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Recognizing the growing presence and contributions of Filipinos in Canada,  the 42nd Parliament passed the motion of MP Salma Zahid to declare the month of June as Filipino Heritage Month in 2018.  This year, there have been several events organized by various Filipino-Canadian groups. Because of the social distancing and isolation requirements dictated by the Covid19 pandemic, these events have mostly been virtual. I contributed to the celebration by making a presentation on Sultan Kudarat, the 7th Sultan and most famous ruler of Maguindanao who succeeded in obstructing Spanish colonization of Mindanao. 

Joining me in the presentation are Lexie Clemente and Ocean Gravidez, who talked about Heneral Antonio Luna and Teresa Magbanua, respectively. Watch the video and let us know who among our Filipino heroes should we feature next!

#Filipino

#FilipinoNationHeroes

#PhilippineHeritageMonth

#SultanKudarat

#HeneralAntonioLuna

#TeresaMagbanua

#VancouverPublicLibrary

#MableElmore

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Operation Barbarossa: A slightly comedic video about the German offensive into Russia

This is a video that I made for my Social Studies class. I found it quite funny, and apparently so did my teacher.  There is no glorification of either side. I tried my best to be neutral about both sides, but it was just too funny.  To note: My teacher loved the video and shows it to his grade 12 20th century History class :)

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January 15th: Junior Lieutenant Koch

Konstantin was created to be a downright asshole, but it seems the tides have turned and now he has one of the most complex backgrounds of all the characters. In July 1943 the Germans and the Russians participated in a battle against each other around the area of Kursk. It was one of the biggest battles where tanks played a significant part of the war.  Corporal Koch was pulled from his cavalry division to join a panzer brigade early on in the war. He has experience in driving, loading and gunning, but his strength was in communications, naturally making him the radio operator of his squad. Corporal Koch served in France, Africa and finally the Eastern Front.  The photo was taken just a month before what would be his final deployment as a German soldier.

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December 6th: Lieutenant Heiskanen

December 6th was the birthday of Lieutenant Heiskanen.  In this photo, then Sergeant Heiskanen holds his nation’s flag in front of a tree his brigade had decorated.  This photo was ‘taken’ of him during the Lapland War, where the Finnish were forced to push out any remaining German soldiers after signing the Moscow Armistice. Mikko has a distaste of this memory, as he had quite a few friends he made during the war.  The 6th of December is a day that Mikko holds dear to his heart. He was born on the independence day of his country, and has always kept that as a sign to be loyal to it at all times.  Fun fact: His uniform is inaccurate. He was not an infantryman during the time of the conflict.

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Victoria

On July 25, I went to Victoria, BC. The following is a series of photos and our day’s itinerary.

At 06:00, we woke up and grabbed our bags to go to the ferry terminal. 

At appx. 07:10, we arrived at Bridgeport Bus Terminal to catch the 620 Tsawwassen Ferry Express. 

No. We do not drive. You can experience more if you walk around and take in the scenery.

We sat at the very top, at the very front of the double decker bus for about 30-45 minutes. Along the way, we saw this sign. 

Sometimes I ask who in their right mind decided it was a good idea to transport honey bees onto a ferry.

At around 08:30, we arrived at the terminal and got in the waiting room in Berth 5. While waiting, we saw the Coastal Inspiration loading passengers for Duke Point, Nanaimo. 

The Coastal Inspiration is a Super C-Class (Coastal) ferry. She has 2 sister ships, the Renaissance, which runs from Departure Bay (Nanaimo) to Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver), and the Celebration, which runs from Tsawwassen (Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (Victoria/Sidney).

The Super C-Class succeeded the C-Class (Cowichan Class) in 2007. 

The Super C-Class has the biggest double sided ferries in the world. They were built 2007-2008 in Flensburg, Germany by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft.

By the time you’re done reading that little informational part, the ferry has arrived.

Our ferry was called the Queen of New Westminster. It is a classless ferry, as all of it’s other sister ships (Nanaimo, Burnaby, Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich)  have either been retired or scrapped. It used to belong in the V-Class (Victoria Class). 

