Remember, remember...the 26th of March
I watched V for Vendetta as the clock struck 12 midnight today. Personally, it heralds my being greatly attached to comic books for nearly half the time I've walked the face of the earth. I liked the movie despite being naive of the Alan Moore's work from which the film was based. I watched it with a flat mate of four years being the person most close to me in proximity as our rooms are adjacent, likened to how adjacent one butt-cheek is to the other.
I swore to blog today to express my gratitude for a newly found hobby that serves as a powerful media for me to express my thoughts in words. On aether.
I will thus wake up late in the afternoon following an ever predictable insomnia fit, despite a very early wake up call (for the first of many more summer outings to come, held at Caylabne) the previous day. I will still work late in the office as overtime on a Sunday as is always the case but giving the day its unique due by going home earlier than the usual 10pm.
I will draft my ideas on the farewell gift of a beloved colleague which would come out different from the ideas given to me by my superiors, as it would be my sole effort to come up with the creative output, anyway, as is always the case. This time, the finished product will be unabridged but, at the same time, still hauntingly beautiful as it always comes out to be.
There will be no party celebration, per tradition.
I will climb within the week as I need for today to give my muscles its much needed rest from kayaking yesterday.
Text messages from well wishers will not get unanswered and so do phone calls from friends and family both near and far. Several text messages will be sent out to friends who may have forgotten what the 26th is just so they would not feel bad when their greetings come a day short from the actual day of celebration. I am, after all, secured enough by the heartfelt greetings I got today from those most important to me.
I will watch several episodes of Get backers on DVD before retiring to bed and read Alan Moore's book to give the author his due.
Remember, remember the fifth of November
As well as the 26th of March.
Gunpowder, treason, and the birth of this person
Should never be forgot.Sorry for the clumsy rhyme. The original poem, of course, goes:
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason, and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below
Poor old England to overthrow:
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip hoorah!
With everything said, here's to celebrate a lifetime of more great memories, heightened state of mind, more cashflow than anyone could ever comprehend, friendship, betrayal, trust, and always living up to the highest of standards in looking impeccably great.
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Never too old for a kiddie party
Were I to describe nostalgia, I'd say it's colored orange, soft, chewie, and sweet. Some of it would even stick to your teeth and gums during the welcomed experience. WTF? Let me elaborate.
An officemate turned forty last week. To show his deep gratitude to those who gave him a surprise kiddie birthday party at the McDonald's in ATC, he sent an invite to everyone present for an intimate birthday treat at his house in Makati.
It turned out his family also had the same idea as them McDo organizers: A pseudo-kiddie party. At the buffet table was a cake topped with the complete Power Rangers team and a banner with the Justice League of America that has Happy Birthday done in JLA-ish fonts. After dinner and before the candle-blowing portion, I overheard one of the guests murmur, "it's just tragic when people give you kiddie parties. It's a sure sign that you are way old." True.
Everyone had a great time, though. The celebrator's family came equiped with games to get the festivity going. The best part of the night was when the guests were all asked to fall in line in front of a basket filled with party favors. Like excited little buggers, everyone shoved their hands in their lootbags to get to the goodies for with it came a momentary glimpse of the 80s:
The Bag
Fun Stuff
The Goodies 
Bensia Pencil
Jack Stones
Of the lot, I had the most fun with Orange Sweets.
Creating a concept for print ads is challenging moreso than making TV commercials. It's all about successfully capturing the reader's attention at one glance, making them stay on your page a little longer than usual, and ultimately cramming their minds up with the ideas that the ad is trying to sell. For some, it may be as simple as translating their TV ad to print. The concept may already be in place but the challenge presents itself on how to best send the message off a magazine page.
Renzo Rosso, the genius behind the successful Italian clothing and lifestyle company, Diesel, shared the following on advertising concepts in an article with designboom:
"...There are dangers you risk in trying to always be innovative, and we are condemned to always do something new so it is easy to get to the point where nobody understands you anymore.
"In general, in the early 90s we were the first to use this type of message, now used by many other brands which have made it their own, and we were and are the creators of this type of message: that is, no more violence towards the final customer saying to buy this product or that brand, but rather involvement in the life-style, and if you like it perhaps you can buy those clothes. Giving the consumer the chance to choose something and not to consider him a robot condemned to respond to the advertising message."
[for the following, please click on the images for a larger view]
While most companies go all out on creative concepts, some take advertising up a notch by trying to address global societal issues. Aldo, makers of fine leather shoes and accessories, spearheads YouthAIDS in an attempt to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS while Timberland, another footwear company specializing in hiking boots, aims to Make It Better for the environment and the community (click here for a close-up of the captions surrounding the boots).
