March madness

I recently had the pleasure of taking on the emcee duties at the Pinoy Pop Star Semi-Finals, held at the Club Regent Casino. It didn’t take long to see (and hear) that we have many great talents in Winnipeg. I am looking forward to the Finals that will be held later this month (March 23rd) at McPhillips Street Station Casino. If last year was any indication as to calibre of the singing talents and the professionalism of the casino stage crew, this year’s event will be just as exciting and entertaining as last year.

With the fastest growing immigrant population in Manitoba, it is also evident that we Filipinos are a proud people and have no qualms in supporting our kababayan. I mean, who wouldn’t support their friends and family at a public venue in one of Manitoba’s most visited casinos? Let’s not forget the amount of legwork needed to put on an event of this size. Kudos to the organizers based in the Pilipino Express offices who put this plan into action and to the volunteers and generous sponsors. Without their support, the event could not go on. See you all on March 23!

As I write this article, we are gripped by another cold spell here in Winnipeg. We are hitting -30 wind chills once again. But it pales in comparison when I see what is happening around the world. California is hitting near zero temperatures. Florida is getting snow, Washington DC has had records snowfalls (more like blizzards), but nobody seems worried. You see, we Winnipeggers are used to it, two feet of snow in one evening is nothing. We don’t even wear special winter boots when going to work at the office. Heck, the city doesn’t even shut down. The worst thing about bad weather here would be that there would be a chance that a whole bunch of teachers are calling in sick on the same day. But life goes on and we all survive.

For me, life is still going forward in a dizzying pace. We Burgos’ don’t like to sit still. We’ve registered our kids in after-school activities such as Olympic-style wrestling, soccer and hip hop dance. It is a ridiculous schedule. Lizabeth and I quite literally pick up the kids after work, force food down their throats and then we are off to whatever sport it is that night. We get home, rush them off to bed and catch a few minutes of quiet time before we start it all again the next day. How I long for weekends! It’s the part of the week where we can catch our breath and reflect on the past week. That is, if we don’t have a birthday to celebrate.

This past weekend we celebrated Dale Jr.’s 7th birthday (sniff). He’s growing so fast and is becoming quite the little man. We are having serious conversations and are enjoying reading time together. Here’s my token proud tatay moment for my article. This little dude has amazing reading skills. Every day he impresses me (sniff).

For my last topic of conversation, I’d like to recap the recent Valentine’s Day. I survived it. I didn’t buy my wife longanisa like I planned (instead of a piece of jewellery shaped like a heart). However, if I did buy her longanisa, I would have bought her the “hot” package seeing as relationships tend to be on the hot and steamy side. I don’t think she would have made the connection. Instead, I arranged for a babysitter and took Lizabeth out for sushi and a movie. The movie, I thought, was very appropriate. We watched Valentine’s Day starring many of Hollywood’s A-listers. Having a background in marketing, I would have loved to promote this movie, because it would have been one of my more easier jobs.

“Which day should the movie open in theatres?”

“February 14, silly!”

However, with my warped sense of humour, I would have wanted to open the movie on Halloween. Relationships are scary for some people. Do you see the connection?

Dale Burgos manages the communications department for a Winnipeg school division.

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