This is a photo I took of it on the way back from Victoria, as I have no photos of it from when we boarded.

We got inside and grabbed some drinks and some hash browns from the cafeteria, then moved on to the passenger lounge.

I also saw a nice picture of Queen Elizabeth II. 

The boat ride was about 1 hour 30 mins.

When we docked at Swartz Bay, we got off and went to wait for the 72 to Downtown Victoria.

The bus prices and the system are much more different than the ones in Vancouver. Unlike Vancouver, Victoria does not have a train system, or ticket machines. You have to buy your pass from the driver. Here’s a list of fares.

We got on the double deck bus (Which surprisingly is more common to see around Greater Victoria than in Vancouver) and it took off through Sidney, then to Victoria. 

The terminal stop was right in front of the Parliament of British Columbia. 

There was a huge genie lift in front of the building, so that wasn’t very fun.

There was also a WWI memorial in the field, and some guy playing bagpipes.

In the background, you can also see the Empress Hotel. Sadly, the stores inside were closed. 

There was also this memorial which commemorated the implement of the BC border with Imperial Russia. You’re lucky if you can read all the languages on the plaque.

After eating lunch in front of the Parliament, we went and walked to Chinatown, through the old town of Victoria. On the way, I saw not one, but TWO military replica/trade shops! One store had the uniform of a German Luftwaffe Field Marshal. 

We checked out the Fan Tan Alley, and my mom bought a scarf from a store. 

There was also a bubble tea place that had a pop art photo of Mao Zedong. I don’t know if it’s an art statement or a political statement. Maybe they support communism? Maybe it’s a secret KGB lair? Who knows....

This is the Chinese Public School. It was inaugurated in 1908, after an overflow of Chinese children at Lequn Free School due to a new law, where chinese students could not attend English-Language schools, as they could not speak English.

After walking around, buying a whole bag of fortune cookies for like 3 bucks, and debating on where we’re going to go next, we decided it was time to go visit UVic. We went and got on the 4 bus. I quickly snapped a picture of Victoria’s Town Hall before the bus arrived.

The following is a map of UVic campus and a few photos.

Above is my brother standing in front of the longhouse on campus.

After our little visit to UVic, we decided it was time to head back. So we did.

We got back to downtown, and headed to the bus stop. We got back on the 72 to Swartz Bay. I fell asleep on the way, so I don’t have any photos of the bus ride back.

We waited about an hour for our ferry to arrive at port. I don’t have an image, but there was a poster of a Sherman tank in the terminal. Interesting.

Our ferry this time was the Vancouver Island.

The Spirit of Vancouver Island is a, S-Class (Spirit) ferry. It was built in 1994. It has one other sister ship, the British Columbia, which also runs Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. They were both sent to Poland in 2017 to accommodate the use of natural gas over just diesel. 

On the ride, we went and ate (again) at the cafeteria. This time, we had burgers and fries. We walked around and sat down in random places in the ship.

Some other ships we spotted are below and labled.

Spirit of BC, S-Class.

Salish Raven, Salish Class. (Tsawwassen to Gulf Islands)

Salish Eagle, Salish Class. (Tsawwassen to Gulf Islands)

It was maybe... 22:00? When we got to the port? The sun was already about to set. 

To end this report, here’s some pictures of the sunset.

Thank you for reading!

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Tankists: Katyusha

c.1943, two men go out on a tank ride, commanding two T-34-76s. Lt. Colonel Boris comes upon a Tiger 1 E, and shoots it out of commission. He is then joined by his friend from the air force, Major Nikolajs, as they vibe to the song Katyusha.

This isn't a real event. It was an animation which I had wanted to make for a bit now. Aren't they cute?

These two are driving the majestic T-34 tanks which were put into production in the 1940s, to combat the German offensive. The prototypes were amazing, as Koshkin, the inventor, had driven it from Kharkov to Moscow, then from Moscow to the Finnish border. Katyusha, the song was written in 1939. It is about a girl loyally waiting for her husband who had gone to fight for the homeland near the borders. It is also the school song of #pravdagirlshighschool from Girls und Panzer.

