Fashion photography newbie tested at Ice Watch Event

One thing I have never explored in this predominantly arts & culture blog is fashion photography. Especially when shooting the runway. I was given the chance to do so at Ice Watch's event at C3 in Greenhills yesterday.

I did not want to use internal flash, I swear. I managed not to use it in Malate, relying solely on my exposure settings for brightening up the dark places, but I couldn't get away with it this time around. Thank goodness I just recently discovered where Shin-Chan2's shutter speed settings are. That wasn't enough, though. Tinkering with my exposure and ISO wasn't enough either. I ended up using my internal flash. *Sigh* (This is one of those times when I actually miss my old dSLR, Shin-Chan, which allowed me to save a customized setup for events.)

Anyway, I got home waaaay too tired from the event. As my sister put it in her recent entry, we "spent an hour and a half in Greenhills trying to get a cab in the heavy downpour, getting soaked and walking from Missouri to the main street? This is included in the 6-hours total of me standing. In heels."

So yeah...in the essence of keeping our vibes positive, this will be a photoblog. =^.^=

Testing for the fashion shoot. Um. This is broad daylight, though.

The events place is pretty! Love the lights!

With fellow bloggers, my sister Reluctant Stylista, Animetric & MrsMartinez.
This group tripled its size later but I forgot to have our pic taken.

Bevy of Ice Watches.

I actually think this collection is cute.

The more expensive sets.

RJ Ledesma hosting the auctions.

Ledesma up close. 

This was when I started using internal flash. T.T

The host flashing his special Philippine Edition Ice Watch.

Some of these models walk so fast, it was torturous to use slow shutter speed.
I had a brief internal battle: choosing between speed and better lighting.
I went with the latter.

This is what happens when you're fighting for better positioning.

The head honchos of Ice Watch. Toast!

My auction number and the play money we were given for bidding purposes.

What I took home from the event.

Like this post? Subscribe to this blog NOW.
Or become a Facebook Fan for updates, contests and discussions.

Inspiring stories from the International Literacy Day contest winners

Finally, we've come to the conclusion of our International Literacy Day contest. I got worried that since this is an FB likes contest, people are going to rig it. Thank goodness, our participants are all honest (and after reading their entries, I can't imagine anyone will try to cheat).

I am very happy that despite the advancement of technology, our young ones are still reading books. If not books, they still find other means to ensure that they remain literate. I hope these entries would inspire the rest of the world to follow suit.

Anyway, let's now proceed to the announcement of the contest winners.

Our first prize goes to:

Jameela Malicdem
Her Inspiration: The Best of Youngblood - a compilation of articles by the young people from Philippine Daily Inquirer. 

She says: "Just when I started to discover my love for writing, this book was given to me. It has taught me to embrace other's experiences, learn from them and appreciate their sacrifices, pains, joys and dreams. Not only did I learn to write well; I also learned to write my own story with a strong and determined voice." Read what other people say about her entry here.


Second Prize goes to:

Blanche Agatha Liwanag
Her Inspiration: Collection of Candy Magazines

She says: "Here's a photo of me and a June 2000 issue of Candy Magazine. Since I was Seven years old, I found myself reading my elder sister's collection of Candy Magazines. Sounds weird, but it really helped me a lot to improve my literacy. I found this stuff very interesting to read, especially their self-improvement articles. :)" Read what other people say about her entry here.


All entries are surprisingly good! And even though I only have two official winners, I would like to feature the tops 3 and 4.

Third placer:

Toney Sevilla
His Inspiration: This book is entitled "Origami" written and prepared by Paul Jackson.

He says: "...This book inspired me to become an artist today. Because of origami, it somehow helped me to create things from scratch. Plus, I learned through this book about following instructions to achieve results...." Read his complete story here.


Fourth placer:

Zerah Mercado
Her Inspiration: The Bible

She says: "Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. But This is. A five letter word that changes my life every single day. A book that when read over and over again, will always have something beneath. For life. Until eternity." Read what other people say about her entry here.


I was supposed to feature the top five even though there will only be two winners. Unfortunately (or fortunately), after the fourth placer, many of the other entries ended up with the same number of votes. Because of this, I decided to just like to proudly showcase them all. Visit Skysenshi's International Literacy Day album to see all the heart-warming stories of how our readers achieved literacy.

For the winners, please send me an email with your gift certificate preference (SM or Fully Booked), contact information and mailing address. Stay tuned for more contests from Skysenshi's Hermitage Facebook Page!