As some do large-scale global missions, other print ads celebrate the individual, however different one person is from another. This takes us to hearing Kenneth Cole Reaction's standing question shown in the next ad that goes, "Is being different all we have in common?"
Asics also did some serious asking: What would you do if you couldn't run? Athletes replied. I tried coming up with a decent answer but got profound, instead, and a migraine. It's that unthinkable, personally.
On a similar note, Levis features an impairment that leaves me thankful I only have color blindness (I can only clearly see the number 25 of the six presented in this color blindness test. I could not, by the light of me, decipher any of the numbers AT ALL from the other images. At first, I thought this test was a hoax and that there were really no numbers. Asking friends to see the image only confirmed my fear of my greatest inability: to see true colors). 
Cerveza San Miguel's ad immediately became my favorite (I have no idea if this company is in any way connected to Philippines' San Miguel Corp so don't ask me). Passion Beyond Reason could not have been conveyed in anything more effective as this here from a lager company that takes pride in the effort they put into producing quality beers. (This one in particular actually started the concept that became this article)
How could seemingly contradictory thoughts present a win-win end result to the consumer however which way they choose to stay connected? See Orange's approach on giving you insights via this minimalist-themed ad.
Lastly, here are ads from Infiniti's G Sedan and Coupe campaign. 
Ever notice how the ads seem to have been scanned? Well, they were. By me personally. All in the name of wanting to celebrate the genius of the creative mind. Do note that the quality of the ads may dramatically differ from the one initially published in terms of color and contrast due to scanning. My apologies.
Passing through Glorietta on my way home had gotten me into the Penshoppe store. A not-so-natural stop in my daily routine. I then saw this shirt that has Proud Manileño printed accross the chest. Interesting, I thought.
What other provinces do they have? Um, let's see... Proud Cebuano... Proud Ilocano... Bicolano... oh, here it is... Proud Ilonggo! Am I really that proud to wear this shirt? Heck, it just costs less than 400 bucks. Might as well get it.
It is quite creative of Penshoppe to come up with this concept after their activist-cum-strongly-opinionated theme. At the lower back of the shirt a smaller print that reads
Proud Pinoy is silk-screened to emphasize a much major consciousness. Ingenious. The fonts of the prints are nicely selected. The colors are, too.
This topic is a taste of a blog-entry concept I had an epiphany of before. It will come in waves. Watch you out.
Since two cents in Philippine currency is really of no value to anyone as would this post be to most, I pump the cost of what I have to say up to five.
If you have yesterday's copy of the Philippine Daily Inquirer with you, please refer to page C1 of the Lifestyle section. It has insights of the youth on the topic: What do you think of Proclamation No. 1017? (as also published in the INQ7.net website)
Of all the opinions, this one had hit a nerve, making my blood pressure shoot up to the roof:
“The powers appropriated to the President after declaring a state of emergency are being used to violate our human rights and the rights enshrined in our Constitution. Conducting warrantless arrests, suppressing the freedom of the press and silencing the voices of those in protest—these should be stopped. Suddenly, I feel like I’m no longer in the Philippines, but in communist China. Where has our democracy gone?” –Eon, 21
Everyone has the right to an opinion. For it to be valid, though, one must consider the details. Be careful to choose and sift though much of the rubbish to retain only the solid facts in their purest form. Like the laws governing responsible journalism, what you say or voice out should never be unfounded to be credible. They must not be merely based on one person or group's opinion to be unbiased.
If it's a journal that you are trying to keep and that your sentiments are read only by your closest peers who share the same half-truth based grievances as you then fire away. But, for the love of God, do not publish your opinion (or in this case, get it published) as it might serve as some mantra to unsuspecting readers who are just as, if not more, lost as you are. It is highly normal for people to get what seems to be a general sentiment for them to react to. Do bear in mind that should we face a game of quick-draw on sentiments and opinions with those who know what they stand for, they could readily take us for a spin and leave us dumbfounded and more confused than when we first decided which side to take if we are not as solidly, if not more, grounded as they are with theirs.
When you hear people telling you that Proclamation 1017 takes away your basic rights, ask of a textual basis for the claim. Do not just shout, "hell, yeah! No one has the right to take away my freedom!"
