When I started listening to a radio, I was about 6 yrs. old.( around 1948).Transistors were not invented yet..there was even no electricity in Asingan.It was literally THE AGE OF DARKNESS in my hometown...Radios then in town were vacuum tube sets powered by battery ( meaning 50 dry cells connected by soldering, 40 parallel and 10 or more in series ) the cost of such gizmo was enough to send my Mom to the ceiling..The power lasted only 2 mos. at least..When it gets low ( the sound started getting weak and the fidelity was shot ) , I put the dry cells under the sun,re - solder them and it gives power enough for 2 more weeks..When it is gone, it is gone..!
I just had to listen to our neighbour's radio who was a rich Chinese merchant..only at night ..He played his radio loud enough for the whole block to hear. At that time, there were just 3 or 4 people in town ( mostly Chinese ) who owned this kind of radio set..Some say they bought it so they can listen to Chinese broadcasts from the mainland..
Then there came a time ( in the '50s ) when the Phil. gov't started arresting some Chinese merchants as possible Communist suspects..maybe the same time as the era in the US when Communist symphatizers were blacklisted..(was that McCarthy era?).The radios of these Chinese were confiscated as "evidence" and many of these people were either deported to China or they hid with some rich friends in Chinatown, Manila..My relative in Asingan was one of the ones affected, because the father of his children was a Chinese and he was deported alledgedly and was never seen in Asingan anymore. The mother was the one who raised her half Chinese children without any paternal help, But she knew that he had a legal wife in China, and the woman in the Philippines was just a "concubine.."
The 2 children grew up in Asingan. In a few years the mother died...
Back to the radios...
The first transistor radios ( Sony, etc ) were expensive until Filipinos learned to assemble them..I bought my first one in Dagupan.( in the 70s) .I think 50 pesos got me a no-name brand, but the sound is good!..It runs on 4 D batteries and they last for a long time..plus it can pull all the stations in Manila and Dagupan..It has an audio out which if plugged to a 15 inch speaker, would really make it sound fantastic.We brought it to Laguna, where I worked, and my wife would listen to a series of Tagalog soap operas in the morning, and another set of the tear jerkers inthe afternoon. She listened to them while she does the hausfru jobs..very boring. Little did she knew that someday, she will land a prestigious job here in Toronto..
Life became less boring when the children were born, one after the other...Then we bought a black and white TV. The radio was stashed somewhere, but it was not as heavily used as before.
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Before I came to Canada I was envious of the reel to reel stereo tape decks of certain Filipinos. And these were connected to Sansui systems with booming speakers.I can not still afford a stereo then since but I already loved stereo sound systems.
Each time I went to Manila, I do not miss watching a movie at EVER Theatre ( Avenida in front of IDEAL theatre)..The first Shoe Mart was there beside IDEAL: it was just a 6 story small building which sold mainly shoes, plus a few other goods. The sound in the EVER was 6 channel stereo which made people ignorant: HOW CAN THEY DO THOSE AMAZING SOUNDS FROM ALL OVER THE THEATRE? After a movie there, I went to Raon, which was just a few minutes walk. I wanted to check what records came out in 45 rpms. Then I want to listen the blare of different speakers there playing different music! What a place! I could hang out there the whole day even without eating. And if I got hungry, I just bought a lumpiang sariwa with delicious sauce, plus a small glass of coke..Ayos na!
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Forward to the present..Now I am up to my eyeballs with electronic toys and gizmos.. Home theatres now have everything that EVER theatre did not even had before..They had only Westrex sound system ( 6- channel depending on the film ), but we now have DTS or Dolby Digital Now televisions have LCD or plasma monitors, and basically there are 2 types: the flat screen LCD or the back projection..I prefer the LCD flat. Sizewise, it would be nice to have the 40" at least..Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, HP..all of them are trying to legally steal your wallet with hype and glossy flyers..
When I was in Dagupan in 2003, there was a big TV with a Digital Surround amp. "Who would be able to afford this toy, I wonder if you do not have a relative abroad..And even if you have one, where will you get the original DVDs that would do justice to the technology?"
Most of the DVDs sold there ( a few are being peddled clandestinely here in Toronto )are very new titlewise, but they all came from a Video camerasmuggled inside the theatre..Then they would sell them in the banketa with crappy home made labels and many customers would flock to these vendors and could not believe they are already selling them 5 mos. before these titles are released in HMV!---#
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