Like this post? Subscribe to this blog NOW.
Or become a Facebook Fan for updates, contests and discussions.

Legend of the Seeker

Legend of the Seeker is a television show that's loosely based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels. I have mixed feelings towards this series, as I have actually read the entire collection. I went through all eleven books of it, even after the anthology went downhill come book four.

For those who are not familiar with the fantasy series, here's a snippet of my 2008 book review:

We have Richard Cypher, a regular forest ranger, who begins his quest when his father is brutally murdered by a powerful wizard. In his journey, he meets the exquisite Kahlan Amnell, his future life partner, and together they experience tales upon tales of sorcery, mythical beasts, and magical boundaries...for Richard is named the Seeker, the one who is destined to hold the Sword of Truth. As such, he struggles with the responsibility of bringing order in a world that's about to be engulfed in darkness.

There are a number of things I like about the TV version. For one, Richard of the book is much too powerful that the writing almost feels narcissistic. He also tends to get overly philosophical. By that I mean he sounds like a preacher doing sermons. The TV series toned him down and they did away with the preachy bits. TV Richard is fun, energetic, responsible but also flawed. Craig Horner is perfect as Richard.

Speaking of perfection, it seems that casting is the series' strongest point. I couldn't imagine what Kahlan would look like in person. I also figured that her white robes would look tacky. Bridget Regan fleshes Kahlan out very well: angelic face, deadly countenance, and she rocks the white robe! Regan looks like a mother, a sister and a slave driver all rolled into one. Her chemistry with Horner is so palpable, you'll feel sorry that they can't be together (because Kahlan's powerful touch would destroy Richard).

Wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, portrayed by Bruce Spence, is as charming, wacky and...well, he's actually a lot more powerful than the book version since he seems to be using Wizard's Fire often. (In the books, Wizard's Fire takes its toll on the caster.) Season Two introduces Cara, the Mord Sith, played by Tabrett Bethell. I cannot picture a more suitable Cara, beautiful but hella scary!

Okay, it is with Darken Rahl, portrayed by Craig Parker, that I had mixed feelings about. See, I like Darken Rahl in the novels. He isn't two-dimensional and he's a blue-eyed blond. It's not that I judge by the looks but the whole angelic demeanor is what tricks everyone into thinking he can be trusted. Plus it completely opposes what his name, Darken, stands for.

Thing is, Craig Parker is a very good actor. The writers initially did not do him justice by giving him two-dimensional scenes. Here, the main villain is literally DARK, with no explanations as to why he's like that! I hate what they did to Darken Rahl at the beginning of the series, but you'd see Parker's versatility in Season Two, episode 40, "Walter", where he played a comedian who impersonated Darken Rahl. Parker would've looked good as a blonde, too. I mean, hello? Didn't he play Haldir of Lórien, who is an elf, in Lord of the Rings? Why did they have to make Darken Rahl so cliché when they've employed an actor of his caliber??

Darken Rahl (left) and Haldir of Lórien (right)

Another thing I didn't like about the series is how they completely rewrote many of the characters' origins, resulting in loony plot holes. I'm especially looking at Richard's relatives (his sister Jensen, and his father in the book that became his brother in the series). I hate what they did to Sister Nicci, too, and how her episodes resulted in Richard's power -- the essence of his war wizardry -- becoming useless. This is the thing about deviating from the original source. If you re-write the characters' origins, you had better map out their paths or the succeeding episodes could come bite you in your nether parts.

Overall, I enjoyed the series -- mostly thanks to the cast. I just couldn't stop complaining about how they took out some of The Sword of Truth's best parts. Honestly, I also want to see Sorceress Adie and the beasties Gratch and Scarlet (the dragon)...Oh!! And Nathan Rahl!!

* Haldir of Lórien's photo from http://www.haldiroflorien.com
** Darken Rahl photo from http://dadt.com/lots

Like this post? Subscribe to this blog NOW.
Or become a Facebook Fan for updates, contests and discussions.

Philippines: My Sacrificing Mother

Every website, blog and Facebook account has been tainted with articles and photos of the August 24 hostage crisis. I initially did not want to blog about that tragedy because I did not want to make my country look even worse than it already is. That proved to be an exercise in futility: A lot of Filipinos aren't as considerate, if those students and police officers, who turned the crime scene into a tourist spot (photo ops complete with camera-ready smiles and poses), were any indication.

I grieve deeply for the people of Hong Kong. They suffered a great loss. I got alarmed, however, when my cousin Virna (firesenshi) pointed out that President Noy Aquino's official Facebook page was being inflamed with threats like, "I will fire my Filipina maid!" or, "Just looking at my Filipino maid makes me angry!"

