http://www.makepovertyhistory.org Twisted Grooves: April 2007

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

makinig, matuto, makilahok

http://rockedradio.blogspot.com

para sa mga taong may kwenta,
pero walang magawang may kwenta tuwing linggo ng gabi.
para sa mga taong may paki-alam,
gustong maki-alam at galit sa walang paki-alam.
para sa mga taong walang kwenta at walang paki-alam
...makinig, matuto, makilahok sa...

ROCK ED RADIO > Linggo 8 ng gabi sa NU107

Sunday, April 15, 2007

telenovela in a french country house



it felt like we were in the middle of europe, in the middle of spring. not that i've experienced a real european setting but what the heck. it was one fine day spent with the most beautiful people this side of our community. haha! as they say "masaya mag-SFC" - not all of your days are spent praying, discussing, organizing, praising and serving. actually most of it is bonding with your friends who share your passion and faith.

thanks cacay and the ka-big brother housemates!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

visita iglesia



This was the 2nd time SFC-Meralco went on a Visita Iglesia. We listed several routes for this trip. The first choice was to go to MTQ, EDSA Shrine, Christ the King, St. Claire, Ateneo, Dela Strada and UP. That would have taken only a couple of hours and a lot more convenient since we can ride our cars and there's less traffic. But wee decided to go on a more traditional but harder route-that meant taking public transpo and walking a lot.

The Manila route proved to be very interesting especially for first timers-a Visita Iglesia cum cultural tour plus the additional food stops at Binondo and MalacaƱang area. It turned that a lot of the "pilgrims" I was with were first timers in most of the churches so they had a lot of wishes to make. Too bad, my only "first time"
church was St. Jude, so I was entitled to only one wish. Haha.

We planned to visit 7 Manila Churches, tracing 2 Stations of the Cross for each Church. Our itinerary was UST, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin, Sta. Cruz, Binondo, San Sebastian and St. Jude but we ended up with 8. It turned out San Beda was also open so we went it and marvelled at the magnificent architecture and art work.

This early I'm planning on taking a trip to Laguna or Pampanga. They say that those are routes worth visiting. We definitely want to do another pilgrimage because just seeing the many devotees and learning a lot about our rich history made our day very rewarding. We were definitely enriched spiritually and culturally.
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Visita Iglesia

The custom goes back to the early Church when Christians would visit the seven great basilicas in Rome for adoration of the blessed sacrament after the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. The sacramentary, the official altar book of the Church, says that after this Mass, "The faithful should be encouraged to continue adoration before the blessed sacrament for a suitable period of time during the night, according to local circumstances, but there should be no solemn adoration after midnight."

Visita Iglesia is a practice in cities, where there are many churches, in countries as diverse as Malta, Poland, Ireland and The Philippines. Filipinos have brought it to places in North America that never had it before.

- Source: The Catholic Herald

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

finding art in my photography

in this day and age of the internet and digital cameras when everyone's hobby is photography and everyone's a 'photographer', the craft that was once difficult and expensive to master is now within reach. there's an explotion of interest and while film sales is taking a nose dive, digital camera and accessories sale is skyrocketing. dozens of photo sharing sites are mushrooming all over the net faster than you say 'cheese'.

while the revolution is an on-going phenomenon, much of the character of this craft has suffered. gone is the anticipation and the excitement of going to your favorite lab and waiting for your film to be developed while half wishing you got the exposures right. darkroom afficionados misses the smell of the chemical and the trial and error messiness of developing their own film. people rarely hone their skills by joining camera clubs, working as an apprentice or having their work critiqued by their peers. in other words, the hard work and labor of love was replaced by quick fixes and complacency. now, when people talk about photography, gear talk dominates the exchanges. it's more of the brand and the megapixels and less of the technique and the discipline. many would rather shoot (and shoot a lot), view, delete or photoshop later. at the end of all these the art in each photograph is lost. i look at on-line galleries and nine of the ten times i open one, i find nothing interesting. incredible landscapes, beautiful faces but sadly without a heart.

i once had an interesting conversation with one of the senior artists of tam-awan village in baguio. in the middle of it, i asked him if he considered photography as an art. he said 'yes'. it was the answer i wanted to hear because i always thought that in general, photography was considered as a lesser art form than say painting and sculpting. some even don't consider it as an art. thinking that way made me feel a little inferior from those who can draw and paint because just as i loved visual art, i myself can't even create a decent figure on the canvass.

i took up photography to at least be able to create something from my imagination or capture a moment or a scene that's beautiful to the eye. i've been (or still am) that kind of photographer, the kind who would settle for a postcard shot instead of seeing beyond the obvious and understanding the true fabric of the place or the event. while it is still a bliss to see the images i captured displayed on other people's desktop wallpapers, friendster galleries and house walls, somehow there's a sense of longing for me to create something unique. i want people to be affected, to move, to think, to interpret, to question, to debate after viewing the images. until that time arrives, i can't call myself an artist or at the very least a photographer.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

march madness

nope, i'm not going to talk about the ncaa season ender. but just to vent out a little frustration, duke university, my team, was ousted in the first round. talk about rubbing salt on one of the worst seasons for this "everybody hates them" team.

anyway, it's been a really mad month for me. my sister and bro-in-law were home for a one month vacation. there was no weekend and almost no night that i wasn't driving for the family. we got to visit tagaytay, pangasinan and the usual balikbayan stops around the metro mostly trying on new restaus and tambayans. partly tiring but mostly an emotional high since it's rare these days that our family is complete. plus i got some freebies from them of course haha!

i went to puerto princesa, palawan with team miszono. wohoo! that was one great highlight for march. the place is great. so far the most tourist friendly city in the philippines that i've been to. i never felt any form of stress despite the long and bumpy rides. the guides were very well trained and educated. you can see in their eyes and in how they talk about the sites how proud they are of their place talking about it with passion and pride. in arranging for transpo, you don't have to worry in haggling because the rates are standard when renting vans, riding a trike or an outrigger

(better known as bangka, hehe). plus they have a receipt. now that's something unique from the rest of the philippines. hahaha! i already miss the beach and the incredible marine life of puerto princesa. and of course i won't forget the sumptous meals we had at kalui and viet vill and some other pig out places. balik tayo mga freesbie buddies!!!

finally, i got news that i'll be handling a new project and a different role in the office in the coming months. there'll be more work and bigger responsibilities to take on but i'm not complaining. i actually wanted this and it just fell on my lap at the most unexpected time.

quite a ride it was but it's just a beginning. i just checked my sched and it seems i'll be totally booked until the first weeks of june. hahaha! talk about getting you're life back to normal. mukhang malabo pa ata sa ngayon. :P