Blitz Kid Bop

29th

2011-10-08T05:56:00.000+08:00

All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.
~George Harrison

kid [A]

2011-07-11T15:12:00.000+08:00

Collaborated with The Freak to produce this one. Now that's beauty in minimalism.

FB: family banter

2011-07-06T10:22:00.000+08:00

Funky Monkey!

2011-06-20T07:05:00.001+08:00

Whoa! That's a big one!

Because I can't think of a proper post, here's a monkey trilogy.

Monkey ROTFL

2011-06-20T07:03:00.000+08:00

Hey, guys, what's so funny?!

Monkey On My Back

2011-06-20T06:23:00.001+08:00

I'd rather have Darth Vader or Hannibal Lecter on my back. Masks are cool...

The Real Nifty Fifty

2011-06-20T05:42:00.005+08:00

Jabonero Golden Wedding Anniversary. May 21, 2011

There's something about shooting/attending golden wedding anniversaries that always seems to give me a sense of appreciation and admiration for the couple involved. Knowing that they lasted 50 years --- that sure is no small feat (if also a bit lucky that they both made it to a ripe old age). In a time when divorce and annulment have gained widespread social acceptance and to the ever-growing number of peers who seem resigned to the belief that all marriages are destined to be unhappy, I dare say that such blissful and magical longevity is still possible.

The end is the beginning is the end

2011-05-21T23:34:00.020+08:00

So the world didn't end today. That seems like reason enough to start posting on this blog again.

The only thing that went to the rapture today was my speedlight's bulb. Just as it was the first time this flash unit died on me, I was shooting the tail-end of a golden wedding anniversary program when disaster struck. Thankfully, the videographer's bright lamp and my fast telephoto were there to save the day.

But now I'm stuck with two broken speedlights. *sigh*

Mother's Milk

2011-03-22T23:03:00.002+08:00

I recently resumed working on a set of photos taken over the holiday break - that of nursing moms and their babies. I did this for a childhood friend who has taken to writing a book on her breastfeeding advocacy. I had reservations when she first proposed the shoot, thinking that the mommies would be uncomfortable with a guy photographer. But my fears were unfounded and I think we did okay. It probably helped that everyone was in a festive mood since we did it on my friend's birthday.

I hope she finishes her book and I get to see my photos in print this year. When the topic of a possible book title came up over our email exchanges, I simply said "Google this: Red Hot Chili Peppers 1989 album". Bam!

P.S. Thanks to Ayie who tagged along for this shoot. She sure knows her babies.

Now, to test my 20/20

2011-03-21T22:14:00.006+08:00

Having sold my "nifty-fifty" and gone traveling with the dark duo for some time now, I realized that I sorely missed the convenience of a small and light prime lens. Especially for those days when I would simply wander around the city without a definite photographic subject in mind - bringing along a camera "just in case".

Enter the Nikon Series E 35mm f/2.5 prime lens. I bought mine at a bargain price earlier tonight and, so far, I'm really happy with it. It won't meter and it has no autofocus. This lens takes you back to the basics - it is all manual. I find it both a joy and a challenge to use. The only letdown is that I expected it to have pancake lens proportions (after all, the Nikon Series E 50mm was an anorexic beauty) when it's just slightly thinner than my banished "nifty-fifty". This version's 4-year production run started in 1981, making the lens possibly older than I am. And there were less than 200,000 copies minted, making it rarer than an honest politician. Yeah, this is old school cool!

And I thought I'd make it to December without a lens purchase.

Mind. Body. Keyboard. Zen.

2011-03-19T22:52:00.001+08:00

In Pixels: Paraw Regatta Festival

2011-02-28T08:28:00.002+08:00

Ilo-ilo's Paraw Regatta Festival turned out to be a vibrant spectacle of colorful sails and a masterful display of sailing prowess. It's a pity that the skies were overcast on that day, for these sails would have looked absolutely stunning against a blue sky backdrop.

The full set is located here.

Sir Ernie

2011-02-16T08:27:00.000+08:00

With Ernie and a couple of photo buddies. Taken at the Canon Image Nation Workshop. January 14, 2011.

What does one get from attending a workshop conducted by no less than Ernie Sarmiento, chief photographer of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and a true blue, old school photojournalist? Inspiration. Lots of it.

Go live.

