Sunday, January 31, 2010

Philippine politics is faker than wrestling

In an official senate ethics hearing on Villar’ alleged double insertion on the C5 extension project,

ROXAS: "I had no insertions, period…Let alone an insertion for a road to pass through any such property..”

PIMENTEL: "Well, I am sure that after your marriage, you had some insertions”.

ROXAS:"That is an affront on my wife (Korina Sanchez), Mr. President!”.


I bummed this off my friend's Tumblr when I saw it. It's just sad how politics in this country works. It's not that I like Senator Mar Roxas or anything but Senator Pimentel is a f*cking jackass, 'nuff said.

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Monday, June 29, 2009

The Reproductive health bill


I was supposedly saving this topic for "Et Alors?" since this is a relatively public issue but since I haven't written here for quite sometime and my girlfriend's noticed my production's slowed down for writing blog entries over here. Here I am. Plus it comes as a complete advantage cause I can swear here (albeit, I still put asterisks on it for those with weak constitutions).

Last Sunday I was hearing mass at our local parish when right before the final blessing they made us kneel for a special prayer. In that so-called "special" prayer included certain ills of the world these days. The recession, The Swine Flu pandemic and such... but then I both hear and see on the projector and the commentator that they have included House Bill No. 5043 better known as The Reproductive Health Bill of 2008. Me, being situated at the very back of the church was not kneeling. Firstly because there are a hoard of people in front of me also standing and secondly upon hearing what was in the prayer I didn't feel like it anymore.

Just to expedite my whole point, House Bill No. 5043 or The Reproductive Health Bill of 2008 was introduced by representatives Edcel C. Lagman of Bicol, Janette L. Garin of Iloilo, Narciso D. Santiago III, Mark Llandro Mendoza of Batangas, Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel and Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona of Romblon. According to the bill itself, HB 5043 is meant to "uphold and promote respect for life, informed choice, birth spacing and responsible parenthood in conformity with internationally recognized human rights standards" and "guarantee universal access to medically-safe, legal and quality reproductive health care services and relevant information even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children." The long and the short of it is The Reproductive Health Bill of 2008 is meant to give an extra push for better promotion of the use of contraceptives and family planning. Furthermore, the bill is aimed to make these ALTERNATIVES to people nationwide accessible.

The church has been quite vocal about the fact that it opposes HB 5043 mainly because of the inclusion of the use of artificial contraceptives like condoms and Intrauterine Devices. However it puts this argument under the pretext that the entire bill is demonic and was made by "demons"; And I did NOT exaggerate that! "We ask the Archangels to fight the 'demons' behind the RH Bill and we seek their intercessions to free our country from this Anti-God, Anti-Religion, Anti-Family, Anti- Parents, Anti-Children, and Anti-Life Reproductive Health Bill," The vicar general of the diocese of Dumaguete Monsignor Gamaliel Tulabing said in an interview for The Sunstar back in September 2008. It's a little much, don't you think? And in another incident Francisco Tatad had this to say to the Inquirer on September 30, 2008: "The bill seeks to tell the Catholic majority not to listen to the Church and to listen to anti-Catholic politicians instead." Well EXCUSE me "Saint" Francisco Tatad, Who are YOU to label these politicians as anti-catholic? These people really seem to think they are "Holier than thou" don't they? but I would be going off topic if I pursued that.

The country has a growth rate of 1.991% as of 2008. We are at 88,574,614 people sharing the resources we have as of 2007. That's 12,070,537 more than seven years before that number was reached. 12,070,537 more mouths to feed. People who lobby against this bill are either bountiful enough in life to be able to have kids or are mandated by their vows to God not to HAVE kids. Truth is, these people don't know how it is not to have enough money to be able to give their kids food at the end of the day, let alone send their kids to school! These people who lobby against this bill KNOW how reproduction works! They know their biology. They had money to study. At the end of the day the people who will benefit these programs are not the ones who oppose it. The people who will benefit them are the people who are in need of education about the importance of being able to control their ability to pro-create. Don't go thumping your bible to these people! This is the human condition we're talking about. Who are we kidding? We all have the urge to have sex. It's what we're designed for! Even PRIESTS have urges, the only difference is to these people who are the target of the bill, THEY can do something to satisfy their urges without having to violate any life-long vow they made to God. If they wanna have sex, let them decide how and what to do about it. Don't tell them not to do something just because you think you know it's wrong. You're forgetting, YOU are not THEM. Just because you THINK you're pious doesn't give you the right to tell people what to do.

