PUSO

Mabuhay

It was night. There was a market.

Posted by Kendall on Thursday, April 9th at 12:11 pm

This year, we sold food alongside I Ka Poli O Hawai'i and APIA. I Ka Poli O Hawai'i brought rockin' musubi, with either katsu or spam, and APIA rocked the largest continent by burying their table in food. From almond jelly to Melona Bars, they had them. PUSO represented by selling everyone's favorite, turon and lumpia. Funds were made, fellow PUSO-ites.

Take dinner to the MAX('s Of Manila)

Posted by Kendall on Saturday, April 4th at 1:26 pm

To celebrate the nearly completed year, a group of hungry students joined us at Max's of Manila, a pamilia-style restaurant. They're famous for their chicken (and their soap opera-esque commercials?). It was a delicious night. We had quite a few people who were first-time Filipino food consumers, and they (as far as I can tell) were happy.

We rock.

People Like Me

Posted by Kendall on Friday, March 27th at 10:45 pm

People Like Me, by Henry Ong, and performed by Mezçlão, is a play based on the collection of monologues of interviews with gay and lesbian teenagers who participated in a series of writing workshops sponsored by the City of Los Angeles. The poignant, and at times, humorous play chronicles the lives of 14 teens ant the challenges they face as they struggle with issues of identity and acceptance.

You didn't think I was lazy enough to just post a copy-'n-pasted description of the play, did you? You, my friends, underestimate me. People Like Me rocked very much. It rocked so hard, diamonds couldn't cut it. Get it? Diamonds? Rocks? HAH.

If you didn't come see it, not only did you miss out on an awesome play, you didn't get credit for CSP99, AND you missed out on my exemplary DJ'ing skills. You can't beat my ability to press play on an iPod.

Fear Factor: PUSO EDITION

Posted by Kendall on Thursday, March 26th at 9:21 pm

Thanks to all of you who participated! The first of many (hopefully?) "Fear Factor: PUSO EDITION" events was quite a success. We had a bunch of people show up, including a few non-members! Dishes included certain delectable dishes such as pancit (for the not as adventurous) and balut (for those with no fear). If you don't know what balut is... well... you may or may not want to know. Look it up if you're really interested, otherwise, don't, lest you potentially be put off Filipino food forever.

Fun fact: balut is actually pretty good. Well, I wouldn't say it's my favorite dish of all time, but considering what it is (I'd never had it till then, although I'd heard of it. I'll try anything once, with a few exceptions. I generally would not touch bugs. I don't like bugs), it's pretty good. Obviously, considering how happy Noelle and I look in the photo.

Crush Grams a smash

Posted by Kendall on Wednesday, February 17th at 11:31 pm

Get it? "Crush" Grams were a "smash?" I crack myself up. We sold Crush Grams this year for the low, low price of a dollar a piece! And a zip-loc bag full (and I mean FULL) of various Filipino (or Filipino-esque) candies could be added for just fifty cents! How much does that rock? Apparently, it rocks a whole lot, since we sold just under 100! Thank you all for your support, and we hope to convey your feelings to your crush next year too!

Welcome back!

Posted by Kendall on Wednesday, January 24th at 4:23 pm

Welcome back, PUSO-ers! PUSO-ites? Whatever. Hope you all had great breaks, and are ready (or as ready as you'll ever be) to start a new semester. Keep your eyes out for Crush Grams around Valentines Day! Crush Grams are a valentine sent straight to your crush's (or friend, enemy, whatever) mailbox on campus! We'll probably be adding candy along with it, and who doesn't like candy? Just in case you don't know, Crush is a soda. So: you'll get soda AND candy, and although I can't say for sure, I know the price has always been very cheap. Hooray!

Operation Turon a success.

Posted by Kendall on Wednesday, October 29th at 5:58 pm

Turon and Lumpia fundraisers were a huge success! Today was our last fundraiser, and we sold a LOT of crispy fried goodness. If you missed the fundraisers this month (or can't get enough), worry not, we will be selling occasionally for the rest of the year.

USC Mabuhay Festival

Posted by Rhoe on Monday, October 27th at 12:22 am

The USC Mabuhay Festival is an annual event put together by TroyPhi, the Filipino Club at the University of Southern California. The festival was a benefit concert for the ABS-CBN Foundation that runs the charitable Bantay Bata Program.

The festival featured major artists in the Filipino Community including Gabe Bandoc, Passion, and Bambu. In addition, the Troy Phi Dance Troupe and UCLA tinig performed traditional Filipino Dances such as tinikling and Pandango. PUSO helped to make posters for various booths as well as provide support for the performers. The event took place on Sunday the 19th.

I'm your craaaaaaazy love.

Posted by Kendall on Monday, October 20th at 8:02 pm

Yesterday, we showed I've Fallen For You, starring Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson. It's a Filipino romantic comedy about Alex Reyes (Kim Chiu) and Alex Reyes (Gerald Anderson). Dun dun DUUUUUUN. They have the same name. The girl Alex needs money to put herself through university so she can help her parents get out of debt. She's pretty mature (except when it comes to the guy Alex, of course) , she's independant, she's smart, and she wont take crap from guy Alex.