2011-02-15T08:08:00.001+08:00

Jason Fitzpatrick's parting words to all Lifehacker readers sure struck a chord.

The only commodity we have is time. Somewhere in your mind, on a notepad, stashed in a virtual notebook, you have a list of things you'd like to be doing with your time before it all slips away. Do what you have to do to take those ideas out of storage and make them happen. You can trade and barter for a lot in life but you can never buy back time. Go live.

As I read that paragraph, images of a photojournalist traveling the world to document forgotten cultures, breathtaking landscapes, and historical events came racing through my mind.

As the saying goes, "If it is to be, it is up to me."

Void on my Droid

2011-02-13T22:45:00.039+08:00

Got bored yesterday and decided to get down and dirty with the trickiest Android tweak of all - installing a custom ROM. Took me a few hours of scouring the web for instructions, reading up on other people's experiences (which include horror stories of bricked phones), downloading the needed software tools, and totally missing lunch, before I started the complicated process of flashing my ROM of choice, the aptly named Void (it's dark-themed, it's minimalist, and it will suck your phone into a void if you're not careful).

From the words of the dev, himself: It's now time for a warning. If you're new to Android, this ROM isn't for you. If you don't like overly complicated instructions, this ROM isn't for you.

Well, I wasn't gonna be daunted by any complicated instruction. But he wasn't kidding and installation sure wasn't a walk in the park. I had to access Android's built-in Linux command line shell, do a complete backup of the phone, wipe off and partition the SD card, before I could get on to finally flashing the ROM. But it was all worth it. With Void, I get an overclocked processor, hardware acceleration, other optimization tweaks, and the dark theme which is totally to my liking. The phone just feels snappier and more responsive, I'd easily recommend it to anyone who has the same phone. It totally brings the user experience up a notch. Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing that you made it through those overly complicated instructions.

The only downside to all this is that I'm back to square one with Angry Birds. Yay! Commencing swine shoot 'em up...

Automata

2011-02-02T00:05:00.002+08:00

Tasker. That's what this app is called. It's the first app that I had to pay for and, proving that it's worth every single dollar, it has taken my Android experience to a whole new level of amazing. I have barely scratched the surface of what I can do with it, but so far I have made scripts (or profiles, as they're called in Tasker) for the following actions:

a long press on the Search button toggles the disabling of the screen lock
automatic cleanup of the cache every Sunday
automatic reboot every morning
set the camera to mute, whenever I use any one of the many camera applications
set the phone to mute by turning it facedown (for sudden, unexpected calls)
set the phone to flight mode (for some serious battery saving) during my sleeping hours, but activate communications for 5 minutes every half-hour to catch incoming text messages
and my favorite, toggle wi-fi and auto-sync simply by doing a flipping gesture with the phone

Yep, all that with just one application. And I've only just begun tinkering with it. They weren't kidding on the forums when they said that this is THE ultimate Android app!

Comment of the Year

2011-02-01T23:30:00.000+08:00

Woke up today to find a comment posted on an old blog article (if you can even call that short write up an article). Talk about it making my day! I was thrilled and extremely pleased that someone would express such appreciation for my tiny, little space in the online world.

But that was until the evening came.

I knew it was too good to be true! Gave in to a nagging suspicion and made a quick search. It turns out that the exact same comment also came up on quite a number of blogs around the web, such as this and also this. Oh, well. Still, I thank thee, well-meaning comment bot. Your "what a great web log" remark still beats all those "Viagra on sale" spam comments hounding "the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace".

Facelift

2011-01-25T00:35:00.000+08:00

Whoa! A quick, minor re-design for the new year. You might be wondering where I got the names of the boxes on the sidebar to the right. Well, they're titles of songs by The Ramones. If you still don't get it, here's something from back in 2008.

Sinulog 2011: the photo contest

2011-01-24T08:05:00.003+08:00

Another year. Another Sinulog. Another participation in the photo contest. Just like last year, it rained during the grand parade and I had to take shelter for a good 3 hours before the rains stopped and I mustered enough enthusiasm to go back out on the streets to shoot. As expected, after the heavy drenching around lunchtime, the dancers were wet, their smiles a bit forced, and the streets were a mess. In all, not very good conditions for taking Sinulog shots.

Thankfully, by then, I had a cache of photos from shooting the other pre-grand parade events. I was there during the Sinulog sa Kabataan a week before and I was also there for the Sinulog Festival Queen. Indeed, except for 3 images, my entries to this year's contest consist of photos taken from those 2 events.