The German tank, Tiger 1 E, was one of Germany's most feared tanks. It was powerful, and it was scary.

Made with Flipaclip and IbsPaint!

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Book Report: Live in Infamy

Report by Kaitlyn Carino-Pablo, English Mini 8/9

“Live in Infamy” is a book about young Ren, a Chinese-American boy living in a parallel universe in which the Axis Powers won WWII. The 3rd Reich controls the East of North America, Italians in the Midwest, and Imperial Japanese in the west. The Imperial Empire is known for producing super human genes that make their genetically modified soldiers almost unstoppable.

In a world where race stated your social status, our story begins with Ren Cabot, who lives with his father, who owns a tailor/cobbler’s shop. He’s grown up his whole life without freedom, living in an imperial world where all but few races are considered inferior. They are constantly trying to track down leaders of resistance forces, or individuals that resist against either the Imperial Japanese or the Reich. Ren keeps informed about the prices on the heads of these people. One of them is someone dubbed as “The Viper”. This “Viper” plays a crucial part in the plot.  One day, his father gets a request from a high official to come in and be interviewed in order to be a temporary tailor, being that some of the current workers have gotten the stomach flu. Ren’s cousin Marty finds this as an opportunity to infiltrate the fortress. Ren’s father is reluctant, but then agrees. Later in the story, he breaks his ankle, leaving Ren to infiltrate instead. Ren meets up with “Beetle”, the high official’s second in command and “Bird”, an American-Korean janitor. They convene and come up with a plan to kidnap the Crown Princess Aiko as a sign of revolt against the Imperial Japanese.

The timeline in the book is pretty straightforward. It doesn’t switch back and forth through time. There are some flashbacks at the start, but they don’t really affect the story that much. The point of view does not change between characters. As for location, Ren’s hometown, White Crescent Bay is described as a dark, gloomy town near the water. The fortress in which the Crown Prince Katsura and his servants live is somewhat like a hellish paradise, with luxurious living quarters and parts for the rich and royal owners, but with the dark, poorly maintained areas in which the lowly workers live in. The contrast of the two different settings in one location shows that within beauty always lies a certain amount of suffering.

The concept of the book is kind of cool. To make the reader imagine an alternate reality in which the whole course of history was changed due to the one decision of the state shows how lucky we are to be living in a world where there are much less limitations to doing what you want to do due to your race or social class. Although the concept isn’t new, it’s nice to imagine the many different outcomes of one of the biggest wars in human history.

As the book continues, Ren finds out his mother is being held at what we know in this world as Alcatraz. After helping with the kidnapping of Princess Aiko from the Joint Empire Prosperity Ball, a ball held in friendship of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan, He’s caught by some soldiers in his attempt to escape and is arrested. He is then put in the custody of the Ronin Elite, a group of super human soldiers that have the ability to do inhumane actions to other humans. Ren finds himself at Alcatraz with Prince Katsura and Major Endo. He is endlessly tortured, receiving kicks, insults and other degrading actions. He breaks free and is saved by the rebels that attack Alcatraz. He then explains to the reader in his head that he is the viper. He writes down a letter that starts the revolution against the imperialists for a free America.

In the end, this book I randomly pulled off of my shelf is a good book. I remember my brother bought it at a book fair a few months ago. He has read it quite a lot of times. The story gives off the lesson to be happy with what you have. Another lesson could be to stand up for what you care about. Have courage to stand up and get what you want. I recommend reading this book if you can find it. It’s pretty common, as it’s published by Scholastic. I’d also recommend the reader to be at least 10 years old (It starts to get really descriptive in the violent parts).

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Saxophone Debate

This was drawn for a 30 day challenge. 

The saxophones were painful to draw, but 9/10 would do it again.

I’ve been asked by a few of my friends if Kostya was a certain someone at my school. No. He is not. He is based after someone, but he isn’t a direct copy of him.

