Ten Steps to Becoming a Better Writer...

Ten, easy steps...

1. Write.
2. Write more.
3. Write even more.
4. Write even more than that.
5. Write when you don’t want to.
6. Write when you do.
7. Write when you have something to say.
8. Write when you don’t.
9. Write every day.
10. Keep writing.


Courtesy of http://copyblogger.com -- there's a link at the left side of this blog.

Massive Attack

I love confusing attendants in music stores like odyssey back in bacolod. I often look for CD's of artists who are often found on the fringes of pop and/or rock. It is always a source of both irritation and amusement when I approach these hapless attendants on the CD racks and ask them if they have the albums of the artists I was looking for. Example:

Me: "Miss, meron ba kayong album ni Sinead O'Connor?"

Attendant: "Sino?"

Me: "Sinead O'Connor po..."

Attendant: (to another attendant) "Meron daw tayong album ni Shened Connor..."

hahahahahahaha....what the f*ck?

oftentimes, these searches are often fruitless and I exit the store emptyhanded and frustrated. (with a story to blog about though, so all was not lost)

Maybe I was asking for it...imposing my musical tastes on other people...weird 'ata music ko hehe

Other names that often cause music store attendant's eyes to glaze over:

Portishead
Bjork
Tori Amos
Smashing Pumpkins
Massive Attack
Faithless
Enigma
Chicane
Rammstein

If they manage to decipher what I want, oftentimes the albums would be out of stock. Konti nakakakilala -- ergo -- konti lang bibili -- ergo -- konti lang ang nasa stock nila.

Though there are times when I feel a great sense of relief that there are others aside from myself who know these artists. Like the mother of my highschool batchmate who is an avid fan of Enigma and collects their albums -- idol! hahaha Another time when I was in odyssey bacolod, I was asking around for Massive Attack and the attendants EEGs were -- as usual -- flatlining on me, when the manager of the record store suddenly asked: "Wala na tayong stock ng 'Mezzanine' dyan?" wow! mr. manager knew the Massive Attack album that I was looking for. bilib ah!

Now here's a sample of Massive Attack's music. Not really the type of music that is accesible to the usual music listener weaned on sappy pop tunes. This music is dark and brooding -- like a boogeyman hiding in your closet, awaiting the perfect moment to pounce on you from the shadows...perfect soundtrack music for stalkers and/or serial killers hahahaha



video reminds me of Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis"...nosebleed?

Food Fight! ...a Deconstructive Analysis

this is one amazing video featured in youtube. Some of the world's greatest conflicts as performed (or reenacted) by each participating nation's staple food (or a cuisine associated with that particular nation). vamos a ver, por favor...




even a history major such as myself had a hard time figuring out which nation is which based on the food featured -- since i'm not familiar with some of the cuisine featured. but here's what i've figured out so far:

1. first scene refers to WW2 -- unleavened bread (Jews), bagels(?) and sausage (Germans), sushi (Japanese), hamburgers (USA), the salad thing (Russians), something that looks like "turon" and fries (Britain; there, fries are called 'chips'). The "patty bombing" of thousands of sushi was awesome (a reference to the hiroshima bombing)

2. next scene was a reference to the wars israel (unleavened bread) fought with the arabs (the kebabs -- or barbeques) after the british (turon thingie) left palestine

3. third scene: i'm not sure about this one but I suspect this to be the iran-iraq conflict since hamburgers and the salad thingie were involved hehe.

4. fourth scene: not too sure about this also but since there's french cuisine involved this might be algeria. there's a nice bit of reference to neocolonialism here as we see fellow cuisine fighting fellow cuisine ("Lumpia" thing fighting fellow "lumpia")

5. fifth scene: the ARMS RACE! US vs. Russia amassing weapons (in this case "fillings") of mass destruction.

6. sixth scene: those kebabs again...this time it's the gulf war. red kebab is iraq and the americans are represented by burgers and chicken nuggets (Desert Storm) The satellite image of the kebab being blown to bits is reminiscent of the "smart bomb" videos

7. seventh scene: the ongoing unrest in the middle east. notice the wall of "unleavened bread" keeping out the "kebabs." The "exploding shawarma" is a reference to arab extremist suicide bombers

8. eighth scene: obvious...9-11...

9. ninth scene: the afghanistan and iraq invasion...references to nightime bombings of iraq (night vision shot of the kebabs), and road-side bombings

10: I wonder what this scene meant...what those insects cleaning up the scraps of war represent? hmmmmmm....

phew! parang gumawa ako ng thesis nito hahahaha...anyway, this is one great and thought-provoking video. whoever did the animation and effects was AMAZING! bow ako sa creators of this video! HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS VID AS MUCH AS I DID. share your thoughts on my interpretation or give your own take on the "FOOD FIGHT"

The Onion

Here are a few hilarious clips courtesy of youtube. I was surprised that The Onion had branched off into a news network. I was familiar with their news parody website which featured some of the funniest fake headlines, news, and opinion. It was even cited by a Chinese news agency as a news source for one of its reports...hahaha

Okay here's a sample of their biting humor disguised as a legitimate news broadcast...the title of the clip is "Gays too Precious to Risk In Combat."