After going through a thousand images, selecting my entries, doing 3 sets of test prints, and making color and brightness adjustments for the final prints (also deciding to print the festival queen images on linen paper, the rest on glossy), I submitted my entries on the very last hour of eligibility.

Here they are, my top 25.

By this time, I'm not gonna repeat stating that "the photocontest is too tiring, I won't be joining next year". I know that for as long as I'm in Cebu during the month of January, I'll always be joining the Philippine's most prestigious photo contest.

Musings on the first week...

2011-01-08T11:32:00.000+08:00

First up, I had a very happy holiday season with the merrymaking spread across Cebu, Davao, Malabon, and Laguna. I only wish that the break was longer. I'll make it a point to go home (whether that be Davao or Laguna) on an earlier date next December.

I was very unproductive on the first week at work. Vacation hangover, obviously. And the rains only made it worse. Gotta get back into the groove soon, the backlog at work is piling up.

Aside from the holiday funk, another productivity killer at work this week was the hours spent customizing my latest plaything: LG Optimus One. Android phone. It's amazing what Google's mobile platform is capable of. And now I can carry my Gmail, GReader, GTasks, GCalendar, and everything else Google with me. Not to mention the mobile versions of Dropbox, Evernote, and a host of other excellent yet free apps on the Android Market. I'm in mobile geek heaven. (It remains to be seen if I can get a tangible productivity boost out of this new gadget though...)

One week in and it's Sinulog season already! I have signed up for the photocontest. For this year's contest, each photographer is issued a red vest with the word "Canon" boldly printed at the back. A very controversial move for the Sinulog Foundation indeed. But I don't care much about that, I'm only in it for the shooting experience. And the shooting spree starts later today, with the Sinulog sa Kabataan. Gotta go ready my gear.

And, last, I almost decided to shut down this blog. But here I am, soldiering on... or should I say, bopping on. Happy new year!

Sonic Youth

2010-11-14T23:21:00.002+08:00

Some of the songs listed here would bring great fame and recognition to the bands who made them, but most would get their creators only marginal success before fading away into obscurity. Only one local radio station would give them airplay. Here it is, my list of 107 songs to remember NU 107 by.

