A 70th Birthday is a grand day in anybody's life. It means you have finally arrived at the crossroads of your life. The point where perhaps you can turn around and look back. 

And remember.

And reminisce.

And savor the past.

And collect memories.

And perhaps, to collate all those memories into a book and experience them once again, if only in our imaginations, the exciting moments of one's youth and the many different indiscretions that comes with being young . . . 

Ahh, those moments for me were aplenty, I tell ya.

F ROM GERRY GARRISON: I also got this e-mail from Gerry, who I met in church and who became a close friend and a reader of my Barako column.

Jesse,

What a story!  It is too bad the Filipinos keep voting these idiots in office.  One good thing (?) that came out of the elections ... litter is way down. This is due to new laws fining people anywhere from 50 pesos (for spitting) to 100 pesos (for littering).  One has to wonder how long that will last.

Concerning Miss Bristol Palin ... I say good for her. Idiots that call her names don't know her, or what she is all about. I give her many kudos for her bravery to even go on "Dancing With The Stars."  How many of her so-called critics are willing to show up? Much less dance!  I say put up or shut up.

As far as growing old: Age is a number, NOT a state of mind.  You are only as old as you feel. From my perspective, you act and behave like a man half your age. With your peaceful neighborhood, along with your friends, I truly believe you have many more years to hang around.

Happy 70th Birthday!!!

Gerry 

A GIFT FROM "LOLO": Now this one came from a very-special person.  He's a prolific writer and a hard-hitting columnist from Los Angeles, California.  He's also my publisher of my Kapeng Barako columns ... and the nemesis of that infamous and corrupt Fil-Am organization, known, ahem, as "NaFFAA-A."  LOLO Bobby is my idol.  A long time ago, in my kanto boy days, it used to be Erap.  Now, it's LOLO.  He wrote, and to me, what he wrote here, is a gift:

Dear Ka Jesse,

I haven't greeted you yet, "Happy 70th Birthday," because I plan on publishing a tribute to you. Kaya lang baka sabihin ng mga readers ay parang "eulogy" na. LOL.

Of course, you know that I have given you the best birthday gift last year (on your 69th) and hopefully before your 71st BD, you will receive our Media Breakfast Club-Dean Reyes Award as "Columnist of the Years 2007-2010" sometime next year. Yes, for three years now, you have shown such a tremendous gift for irreverence but not irrelevance. And many readers, including me, like your style. Sometimes, you really piss off people but I am telling mutual friends (like our pals in Chicago) that you will mellow after you have reached 70. Hopefully, you will still be able to write classics like your Thanksgiving story, which we will put back on the Front Page this November. Yes, many Filipino-American publishers won't print sometimes your essays (controversial as they are) but for as long as we are operational, we will be honored and pleased to publish them. You are what a columnist should be and your fearless way of writing ought to be the model for Overseas-Filipino writers. Of course, our MabuhayRadio.com columnists are like you for they belong to a different breed of journalists, trained as they are.

Mabuhay ka, Jesse Jose, and may you live more-than a hundred years but your articles will be treasured forever, as long as there are men and women who care for literary relevance, if not absolute greatness.

Your fan,

Lolo Bobby M. Reyes

Someone who would write something like that about you is surely a gift, especially from someone like Bobby Reyes, the LOLO among LOLOS.

A STAMP MALFUNCTION, A DYOK: Dear Readers, before I go, let's dyok muna.  Perhaps, some of you might might already have heard this, but we can still laugh at it, can't we? It's only a dyok, but I swear, it's true. My sister, Rosemary, who lives in North Carolina and works there as a mail carrier, told me it's true. I think postal workers though they go "postal" at times, don't tell no lie. Here's the dyok:

The Postal Services created a stamp with a picture of President Obama on it.  But they noticed that the stamps were not sticking to envelopes. This enraged BHO, who demanded a full investigation.

After a month of testing and $1.73-million in congressional spending, a special Presidential Commission presented the following findings:

. The stamps were in perfect order.

. There was nothing wrong with the glue.

.  People were spitting on the wrong side.

And that's a blast of a dyok, I think. 

PAHABOL: Oh, by the way, today, October 8, as I write this, marks the end of the 100-day honeymoon period for President Noynoy Aquino.  As we all know, he has assumed the aka, "P-NOY."  I suppose, just like the "BHO" aka of President Obama.  From what I heard, the "P" in P-Noy stands for PE-Noy.  Or PEE-Noy. Or PEK(2)-Noy.  Hey, GMA was called with a "P" name, too, remember?  What's good for the goose, should be good for the gander, ika nga.  So, okey ngarud, let the P-Noy games begin na, ha?  JJ