Guy Alex is rich, suave, and smart, but cocky. He's having problems at home, but covers that by going out and keeping occupied through different activities: video games, costume parties, and, now, bicycle racing. He needs a partner so that he can win an upcoming race. And that's where girl Alex comes in.

Corny, I know. But you can see where it's going, right? There's a pretty good twist, I promise. I enjoyed it.

"But wait!" you say. "What does that have to do with Filipino-American culture?"

Everything! Gerald Anderson is Filipino-American!

Okay, sorry, that's not all. Although the film may not necessarily be about Filipino-Americans (it's set in the Philippines), it shows the effect that American culture had on the Philippines. First of all, practically every third word is English. This mix of English and Tagalog, being almost 50-50, shows how deeply English has permeated: when popular media adopts another language, you know that language has a strong presence in a country. Not only is English widely used throughout the movie, the "hot" characters, guy Alex and girl Alex, use it. Remember when you were little, and you started talking like the characters in your favorite cartoons? Or when you were in Middle School and the pop idol of the time started wearing a certain brand of clothes, so you did too? Yeah, same thing.

Second, guy Alex's family problems stem from (minor spoilers ahead!) the fact that his father is in Australia, his mother and he live in the Philippines, and they've been moving around for most of his life. They JUST got to the Philippines from Singapore, and what does his dad do? Go off to some other country for his job. This might sound like a horrible situation, but think about it. If popular media is any representation of what goes on in the average middle-class family's life, then people travel. And get jobs in other countries. Filipinos have been travelling for a long time (especially after the US colonized -- I'm sorry, territorialized the Philippines), but this just shows how international Filipinos have become.

This post is getting really long, and I'm sure you didn't come to the PUSO website for an in-depth examination of Filipino culture, and by now I hope you get why the movie is significant... so I'll just stop here. That, and my eyes are now really tired.

Here. Have a taste. Of Oxy.

Posted by Kendall on Saturday, October 18th at 5:22 pm

Taste of Oxy was a success! PUSO served Pancit, which is, if you don't know, Filipino-styled stir fried noodles. I'm happy to report that it ran out very quickly. Not to mention that it was delicious.

Also, our very own Noelle performed a traditional Filipino song (unfortunately, I'm no good at traditional Filipino anything, so I can't name the song or anything like that... ask someone else, please), and she sounded absolutely amazing. To be completely honest, I was busy serving, and didn't notice who was singing what (I didn't even notice that it wasn't English. Yeah, good job, Kendall), but I did notice that the voice singing it was REALLY good. And at the end of the song, I happened to look up to see, surprise, surprise (no, seriously, SURPRISE), Noelle. Great job!

"Pinoy, pinay, I am not!"

Posted by Kendall on Saturday, October 11th at 2:31 pm

Last night, we ate delicious Filipino food at Barrio Fiesta. If you weren't there, your loss, because PUSO took care of the bill.

After we all keeled over and almost died from eating too much, we were able to attend a showing of "Kwentong Pinoy," commissioned by the Pacific Asia Museum, and starring Ruffy Landayan, Janet Cruz, Minerva Vier, and Giovanni Ortega. It is a collection of short theatrical stories, about Filipinos and Filipino-Americans ranging from important historical figures to characters the actors based on people they've met, to the actors themselves. With music, dancing, and singing, and also including both serious and humorous parts, the show appeals to everyone, regardless of age or race. The show was followed by a musical performance by Janet Cruz, singing original songs while accompanying herself on guitar. The night ended with a Q&A with those involved with the production.

Personally, I thought that "Kwentong Pinoy" was great. I didn't understand a lot (it included parts in Tagalog, Spanish, Arabic and English) since I don't speak Tagalog. Regardless, I enjoyed myself, since a lot of the ideas they touch on not only pertain to Filipino-Americans, but many other minority groups as well. I really enjoyed Janet's performance as well: she's got a great voice. All in all, the night was a night of super-happy-fun times. Oh, and before you potentially take something bad out of the title of this post, it's a quote from the play. The culmination of the play shows different characters dealing with being Filipino-American, and discarding their Filipino side ("pinoy, pinay, I am not!"). I'm not making some strange whiny statement about how I'm not Filipino.

Oh, and Rhoelyn won an original copy of a poster. It's worth 100 (200? I don't remember...) dollars or so... as soon as she got back from receiving it, one of the young girls sitting next to her asked, "CAN I HAVE IT?"

^I lol'd.

Turon, Turon, Turon!

Posted by Kendall on Wednesday, September 24th at 12:40 pm

We'll be having a general meeting this coming Tuesday, at 8 pm in the Haines Common Room.