I know that it feels great to be out on the streets, appearing to be empowered by being with a group that appears to know the grounds of what they are fighting for. "Patalsikin! Patalsikin! Tuta ng Kano!" Yeah, those were the days and they sure were fun for us students back then. We had fought for a just cause. They were going to take away our school and we could not just let them (for the record, the UP Campus I'm referring to still stands to this day and has several buildings already renovated to educate the future leaders of this country).
No one has taken your rights, Eon. The power and privilege given to the president to declare a State of National Emergency, granted that the appropriate situation calls for it, does not in any way override the basic rights and freedom given to us by the Constitution.
To refute your allegations one by one:
1. Refer to my previous post as I have already eplained the basis for warrantless arrests. Do nothing wrong and subversive and no one will pick you up from the streets.
2. Supressing the freedom of the press. *tsk, tsk* Oh boy. Let me ask you one thing: How on earth could your frickin' statement be published in a national daily if this right has already been taken away? What press has been boarded up and shut down? The freedom of expression is still very much alive as you spoke your mind!
3. Silencing the voices of those in protest. Man, you may not have been in Ayala last Friday. I was. Not because I'm an activist. My building is unfortunately perched along-side that strip where the rallies are ordinarily held. You see, Proclamation 1017 was declared in the morning and those people in Ayala had their voices amped so hard, shouting and protesting, that even the deaf could miraculously hear! The protest rally happened in the afternoon, hours after the proclamation!
Now don't give me shit about your rights being violated! You are only 21 years old while
I,
we, had been paying the correct amount of taxes for nearly a decade now! I was there at the first EDSA while you were just learning to walk!
Just how hard would it hurt if we make it a habit to listen to what the other party had to say, for a change? Is the probable realization that the people we so despise are in fact correct so ego shattering that we readily dismiss the idea of ever hearing them out? Would a change of heart be that shameful?
Hear out what the President and the people over at Malacañang have to say about the matter. If we tend to be one-sided all the time, only selectively choosing to hear
what we only want to hear, then we have just lost the battle for truth. Though it is the nature of most to be resistant to change and be negative towards anything that has something to do with the government and the current administration, we have to admit to ourselves that these politicians are in power because a majority of us voted for them. Now, if we could have an ounce of belief in the polling system, respecting it's outcome whether or not the results came out in our favor is the least we can do to put some sanity in the current political climate of our country.
This I'm very much sure of: the united opposition is keeping a watchful eye on the current political situation as do the press. Hell, the Makati Business Club has even broken their silence regarding the situation after being quiet and passive for so long. Point is, reactions and economic stabilization pursuits are front line as the guards for the country's interests.
The PDI article on the collective voice of the youth just goes to show how frighteningly unfounded most of what the young find to be true are.
Could the State of National Emergency declaration stop us from writing stuff of our personal musings in our weblogs? Does this put an end to the happy and opinionated days of pouring our minds out in the articles we so laboured to let others of our kind read? Could our posts be a basis for the police or military to arrest us should it in a way contain our sense of what is happening around us?
That depends.
To cut to the chase, your articles could get your ass in jail should it be proven to directly contain something that could be construed as insurrection or rebellion against the current government.
Still, a question remains. Is saying, "bloggers rule!" tantamount to being interpreted as insurrecton? I don't think so.
A major surge of information is what I got last night from watching television featuring segments on the State of National Emergency declaration, also known as Presidential Proclamation No. 1017. I also realized that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago came across as being the most credible person in government right now, well at least for me. She answered pertinent questions that all of us must know in a language that could be easily understood by virtually anyone. On warrantless arrests, in a nut shell, she explained how this is already in place even before Proclamation 1017 on certain cases as allowed by the constitution. She stressed that the situation has not changed (personally hearing her talk is several times better than just reading my words so please do look for transcripts or write-ups covering the declaration and do yourself a favor of knowing what it is that's affecting our collective lives as Filipinos in the now). For as long as you are living a normal and peaceful life, you could put that fear of being arrested without reason behind you in the premise of your personal rights as defined and enshrined in the Philippine Constitution.
So far, a lot of people are watching out for us common citizens. In fact, almost everyone is on a look out. For now, we are somewhat assured by our legislators that the freedom of the press, speech, expression, and assembly are in no way curtailed by the declaration of Proclamation 1017.
I'm hoping with you that these rights stay with us for ever.
I watched V for Vendetta as the clock struck 12 midnight today. Personally, it heralds my being greatly attached to comic books for nearly half the time I've walked the face of the earth. I liked the movie despite being naive of the Alan Moore's work from which the film was based. I watched it with a flat mate of four years being the person most close to me in proximity as our rooms are adjacent, likened to how adjacent one butt-cheek is to the other.