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Colonel/Polkovnik Artjom (alt. Artie) Pajitnov

Birth: February 24, 1929, Narva, Estonian SSR

Age: 24

Languages: Estonian, Russian, English, German

Son of a general in the upper ranks, Artjom carries on the legacy of his father as an officer of the military. Although he was born in Estonia, he retained a Soviet passport. After WWII, his passport stated that he belonged to the Estonian SSR. Much like Vasily Stalin and Gregorio Del Pilar, he was ranked up easily with the help of his father. 

Facts:

Although he is one of the first introduced secondary characters, he was not in the first draft. 

He prefers cats over dogs.

His eyesight is pretty bad, but he refuses to wear his glasses. He thinks it makes him look like a wimp.

He was originally my OC for Hetalia Axis Powers.

He is half Russian, half Estonian.

He has become desensitized to blood, gore and death.

His mother died when he was young. His father raised him for most of his life.

He is constantly bullied by his cousins for not being full Russian.

He lived most of his life in Tallinn, Tartu, St. Petersburg, and Moscow.

He plays the piano at RCM 7, and also plays the slide trombone.

He is in contact with all of the characters.

He has access to a plethora of files concerning everyone.

He is friends with the officers up in Tallinn and Narva.

He hasn't finished post secondary yet, so his dad had to pull a lot of strings to get him to his rank. He is almost done schooling, on the other hand.

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Junior Lieutenant/Vänrikki Mikko Heiskanen

He is NOT a reference to Finnish Hockey Coach Mikko Heiskanen or Brigadier General Mikko Pettri Heiskanen.

Birth: December 6th 1930, Near Enso, Finland (Svetogorsk, Russia, on the Finnish side)

Age: 23

Languages: Finnish, Swedish, Conversational Russian

Mikko spent his childhood in a rural area of Finland. He is the only character which does not have Soviet citizenship. He met Kari when he was young, and the two have been friends for a bit. Mikko lost his dad during the Winter War, then his mom during the Continuation war.

Facts:

He is kind of a mix of everything. He has family in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Denmark and England.

He is the most mature of everyone. 

He’s a chess prodigy. He’s really good.

He sings alto, not bass, as most people would think.

He hates small talk, but is very chatty with Kari.

His favourite song is the Sakkijarven Polkka. He remembers hearing it on the radio once or twice, and it stuck in his head.

He used to befriend soldiers on the border front, so he could smuggle moomin books to Kari. 

He has finished his military service.

He has driven a tank before. He concludes that it is NOT possible to drift a tank.

He plays the piccolo flute and the bass clarinet.

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These are the final designs for The Envelope's protagonists and deuteragonists.

From left to right, they stand in the order of:

Mikko Heiskanen, 23 (introduced in St. Petersburg, deuteragonist)

Aleksanteri Kristan Pärn, 24 (protagonist)

Artjom Pajitnov, 24 (protagonist)

Kostya Kapitoniovich Popov, 21 (deuteragonist)

Before I start to post their individual photos and descriptions, here's a disclaimer so the Russian government won't sue me:

All characters and storyline are works of fiction. Of course, any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely and utterly coincidental. Quite a few historical events, ideals, places and people are mentioned in the story such as the 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Vasily Stalin's cover-up of said crash, references to the Miranda Warning (which wasn't actually put into effect until a decade later) and much more. They have either been altered in time, or were recited only with vague details. Any real cities, companies, present or past, are not being promoted. Any communist ideals, much less.

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VPL Writing & Book Club

So I mentioned last time that I attended the 2019 VPL Writing & Book Club. While I received my printed copy of the Anthology in March, it is only today that I discovered the digital version is now available in the library catalogue! Check it here. The Anthology includes my first draft of “The Envelope.”

I would like to thank Erie Maestro, Head Librarian, of the VPL-Kensington Branch for endorsing my participation in this year’s camp. I am also grateful for receiving one of the Stephen Barrington Memorial Bursaries.

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This is the reading of the first draft of my book, “The Envelope”. It was taken on the last day of the Vancouver Public Library’s Writing and Book Camp. 