01. Bottle Rockets "Radar Gun"
02. Spacehog "In The Meantime"
03. Sonic Youth "The Diamond Sea"
04. Seven Mary Three "Cumbersome"
05. Elastica "Connection"
06. Crash Test Dummies "Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm"
07. Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
08. Better Than Ezra "Good"
09. Rancid "Time Bomb"
10. Meat Puppets "Backwater"
11. Catatonia "Road Rage"
12. Violent Femmes "Blister In The Sun"
13. Butthole Surfers "Pepper"
14. James "Say Something"
15. The Murmurs "You Suck"
16. Urge Overkill "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon"
17. Primitive Radio Gods "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth..."
18. Howlin Maggie "I'm A Slut"
19. Temple of the Dog "Hunger Strike"
20. Black Crowes "Hard To Handle"
21. Spin Doctors "Two Princes"
22. Faith No More "Easy"
23. Pavement "Cut Your Hair"
24. Breeders "Cannonball"
25. The Verve "The Drugs Don't Work"
26. Eric Johnson "Cliffs of Dover"
27. The Wannadies "You and Me Song"
28. Ugly Kid Joe "Cloudy Skies"
29. Hole "Violet"
30. Suede "The Beautiful Ones"
31. Lemonheads "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You"
32. Love Spit Love "Am I Wrong"
33. 311 "Down"
34. Beck "Loser"
35. Smoking Popes "Need You Around"
36. Cake "Rock and Roll Lifestyle"
37. Flaming Lips "She Don't Use Jelly"
38. Shades Apart "Stranger By The Day"
39. Superdrag "Sucked Out"
40. Days of the New "Touch, Peel, Stand"
41. Audioslave "Like A Stone"
42. Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
43. Travis "Why Does It Always Rain On Me"
44. Filter "Hey Man Nice Shot"
45. Eve 6 "Here's To The Night"
46. Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
47. Jeff Buckley "Last Goodbye"
48. Chris Cornell "Sunshower"
49. The Wallflowers "Heroes"
50. Candlebox "Far Behind"
51. Fastball "Out of My Head"
52. Nixons "Sister"
53. Fountains of Wayne "Sink To the Bottom"
54. New Radicals "You Get What You Give"
55. Lit "My Own Worst Enemy"
56. Eels "Novocaine For The Soul"
57. Our Lady Peace "Somewhere Out There"
58. At The Drive-in "One Armed Scissor"
59. Everclear "Santa Monica"
60. A Perfect Circle "3 Libras"
61. Lost Prophets "Last Train Home"
62. System of a Down "Spiders"
63. Jimmy Eat World "Sweetness"
64. The Thrills "One Horse Town"
65. White Stripes "Seven Nation Army"
66. Gnarls Barkley "Crazy"
67. Kaiser Chiefs "I Predict A Riot"
68. The Vines "Hate To Say I Told You So"
69. Get Up Kids "Overdue"
70. Drowning Pool "Bodies"
71. The Wuds "At Nakalimutan Ang Diyos"
72. Phil. Violators "Ipako Sa Krus"
73. Urban Bandits "No Future Sa Pader"
74. Betrayed "Never Meant To Be This Way"
75. Violent Playground "Starvation Army"
76. Tropical Depression "Kapayapaan"
77. Cocojam "Lakambini"
78. Half Life Half Death "High School"
79. Datu's Tribe "Sarsa Platoon"
80. Death By Stereo "Swapang"
81. Warlock "Padre Damaso"
82. Snakebite Religion "Walk"
83. Siglo "Hanggang Ngayon"
84. Himigsikan "Halo Halong Digmaan"
85. Spy "High"
86. The Breed "Black Mercedes Benz"
87. 13th Floor Elevator "Martians Go Home Music"
88. Jun Lopito "Rak en Rol Ng Bayan"
89. Sugar Hiccup "Five Years"
90. Indio I "Di Mo Lang Alam"
91. The Jerks "Rage"
92. P.O.T. "Yugyugan Na"
93. Cynthia Alexander "Comfort In Your Strangeness"
94. Chicosci "Paris"
95. Pan "Dumpsite"
96. Dicta License "Alay Sa Mga Nagkamalay Noong Dekada Nobenta"
97. Urbandub "Soul Searching"
98. Brain Salad "Dead Long Ago"
99. Battery "Come To Me"
100. Ciudad "Radio Guy"
101. Itchyworms "Bituin"
102. Juan Pablo Dream "Nice Place"
103. Orange and Lemons "Just Like A Splendid Love Song"
104. Pedicab "Dito Tayo Sa Dilim"
105. dongabay "Perpekto"
106. Radioactive Sago Project "Gusto Ko Ng Baboy"
107. Shiela and the Insects "Quick To Panic"

I may have outgrown radio, but it gets the credit for shaping this inclination towards loud and proud music. If it weren't for NU, I'd probably be a Gleek! Ha!

The Day The Music Died

2010-11-08T01:21:00.008+08:00

Nasanay lang sigurong nand'yan ka
'Di ko inakalang pwede kang mawala
'Yan na nga
...
Ito ang unang araw na wala ka na
-Sugarfree, "Unang Araw"

I just spent 54 hours or so of my weekend listening to the only radio station that mattered. I tuned in as soon as I got home on Friday night and, leaving the streaming radio on even as I slept, stayed with it 'til they got off the air at midnight on Sunday. All through the weekend, the songs played were chosen for the messages they conveyed. And their messages hit home:

"The World I Know" / "It Ends Tonight"
"Ang Himig Natin" / "Never Say Goodbye"
"Time Is Running Out" / "No Way Back"
"Everybody Hurts" / "Don't You Forget About Me"
"I Will Remember You" / "Last Goodbye"
"Good Riddance" / "Don't Go Away"
"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
"It's The End Of The World As We Know It"
"Paglisan" / "Here's Where The Story Ends"

The last few days were surreal. The DJ's were recounting their fondest memories of working for NU, the bands were paying tribute to the one station that gave them significant airplay, and there was such a massive outpouring of support from the fans and listeners that you couldn't help but be moved. And then there was the music -- rock classics, fan favorites, DJ's picks, and live-in-the-studio performances by bands who made it big through NU: Up Dharma Down, Sugarfree, Chicosci, Urbandub, Twisted Halo, Itchyworms, Sponge Cola, Tanya Markova, and then some. The playlist was solid throughout. Fittingly, NU would wrap up not with a whimper, but with a bang.