PUSO GENERAL MEETING
Tuesday, September 30th
8:00 pm in Haines Common Room

Following that, on Wednesday, we're definitely going to need help selling! We'll have sign up sheets at the General Meeting, but if you're free during lunch to help cook, sell, or clean up, please, please, PLEASE keep us in mind. Also, remember to pick up a t-shirt if you don't have one (or just want another one!), and don't forget your cash! We'll start setting up and cooking the turon at 11:30 am, but the actual selling will start at 12:30 pm. T-shirts will be $12, and turon will be $1 each!

PUSO TURON FUNDRAISER
Wednesday, October 1st
12:30 pm in the Quad

PUSO Newsletter

Posted by Ariane on Monday, February 25th at 11:31am

Thanks to those for hanging out with us at last weeks general meeting! Arlene and Kendall's homemade bibinka cake was so delicious! Hope to see you at our next general meeting on Thursday, March 6th at 8:30pm, but in the meantime, here are some other events on campus:

1. National Eating Disorder Awareness Week Events
Tuesday 2/26 from 7:00pm-9:00pm in J204: Screening of movie "THIN"
Thursday 2/28 from 7:00-8:30pm in J204: Guest Speaker: Dr. Patricia Pitts

2. Relay for Life: Cultural Club Team!
Please join the joint collaborative Oxy Cultural Club Team, "Cultura"! If you'd like to join up with us, please use this url: http://www.events.cancer.org/rfloccidentalcollegeca

3. Lupe Fiasco Tickets
On Sale in Student Activities Center. Prices range from $10 General Admission to $40 VIP. Support this great event by BSA.

General Meeting!

Posted by Ariane on Tuesday, March 4th at 3:18 pm

Please join us in our general club meeting this Thursday at 8:30pm in Pauley Hall. We will be checking in with each other and the club, as well as partaking of some arroz caldo, a chicken rice soup.

PUSO GENERAL MEETING
Thursday, March 6th
8:30pm in Pauley MLK Lounge

In the meantime, also patronize these other events and programs:
1. Employee Appreciation Lunch
PUSO will be volunteering and cooking at the Employee Appreciation Lunch. If you would like to be part of our team, either cooking in the morning this Thursday or volunteering at the lunch, please email puso@oxy.edu and we'll send you more info.

2. Center for Gender Equuity Student Advisory
As you may know they are currently accepting applications for the Center for Gender Equity Student Advisory Board. The time commitment is minimal and is a great opportunity to build up your resume and activities for grad school applications. Please go to the ICC for the application.

3. Self-Defense Class
ICC will be going to a self-defense workshop on Saturday, March 22. If anyone is interested please have them contact the ICC asap, we only have a limited amount of space for this event and it will be on a first come first serve basis.

PUSO Newsletter

Posted by Ariane on Monday, February 25th at 11:31am

Executive Board Application 2008

Posted by Ariane on Wednesday, February 13th at 4:48pm

With the start of the new year, we have open positions for executive officers with terms from January to December 2008. Please complete the below application and email your response to puso@oxy.edu

1. Please describe in a short paragraph about what you are going to bring to PUSO. What skills will you offer? What job functions would you like to take on (planning socials, applying for funding, publicity, etc.)?

2.Give 1-2 examples of programs, events or collaborations you want to pursue during your term.

Veterans Parade on Sunday

Posted by Maureen on Thursday, November 8th at 3:41pm

PUSO Newsletter

Posted by Ariane on Sunday, November 4th at 1:09pm

1. General Meeting
Please join PUSO at our general meeting this Tuesday at 8pm in Erdman lobby! We'll be reviewing Fil-Am HIstory Month, giving our next date for an exciting off-campus Kuya/ Ate/ Ading meeting, announcing member of the month and talking about our activities for Veterans Day. All are welcome!

2. Fundraiser
PUSO will be having Turon Wednesdays for the rest of the semester every week at lunchtime. We need volunteers for helping to cook in 2 shifts 10:30am-11:30am and 11:30am-12:30pm and volunteers to help sell from 12-130pm. Email PUSO to sign up or sign up at the general meeting.

3. Veteran's Day Parade
Historic FilipinoTown is holding their 7th Annual Veteran's Day Parade and Community Fair on Sunday, November 11th. This is a celebration of Filipno WWII Veterans and a continuation of a decades-long fight for recognition, equity and benefits. We will be arranging carpools to the event. Email PUSO to sign up or sign up at the general meeting.

Please see more campus events under Events.

Eboard Meeting

General Meetings

Mabuhay

It was night. There was a market.

Take dinner to the MAX('s Of Manila)

People Like Me

Fear Factor: PUSO EDITION

Crush Grams a smash

Welcome back!

Operation Turon a success.

USC Mabuhay Festival

I'm your craaaaaaazy love.

Here. Have a taste. Of Oxy.

"Pinoy, pinay, I am not!"

Turon, Turon, Turon!

PUSO Newsletter

General Meeting!

PUSO Newsletter

Executive Board Application 2008

Veterans Parade on Sunday

PUSO Newsletter