I was pretty worried that I could have some of the "factual" information in my story wrong, and someone would get offended. But...nothing of that sort happened.

A few months later, I was surprised to know that one of the participants at the camp was one of my new classmates this year, when she quoted a line from my reading while talking to me.

For those curious, that line was: “Nice try, capitalist.” *Anthology of the 2019 VPL Writing and Book Camp is available as eBook here. **I would like to thank Erie Maestro, Head Librarian, of the VPL-Kensington Branch for endorsing my participation in this year’s camp. I am also grateful for receiving one of the Stephen Barrington Memorial Bursaries.

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Just another of those illustrations my mom asks me for Tagalog Time. My brother also has one or two doodles included in this video.  “Alamat ng Ampalaya”, written in 1995 by award-winning author Augie D. Rivera and illustrated by Kora D. Albano, just celebrated its 25th year in February 2020. Five years ago, the book’s anniversary was marked by a full-length musical adaptation by Silliman University in Dumaguete, Philippines.  This is actually the coolest legend I know of from the Philippines, where the fruit/ vegetable is not from a severed body part of royalty or supernatural beings.  Needless to say, I eat my ampalaya now, like most kids who do so after listening to the story. 

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Säkkijärven Polkka

This is my version of a popular accordion song called the Säkkijärven Polkka. It is renowned for its use in the Continuation War, a sub-conflict of WWII fought on the Russian-Finnish front, stemming from the 1939, 3 month Winter War. In the time since I played this piece, I have made quite a few modifications. Maybe I’ll make another video with that version? Who knows...

The Säkkijärven Polkka is a Finnish song that was written around the time of the Winter War (1939) and was popularized by Viljo Vesterinen, an accordion player and composer.

In Finland, military service is compulsory for men 18 and over. You can spend up to a year in jail if you do not comply with the conscription. Like most male citizens of Finland, the polkka also went to war. 

In 1940, the Finnish Army found out that the Soviets had scattered radio mines all over the Viipuri, which was just recaptured by the Finns. When a certain combination of 3 chords were played on the frequency of the mines, they would be set off. 

Once the Finnish Army and the staff at Yleisradio, one of the radio services that is now funded by the Finnish Government, figured out how the mines worked, a transmitter was brought in and a version of the Säkkijärven Polkka recorded by Viljo Vesterinen was played over 1500 times to jam the radios. 

The Säkkijärven Polkka is featured in many modern day medias. Some examples are:

Girls und Panzer (Keizoku/Jatkosota school song)

Skrijaargen Polkka (The Dreadnoughts)

Eurobeat (Thanks Turbo)

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Ang Alamat ng Kalabaw at Baka

Ang Alamat ng Kalabaw at Baka (Legend of the Carabao and the Cow) is a popular children’s story in the Philippines. My mom is involved in a grassroots project teaching Tagalog to beginner learners, mostly children from the FIlipino-Canadian community in Vancouver. I was asked to illustrate scenes from the story. I happily complied (hard to say “no” to my mom!). I will be updating this post with additional 2 or 3 more frames to provide more white space for certain sections with heavy text.

The Tagalog version was based on the story in English here.

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IT’S DONE FINALLY

This is some drawing that I had a billion tons of inspiration to make. I have found the holy grail. Girls und Panzer. I was originally going to draw the BT-42 with the Finno-Ugric trio, but I lost inspiration with that. The KV-2 kind of looks like a BT-42 when you think about it…

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The KV-2 is a Russian tank that was manufactured during WWII from 1939 to 1943. It is classified as a heavy tank, as it weighs up to 45 tons. It is 2.71 meters high. It’s gun is a 152 mm Howitzer, and it has a maximum armour of 90mm. It’s team consists of a commander, a gunner, 2 loaders, a communicator, and a driver.

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In this drawing, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are wearing a Pravda High School style uniform, and the tank has the school insignia. I get that Tankery in the GuP universe is considered a woman’s sport, but Hetalia doesn’t have many women.