The rock jocks, past and present, started saying their last goodbyes and playing their last songs at around 10 pm last night. A few minutes before midnight, it was Francis Brew's turn when the streaming suddenly goes kaput, crashing under the load of 4000+ viewers (when it only gets around 500 or so on regular days). I stare at the blank screen for a few seconds, then the reality sinks in. Just like that, it was all over. NU 107, "The Home of New Rock" and "The Only Station That Rocks A Nation", was gone for good.

For playing such a big part of our lives, for shaping our musical tastes and opening up our eyes and ears to good ol' rock and roll, for being a beacon and a home for rockers and rebels, punks and poets, and for playing us the soundtrack of our lives, we salute NU 107. It was a good run. Live forever!

NU 107 (Nov 17 1987 - Nov 07 2010)

Inspiration's what you are to me, inspiration, look... see.
...
Thanks to you it will be done, for you to me are the only one.
-Led Zeppelin, "Thank You"

The Lourd Pays Tribute

2010-11-06T17:57:00.001+08:00

Lourd de Veyra published a eulogy for NU 107 yesterday. An excerpt:

This is to give a noble salute to NU 107, which, for most of the adult lives of several generations, has been the only radio station that played music that directly mattered to them..

This is—was-- NU107, the Home of New Rock. Referring to it in the past tense still saddens me. I, too, used to have issues with its playlist, though very few and middling; thanks to the fog of years (and the onset of the mist of wisdom, whatever that means). But the fact it was the only one of its kind on the airwaves. It’s the only one with the balls to hang on to an all-rock playlist for the past 23 years. It is narrow-minded to regard it as the “mainstream” or “establishment”—in an industry where it is too tempting to play Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. Every time it decides to stick to playing something with a power chord it is not making money. It’s been a corporate social responsibility for far too long. Sooner or later it would inevitably kowtow to fundamental realities—the economics of advertising revenues, changing demographic, competition from new technology, etc . Neil Young said it’s better to burn out than fade away. Twenty three years is definitely a noble run.

To those about to rock, we salute you, but good luck finding a place in the airwaves that’ll play your stuff.

Yes, he quotes Neil Young too. And that last sentence... it really struck a chord.

Read the full text here.

The Final Set

2010-11-03T21:20:00.002+08:00

The last few days. And I'm tuning in via online streaming. A return to old times.

NU 107: the swan song

2010-11-01T23:34:00.055+08:00

My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It's better to burn out
Than to fade away
-Neil Young, "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)"

The day of the dead. And there's a looming demise of a different kind.

A few days from now, on November 7, the country's sole rock radio station will go off the air after 23 years of existence. Yes, NU 107, the "Home of New Rock" will play its swan song on Sunday, and it's certain to be a day of mourning for Pinoy rock fans everywhere.

I stopped listening to NU 107 around five years ago, when I first moved to Cebu. It was the combination of a lifestyle change and the fact that most new music at the time was either nu metal or emo that led to a subsequent change in my listening habits. I listened less and less to the radio, instead cooking up my own playlists from downloaded mp3's and ripped audio CD's. Eventually, I stopped listening to NU altogether and relied on the Internet for my dose of new music instead.

But flashback to the years before that, and you would see that listening to NU was a big part of my formative years. I would tune in to it each day, every day, and have my dose of rock in the morning to rouse my self from sleepiness, and in the evening to serve as a soundtrack to my rockstar dreams. In grade school, it was instrumental in introducing me to the musical genius of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Yano and The Youth. In high school, Rage Against The Machine and Foo Fighters, P.O.T. and Razorback. In college, System of a Down and Coldplay, Radioactive Sago Project and Kapatid. And in between, I learned my rock history - Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Doors, Bob Dylan, and the many who came before my aural awakening.

You see, to me and countless others of my generation, no other station mattered. Our analog radio tuner dials were stuck on that last station to the right - DWNU 107.5. It dared play what no other station would. To it, I attribute a guiding motto in life, "Only dead fish swim with the current". The station might go off the air but it would always remain in the collective consciousness of Pinoy rock fans - to join other revered institutions such as LA Rock 105.9 and Club Dredd.

NU 107 will soon be history, but its spirit of rebellion will live on. As the godfather of grunge bluntly put it, "Rock and roll is here to stay".