Tag: June 10, 2008

PATCHES of rainbow-hued photos mounted on huge white frames could not be mistaken for anything but a lomography exhibit. These greeted mall-goers strolling along Bonifacio Global City during Passionfest 2008. LomoManila, a lomography club, was invited to put up an exhibit showcasing the complex from morning until night. Various scenes were caught in a fraction of a second by eight photographic teams with some 10 members each, and the pictures were made into a collage.

Vibrantly colorful and offbeat shots composed the collage. They were mostly of one dominating color, a trademark of LomoManila. The triangular positions of the pictures remind one of banderitas or festive flags ever-present in Philippine fiestas.

TRAVELLING is a luxury only a few can enjoy, but thanks to photography, one can now tour the world without shelling out a fortune for a high-priced airfare.

Former UST College of Fine Arts student Kleyr de la Cruz provided a photographic tour of Australia to Filipinos who hadn’t been there in her solo exhibit, “Wandering Soul: A Journey to Australia,” which ran May 1 to 3 at the Podium.

The exhibit showcased photographs of Australia’s picturesque landscapes such as the Blue mountains of Katoomba in New South Wales and the majestic Razorback cliffs of Port Campbell. There are also shots of a Mardi Gras, portraits of her young nephews, and a little girl playing with a water fountain.

MANY YEARS of painting has almost taken a toll on Mario Parial’s health. Because he has to stoop every time he paints, Parial suffered from slipped disc and underwent surgery in 2002.

For six months, he had to endure back pains that prevented him from walking and painting. But when he slowly recovered from his illness through grueling therapy sessions, Parial made it a point to take brisk walks and take pictures with his digital camera.

“I’d take pictures of anything I’ve chanced my eyes upon on,” he said.

Unsatisfied with nothing to do, he experimented with Photoshop until the wee hours of the morning every time he could not sleep well.

It was when he conceived his “computer-generated” art—surreal yet sensible artworks done with just a few clicks with the help of Photoshop.

WITH the invasion of foreign reality TV shows in recent years, local media networks have been working non-stop in producing their own reality programs or franchising them from international production companies.

“Franchised reality TV shows infiltrate local media for good money; local networks buy these for the same reason; and Filipinos watch these for good entertainment,” said Joyce Arriola, head of UST’s Department of Media Studies.

Media giant ABS-CBN has several franchises out of Netherlands-based Endemol Productions such as Pinoy Big Brother, Pinoy Dream Academy, 1 vs. 100 and Kapamilya: Deal or No Deal. But its top-rated syndicated game show, Wheel of Fortune, hails from the United States, and The Singing Bee, the network’s newest reality show to date, is from UK’s Zeal Entertainment.

AS POPE Benedict XVI will get nearer to Asia for the 23rd World Youth Day in Australia, hopes are high that he will also visit the “East” soon.

The Catholic Churches of India and the Philippines were the first to express their desire for a papal visit.

According to UST Central Seminary Rector Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, O.P., bishops from both countries requested the Pope to make a short stopover to bless their lands before he goes to Australia. But the Holy See apparently turned down the requests.

But Timoner stressed that the diversity of religion and previous disputes among cultures do not affect the Pope’s pastoral visits–a common misconception after the misunderstood statement of Pope Benedict XVI that was quoted from the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paliaologos, and was only meant to clarify the relationship between faith and reason. But still, the Pope apologized.

“I’ll taste every moment and live it out loud…I know this is the time to be more than a name, or a face in the crowd…I know this is the time of my life.”- David Cook, “Time of my Life”

MY COLLEGE life ends here, and what can I say about it? It’s been a glorious four years, despite all the wounds, bruises and injuries, physical or otherwise.

Life in college was like American Football: in the game, you get banged up by players from the defense in their effort to stop you from moving the ball and scoring, but if you win against all the collisions and tackles, it feels as if all the huge efforts were worth the exertion.

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out”.-Walter Winchell

I HAD once thought vacations mean detaching myself from people around me in school. But college life proved me wrong, when it made me realize that distance is never a hindrance to keep bonds established on the campus.

I finished my first year in college with a different note from my previous school year-enders. Surprisingly, I am now anticipating what would happen when classes resume. Even though another school year will mean a barrage of lessons and scientific terms, the thought of my friends and classmates compels me to return to school, which I previously considered to be meant for academic honing alone.

A WEEK ago I took the licensure examination for nurses at a public elementary school in Manila.

I was in a dirty room with 23 strangers, my rump sore from the wide gaps in the small wooden chair I was sitting in with sweat trickling down my forehead, praying for someone to turn off the novelty songs playing in the distance or for our watcher to stop cutting her nails so I can focus on my exam.

But about 30 minutes into it, staring at the armchair in front of me laden with misspelled profanity, I simply sighed deeply and thought to myself “only in the Philippines.”

The sad state of our country’s public schools is alarming. How can any child be expected to learn effectively in those surroundings? Add to that the fact that the country’s best teachers are leaving in droves.

EVERYTHING that has happened in my life has always been my choice.

Eight years ago, I marched into this University not knowing what fate had in store for me. All I knew was that I was going to study high school in what my elementary text books claim as the oldest university in the Philippines. I could have stayed in my old school; after all, my parents only had to pay half of my high school tuition fee after graduating with honors in elementary. But it was my choice to be here in UST. And, at 12 years old, I was unaware that this choice would lead to a cascade of events that I never imagined would happen.

THE GOVERNMENT is at it again.

Hoping to redeem its lampooned image before the general public as a result of the battering and bruising it got over the ZTE-NBN broadband scandal, the Arroyo administration is once more – if only to duck, nay escape, further political lynching by its enemies and the disillusioned quarters of society – doing what it is best noted for: parading others’ dirty linen in classic populist fashion. Ironically, it is doing so with its own soiled hands caught in its own laundry bin.

And what a way for the government to cast a mirage of concern for the very people it has duped in the past than to pick on someone its own size in the playground of power – Meralco. The power distributor has been taken to task for its high power rates and charges.