Here's another: "How we can make the War in Iraq more Eco-Friendly" initially hilarious, I found the latter part a bit disturbing though...



Finally: "What should Animals be doing more for Animal Rights" a bit ironic if you've read my earlier post. hehe

And Lenard Spoke...

these past few days have been quite eventful for I have had several online "reunions," so to speak. My college barkada got ahold of me via friendster and we were able to catch up on what's been going on in our lives these past few years. It has been a refreshing few days of reminiscing...

Now I was able to find a high school batchmate via friendster. Though friendster may no longer be that "cool" as it was a few years ago, it still is an effective tool to reach out and create a network of friends via the internet.

I was pleasantly surprised that Lenard had just started a blog last year. There's a link at the left side of the page...it's http://holding-on-still.blogspot.com...and it seems that Lenard has found a firm voice online. His ideas and opinions are refreshing, well written, and well researched. Si Lenard pa...who often spent hours in the library poring over newspapers and reading up on current events. Fellow bookworm sang high school hahahaha

If my blog devotes itself to hagiographic, oftentimes neurotic, polemics...holding-on-still.blogspot.com reads like a reflection -- an advocacy even. Guys, get to read lenard's blog and I guarantee that not only will you get a serious dose of info, you'll find a piece of enlightenment from the thoughts of an individual that dared raise his voice in cyberspace...

Naks. Grabe ka 'Nard!...the best of luck on your blogging. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts and opinions online. Ari libre advertisement para sa blog mo para madamo pa gid ang hits sa imo page. Let's find time soon to discuss some of your posts...God bless!

The La Salle Yearbook

I recently visited the blog of an acquaintance from my La Salle Yearbook years. Seeing the new yearbooks released by the La Salle Yearbook Office always gives me an overwhelming sense of pride in being a former member of the Editorial Board. My stint as EIC was one of the craziest. And the Ed Board of 2003 was the wackiest ever! Walang tatalo sa exploits namin hahahaha!

Those were months of feverish work, seemingly insurmountable deadlines, countless challenges that hounded every step of yearbook production, countless overnights spent poring over countless lay-outs, pages, pictures, and text just to ensure that what we will be spitting out would be at least at par, if not better, than the previous yearbooks.

Those were months making new acquaintances, gaining new friends, making new enemies, seeing people in a different light. It's amazing to think that a bunch of strangers could accomplish so much working together in such a short period of time. The work was never easy. As graduating students, we were juggling classes, requirements, theses, projects and yearbook matters. As individuals, we were treading the treacherous arena of interpersonal relations -- oftentimes sparking conflicts among certain individuals. As an institution, we the Ed Board also had to contend with the complicated and sometimes frustrating process of reaching out to the other offices in the process of ensuring that our yearbook gets to be made and delivered on time. But despite the challenges though, those of us who survived emerged wiser, stronger, and closer...

Little did we know that as we were going about the task of compiling the collective memories of our batch that we would be making memories of our own...I would never forget the overnights spent playing Warcraft III rather than doing the assigned tasks for the night -- then rushing to finish whatever we had planned in the early hours of the morning. The Last In/First Out Policy applied to us. Usually Yearbook people were the last people to get inside the campus(when everyone else was leaving), and the first people to leave in the early morning (when everyone else were coming in for their classes)...Our theme became an excuse to travel around Negros, from the outskirts of towns and barrios to the foot of Mt. Kanlaon -- we were pilgrims searching for inspiration from the land that is Negros...

Indeed, the Yearbook Office became a part of our lives. It was more than just an office: it was a second home, a gaming station, a call center (no wonder our Finance Ed was fuming over the phone bills...), a conference center (whenever we felt the urge to conduct a meeting hehehe), an airconditioned sweatshop, a tambayan for a lot of staffers (and non-staffers even; it was amazing the number of people that could fit inside the office), a boarding house (Liwanaaaaaag!), a harem/brothel/motel for some (ehem), a guidance office (crying sessions!), a crisis center (shouting sessions!),an impromptu ombudsman center (secret...hehe). For a brief moment, it became a microcosm of sorts, our own little world -- our universe even -- for us who were entrusted the task of yearbook making. It was the best and the worst of times...and I would always look back at those memories with wonder and pride...

That was a brief look back at SY 2002-2003 and the memories of the Yearbook Ed BOard 2003. I could give you more juicy stories...but then I'd have to kill you hehehehe

By the way, all this ranting and raving was inspired by Daryl's blog: http://neofolio.blogspot.com and there's a link at the left side of this blog. Do check it out. Even if you're not a Yearbook "person" you would still appreciate the artistry of the yearbook lay-outs and the photos courtesy of Neominds. Samples below:

The La Salle Yearbook 2007 Interactive CD: Hues of Possibilities






A few samples of images from Neominds