Bottom line is: If you're NOT the ones who are having difficulty having a family, Sit down and shut the f*ck up. If you don't want to use a condom cause you think it will anger YOUR god then don't do it. Don't put on a condom. But stop brainwashing helpless people into thinking they don't have any other options but yours.

Click here to view the contents of the HB 5043: http://jlp-law.com/blog/reproductive-health-bill-fact-sheet-and-explanatory-note/

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

Tacsiyapo!!



This by far has got to be one of the coolest ideas ever! (Joel, I hope you don't mind me snatching your pictures. Peace hombre!)

On the way down from Baguio the other day, me and a couple of my best buds decided to stop by this restaurant my brother mentioned to me a few days back. It's a place called "Isdaan" in Tarlac, ten minutes away from Luisita (give or take a few minutes). Like the name suggests, it IS a restaurant with a fish pond. Diners eat in cottages floating in the middle of the ponds (ponds, pens, tanks, whatever you call those things!) and from time to time get visited by mariachis who sing songs. And that's not even half it!

At the corner of the place stands a wall with words written on it. Ex wife/husband, Current wife/husband, Ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, boss, Professor, Ailments just to name a few. And right in front of it is a mountain of little bits and pieces of porcelain, plastic and a couple of casings of television sets. It didn't take a second for me to realize the concept of the wall.

It's the "Tacsiyapo!" wall. This is the place where you get to buy objects from the restaurant, scream the word "Tacsiyapo!" and then throw it at the person on the wall that you were aiming for. Objects like mugs, saucers, plates, pitchers, wall clocks and even a fully functional TV set worth one thousand six hundred pesos could be bought provided you don't bring them home --you really HAVE to throw it.



Me and my friends tried it ourselves and found it very very therapeutic. I think I must have bought myself 4 plates and 3 coffee mugs to throw at the wall!

Was it a waste of money? Definitely. Was it a sh*tload of fun? You bet your ass it was.

And besides, how would YOU like it if I threw coffee mugs at you instead?



AND! On a side note, Migz won us a kilo of catfish carrying a pail of water while crossing the pond on a small strip of cement while a giant monkey was spewing a jet of water at him.

That was some good catfish Migz.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

Starry Night



Right now you must be thinking: "Not another video!"

Cut me some slack, I really haven't written much in a while. A lot of things have happened over the course of the month-long hiatus. Most of which I intend to write about over the course of the coming weeks. So a few days ago while I was browsing through my stuff from the old PC to transfer into my new one, I stumbled across a birthday video I made for my friend not so long ago. I proceeded to watch the video and forgot that I had put an Easter egg in the video. The Easter egg I'm talking about is the video that's up top. It's a video of me playing Joe Satriani's "Starry Night."

Thankfully this time around I'm dressed a little more adequately compared to last time. So with that, I hope you enjoy!

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Public Service Announcement by Joey and Wow



Without a doubt, I seriously had a blast taking up sound design this term. It's such a shame we only get to take it once. Almost makes me consider failing it to take it again! (That's a joke mom and dad, if in all likelihood you EVER get to read this) Anyway, here's a little something from that sound design class. This is an advocacy campaign for honesty featuring me and one of my bestbuds Mr. Joey Sandejas.

Just to give you an understanding of the set-up of the PSA, picture this:

Imagine you went on a business trip to a very far away place. A place where you know your wife or your girlfriend would not know what you were up to... You're free! Or are you?

Planted in every conscientious guy is a meter. A meter as to how far you're willing to take your wife's nonattendance. Sure, you go around flirting with women, propping your feet on the table of your hotel room where you've ordered pay-per-view porn and being as sloppy as any guy could be. But actually CHEAT on her? Oh, no no no.. That's where most "good" guys' meters draw the line. But then what if Mr. Jack Daniel, Mr. Jim Beam, Mr. Johnnie Walker and Mr. Jose Cuervo decide to smash the meter for you?

So now what? So now the deed is finally done and your meter is ringing its alarm. When do you tell your significant other what you did? Now? When you get back? and HOW do you tell her? Here's one way NOT to do it.

