For The Birds

A few things I learned after my second appearance on Kababayan LA:

1. I will definitely be cutting my hair, as in like, this weekend.
2. Next time I do anything via Skype, I will lean back a few feet from my webcam.
3. I will never again do a TV segment in the same room as any loud pets (this will be explained further, below).

Despite the above, this most recent appearance went pretty well compared to my first appearance on Kababayan LA. I actually got to talk a bit about my blog and about Filipino food. And while Janelle and her producers could see me (upper half only, wink-wink) via my webcam, I, sadly, couldn't see the Oh So Lovely Ms. So from my end--I was only able to hear her voice.

Anyways, here's the vid:

Besides my hair, there were many other gems of unintentional comedy throughout that clip. For one, I make Janelle So hungry. It's so true. Also, there was some random B-roll footage of a turo-turo joint, random footage of a lechon being chopped up, and random footage of a fish market. All they needed was a shot of my dad squatting and reading a newspaper--TV gold I say!

And finally, I'm not sure if anyone besides me noticed, but there were some glaring occurrences at the 2:50, 3:00, 3:45, 3:59, 4:40, and 4:49 marks... there was some whistling going on in the background. Ugh.

No, there weren't any construction workers in my living room that found me particularly attractive (though they often do). The culprit of the whistling was actually our pet parrot Alberto (AKA Albirdo, AKA Mr. Bird, AKA Bird). And sadly, the Wife wasn't around at the time to keep the Bird on the hush-hush while I did my thing.

Eyez whistles while yooz works, Sucka!

I can't believe I'm revealing Mr. Bird to everyone, but I felt the whistling needed an explanation. And because there isn't a wall that separates our kitchen from our living room, any ruckus the Bird raises from his perch in the living room echoes throughout the space to the kitchen. Everytime that mother-effin bird whistled during the interview, I was dying inside. Damn you, Mr. Bird! Damn you straight to hell!!!

I thought for sure Janelle and/or her producers would stop and ask what the hell all the racket was. I for one, wanted to stop and throw the bird on the grill for some parrot Inasal. But they kept rolling, and I hoped they could somehow edit out the whistling in post--no such luck, but I think the interview still turned out OK.

All things considered, I still had fun and was glad Janelle asked me back on Kababayan LA. Not a bad showing for a pants-less food blogger and his whistling bird.

Comments

[Bong]

Pant-less blogger and his whistling bird .... That's really good! Your writing style is what sets your blog apart from other food blogs! You da man! Anway, great job on the interview. We should get together sometime and talk about food.

[Ujong Balatong]

If Rod Blagojevich had a long lost Filipino son, it would be you!!! Nice interview brother.

[elle311]

Hey Marvin,

I just love the captions on your pics! I am sitting here laughing about your crazy bird! Thanks for making me smile when I have two sick boys at home with the stomach flu ;( Now I will take a look at the video.

Have a great weekend!

[Ed]

That bird of yours ain't playing around!

[darlene]

You did great! You conveyed what your blog was about. Your "performance" was better than theirs. You're right, they inserted some pretty random footage. And if they'd done their homework a little better, they may know you recently did a series on pork and ask you more questions about that. Or ask your opinion on the Bourdain episode. Or maybe ask you more about the Filipino food scene in your area. But what do I know?

I don't think the bird was bad. It was probably more distracting to you than anyone else. Kind of like my kid is to me :-)

[Joelen]

Great job and thanks for sharing the vid!!

[Julie]

Oh man, I can't wait to go home and check this out!

You could've had parrot adobo . . .

[bagito]

Hahaha, I can tell you got distracted by the parrot's whistling when you had to ask Janelle to repeat the question about dipping etiquette. :)

Wait, I thought Janelle said "bird lumpia" towards the end. LOL!

[Erin]

Much better this go around. Good job Marvin!

[caninecologne]

hi marvin
i thought you were quite cool and composed on the video, but yeah, that footage was kind of random. it didn't really add to it.

[bernadette]

i wish you have more interviews like this! About your parrot?...naw, didn't notice his whistles until the last :-D...until you wrote about him in this post! Maybe Janelle didn't either...! Just so it's done and gone with---forgive your parrot and let him live!please! ;-D

Congrats on getting known more and more, Marvin!

[Jikuu]

I kept listening for him, going "I don't hear the bird. Is Marvin crazy?", and then it finally kicks in. Ahh, bat crazy bird. Always fun. Great picture of him too. Really captures the essence of it.

It kinda seemed like the questioning was very generic, but I guess that makes sense since that segment of the show was for people who had probably never seen Burnt Lumpia before.

My husband also had fun finally hearing the code switching I tell him about with Filipinos. Ms. So does a nice seamless transition between the languages that left his head spinning. ^^

[Jescel]

you did good, though I wish you had a longer time :o( ..maybe the oh-so-lovely-Janelle will call you again? hmmnn..

[Efren]

LOL, pants-less and a whistling bird?! That post just made my day! ;)

[elmomonster]

You did great! The bird wasn't distracting. Right now I'm trying to wrap my head around the flip-flop thing Ms. So does when she alternates between Tagalog and English.

[joey]

Take a bow because you did great Marvin! :) Love watching the clip! Clapclapclapclap!!!

Ok, now I have to say I almost fell off my chair laughing at Alberto's tweets!!!

[Jude]

Definitely could've used a haircut there :)
Good thing you were able to talk about Filipino Food this time.
No double dipping!

[Manggy]

Hi Marvin! Remember me? :P I think you did a great job and the hair looks better than it did in the coconut video-- and better *now* too (not that it matters). I wish Ms. So was briefed a little better about blogs and about your blog specifically. I cringed a bit when she asked about your "blog spot!" I was wondering if she'd eventually ask to see your bird!

[Lori Lynn]

Gosh Marvin your writing is sooo funny. I wish Janelle could have captured your sense of humor too. You consistently crack me up! Does she know how funny you are?
LL