The alarm quickly escalated to horror when I saw both Filipinos and the HK Chinese calling each other names. Reduced to preschoolers. No educated person would want to see people resorting to barbaric tendencies online. No sane person wants to see cavemen behavior in new media.

What depresses me, though, is that the actions of one mad man seems to have completely overturned the sacrifices of countless OFWs. Shouldn't our media concentrate on the good Filipinos have done for the world? Like these news articles:

• Singaporean family includes ‘devoted’ maids’ names in mother’s obituary
• Series on Distingusihed Filipino Woman Achievers
• The CNN Hero is a Filipino
• The Filipinos - the world's finest!
• Jewish Refugees in WWII Manila Hold Reunion

We've heard stories of Filipino maids sacrificing their lives for the sake of their employers' children, even using their own bodies as shields when their charges are in danger. What of them? Why can't we put the spotlight on them? Especially when we can read articles regarding abusive employers.

Like every other nation, the Philippines has its share of rotten tomatoes. We also have abusive employees, thieves, cheaters and what have you. What country doesn't have these? But we're a good people. We are intelligent, hardworking, efficient, talented, caring and we do everything with a smile even when we are carrying the heaviest of burdens. Yes we suffer, but we endure. We are made stronger by our travails. You can put us anywhere and we'll survive.

This song couldn't have illustrated our plight better.


And while we grieve for the people that have been affected by a Filipino-induced tragedy, we should also remember that for every set of bad apples, there are thousands of us who are willing to risk life and limb to do good.

Written 7:47AM 08.29.10

Like this post? Subscribe to this blog NOW.
Or become a Facebook Fan for updates, contests and discussions.

Cut and Paste Generation

I've always told my students that it's very difficult to be original these days. So many brilliant minds have come before us and majority of them had innovated hundreds of years before we were even born. Hello, Aristotle, Galileo, Leonardo, Beethoven? What irks me, though, is that many of today's "creators" have become so dependent on technology -- technology that took centuries' worth of creative geniuses to build -- that analytical/inventive thinking has been reduced to a bare minimum. We are now witnessing the dawn of what I call the "Cut and Paste Generation".

Case in point, our music. I miss the days when melodious poetry filled the air waves. Whatever happened to: "Return to a land called Paraiso, a place where a dying river ends"? Now my ears are hurting from all the remakes, and worse, absolute rip-offs. Example:



Toni Gonzaga is a very talented artist. She has powerful vocals. Why the heck do they need to make her sound like an electrocuted chipmunk? Don't we only do this for "artists" that look good but can't sing? She looks good and she CAN sing. So what is this?? But that's not all that's disturbing. Take a look at an older video done by Korean girl group 2EN1:



I can't believe we have the gal to rip concepts off the Koreans when we have so many talented musicians and video directors in this country. (Bless Sandara Park of 2EN1 for bringing Tagalog songs over into her home country, even if those Tagalong songs are not my cup of tea.) And it isn't only the Koreans we've stolen from in Toni Gonzaga's video. The refrain sounds too much like Rihanna's Disturbia.

The O in OPM (Original Pilipino Music) is gone. That's why they're calling it P-Pop now. Ew.

Oh, but I don't think it's only our people that do this. I've seen internationals steal content from blogs, websites, etc. and teachers all over the globe complain about rampant plagiarism. This is a worldwide phenomenon. Remember Nick Simmons, who's now being accused of tracing his artwork off of Bleach? Related article here.

 Comparison scans from Comic Book Resources.

The older generation are much more analytical. Our forefathers can boast of animators who were physicists (like Ed Catmull), painters who were also carpenters, artists who were scientists (Leonardo Da Vinci among them), singers that were composers (Michael Jackson is one in hundred thousands), designers that were also developers. Generally, these were creative people who had to be resourceful because the tools of their time were primitive. Each generation's pool of geniuses builds up on the last, that's why our technology has become so advanced.

What is left for the younger generations to do then?  It's sad but it seems many will end up as drones because many are incapable of analytical thinking. They will be merely machine operators, while the few remaining thinkers do the directing.

This now poses the question: Are the inventions of past geniuses to blame for the lack of originality of our present generation? I shudder to think so. I suppose the least we can do now, if our elders have already thought about everything, is to at least ATTEMPT to be original.

Like this post? Subscribe to this blog NOW.
Or become a Facebook Fan for updates, contests and discussions.