Here's the transcript of the PSA:

"Seminar sa Bohol"
By Joel Sandejas and Wowie Go

(BGM:) Soft piano music*

(VO1:)(Very Guilt-ridden, Emotional voice) Honey, There's something I need to tell you. Kasi nung seminar sa Bohol... I met this girl... Tapos nag inuman kami nang mga officemates ko that night... One thing led to another... Tapos... Tapos YUN... Please Forgive me... Ikaw pa rin ang love ko...

(BGM:) Soft piano music fades abruptly*

(VO1:) Tell me when you get this message, ha?

(SFX:) Answering Machine Beep*

(VO2:) It pays to be honest. A public service announcement by Joey and Wow.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

A pre-fame Maria Ozawa



So okay.. I'd be lying if I told you I never watch pornography. But truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter what my porno watching habit is.. It's only beside the point for this next video clip. Here's a Japanese advertisement for Dars Chocolate that aired in 2002 featuring the J-Pop duo Kinki Kids and the THEN not so famous 16 year old Maria Ozawa. (In complete day-dream face: Can't you just notice the innocence in her eyes then?)

Apart from the awesome casting, I love this ad's storyline and how it was filmed. Poor guy with his hands around Maria Ozawa doesn't know what's going on behind him as guy number 2 (far left. I don't know which one of the Kinki Kids he is) is secretly holding hands with Maria as guy number 1 (center) feeds her chocolates. In a figurative sense, it's a very ambiguous but very common setting in real life don't you think?

To cap it off, I think filming it all on black and white with acoustic guitar playing all throughout gave it a very classy and emotional feel.

For the girls: I hope you like the Advert.
For the guys: I hope you like what Maria Ozawa looked like before porn.

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Design Concepts Slow Down Mix From Hell!


For all you lonely boys and girls out there without dates, feast your eyes on our self-proclaimed "longest" list of epic love songs! With the participation of my friends Joey, Drew and Jayson, we put together this playlist solely for the purpose of being able to draw and design our works with feeling and emotion but now it is available for your very own consumption this Valentines month. It's 5 and a half hours of chart topping hits from artists such as Whitney Houston, Elton John, Peabo Bryson, Celine Dion and a whole lot more! Perfect songs for singles wanting to piss the night away this valentines! So without further adieu, we present to you "The Desncon slow down mix... FROM HELL!"

I'll be loving you forever - Westlife
Waiting for your love - Stevie B.
Love Me For A Reason - Boyzone
Total Eclipse of The Heart- Bonnie Tyler
Nothing's gonna stop us now - The Starting Line
Out of Nothing At All - Air Supply
Can You Feel The Love Tonight? - Elton John
All By Myself - Celine Dion
A Whole New World - Peabo Bryson Feat. Celine Dion
Bed Of Roses - Bon Jovi
When I See You Smile - Bad English
I Ain't Missing You - John Waite
Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
One Moment In Time - Whitney Houston
Baby Come Back - Player
Save The Best For Last - Vanessa Williams
Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
The Winner Takes It All - ABBA
We've Only Just Begun - The Carpenters
Kiss From A Rose - Seal
I Finally Found Someone - Bryan Adams Feat. Barbara Streisand
To Love Somebody - Michael Bolton
Amazing - Aerosmith
Nandito Ako - Ogie Alcasid
Sana Dalawa And Puso Ko - Jano Gibbs
Mr. DJ - Sharon Cuneta
Closer You And I - Gino Padilla
I'll Be Over You - Toto
Knocks Me Off My Feet - Stevie Wonder
Make It With You - Bread
I'll Make Love To You - Boyz 2 Men
Heaven Knows - Rick Price
Thank God I found You - Mariah Carey Feat. 98 Degrees
It Might Be You - Christopher Cross
I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
It's All Coming Back To Me - Celine Dion
If - Bread
I swear - All 4 One
When You Say Nothing At All - Ronan Keating
True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
25 Minutes - Michael Learns To Rock
4 seasons Of Loneliness - Boyz 2 Men
She's Out Of My Life - Michael Jackson
Sweet Lady - Tyrese
When I Fall In Love - Celine Dion
I Wanna Know - Joe
Cupid - 112
Ngayon At Kailanman - Basil Valdez
On The Wings Of Love - Peabo Bryson
Dreaming Of You - Selena
I Remember You - Skid Row
The Gift - Jim Brickman
Baby Can I Hold You Tonight? - Boyzone
Careless Whisper - George Michael

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Thursday, February 05, 2009

Guitar Lesson: Time Signatures


Truth of the matter is I haven't really sat down in my room to play my guitar in a couple of weeks --months even! But for this month's guitar lesson I think I can afford not picking up the guitar to teach this particular topic.

The time signature is just as important to a piece of music as the notes you write. It's the convention at which the pace of our notes will be playing. Think of it as the bounds of your measure. The common time signature musicians use since, God knows when, is 4/4 time. That's your run of the mill "one-two-three-four-one-two-three-four" count. An alternative to this time signature that is equally as popular is 3/4 time that goes "one-two-three-one-two-three." The latter is commonly used in Waltzes. Now if you're currently taking up Music Production or just like geeking out on music like I do, you probably already know there's more to this topic than just these two time signatures. For everybody else, let me explain.

To breakdown the significance of the fraction meant to denote a time signature:

The top number of the fraction represents how many beats there are in one measure and the bottom number represents the note value of one beat. Just to make the idea a lot simpler, think of the bottom number as the kind of speed you'd have to count your notes with. In the case of 3/4 time the bottom number is a 4 which means a quarter note. This means there are three quarter notes in one measure.

Examples of alternate time signatures are 1/2, 2/2, 2/4, 3/4, 3/8, 6/8 , 9/8 and 12/8 the latter three being compound time signatures (meters divided into three or two unven parts).

Most alternate time signatures were prevalent during classical times. But there still are a multitude of songs that use other time signatures in modern music. These songs however are in some way obscured due to the fact that some of their time signatures are just not danceable. Nonetheless, musicians still use them to showcase their ability. Just to cite an example, the song "Schism" by Tool employs several meter changes. First at 5/4, then 6/8, a bar at 3/8, 3 measures of 13/8, then alternating between 9/8 and 5/8 and so on. Apart from Tool mutilating their music sheet, perhaps an example of meter changing that's easier to spot would be The Foo Fighters song "Times Like These" where the meter changes shortly during the main riff from 4/4 time to 7/4 time (one-two-three-one-two-three-four).

Although not common, using unusual time signatures give songs a different feel to it. Not even entire songs but just a couple of bars of meter changing can take most people aback. So if want your song to have a sound that's very foreign or you want your song to stand out, you might want to experiment with using different meters. Not to mention it gives your audience something to think about the next time they start bopping their head to your song and they "mysteriously" lose count. Have fun!

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

First Love



I don't know if you people have noticed by now but I've been writing a lot about unrequited love. I was really poised to write something a little more upbeat this week but upon seeing this advertisement I just went ahead and said "F*ck that! I'll write about this instead."

Apparently they've been showing this ad on TV lately. However, I haven't seen it air thus far. The only time I've seen this was in my sister's Multiply. And although she's already written something about it, I'm gonna go ahead and put my two cents in as well just for f*ck's sake.

This 1 minute TV advertisement by DDB Philippines for McDonald's is entitled "First Love" and features the immortal Eraserheads song "Ang huling El Bimbo." In it we see a man telling the story of how he met his first love. We see them in a retro (presumably the 80's) styled McDonald's chain along with their mothers --heavily made up and teased hair and all. Midway through the ad, the girl leads the boy towards the McPlayplace. As she does this, we suddenly transcend to the present time with the boy now a man and the girl now a mother as we see her introduce her daughter and husband to our storyteller. The TV spot ends with the storyteller telling us that even though they never wound up together, she will always be his first love. Touching, no?

Upon first viewing this ad I completely fell in love with it. I really think DDB made a terrific job in paying attention to detail. Not just the wardrobe but everything from the plastic cups with the mmmmmmmmm's on it and all the other archaic McDonald's containers that were resurrected. On a personal level I really think the delivery of the story hit the right chord with me; most people I've talked to seem to think so as well. Coupled with their choice of song, "Huling El Bimbo" was the cherry on top.

I think the message this ad is driving is: It IS true that most of us never DO wind up with our first loves. We can never go back to those innocent times where love wasn't so complicated. All we can do is cherish moments and things that remind us of those simpler times with him or her. For some it's the afternoons in the park playing in the slides. Me, it's playing Pogs and trading basketball cards that remind me of her the most. And for the guy in the story? Well... It's eating at McDonalds. So stop complaining that the ad's too sad! When was the first time YOU fell in love?

And on a side note, somebody please give this ad a f*cking award.

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