Thoughts and Non Thoughts

Past midnight Past all the cares of the previous day Too late to worry about them now And too early to think about the morning Past midnight It's a crack in time Where thoughts enter from nowhere Or maybe they were there all along Waiting for this opening Past midnight When your body is tired but your mind is not What point of one's life is Past midnight?

In the middle of Glorietta mall in Makati is a small coffee shop called "Bo's Coffee Club." This is where I dragged myself to recover some energy while doing some Christmas shopping. I ended up staying an hour, catching a catnap, sipping iced choco -- and watching people (not a usual pastime). To my surprise I noticed that women seem to be getting... err... "rounder." I mean, why am I not seeing skinny anorexic models on a ramp? Was the reason staring me in the face? - across Bo's is a popular fastfood (burger) store. Okay, it's not really scientific, I'm concluding from a sample of women who walked in front of Bo's between 2:30 and 3:30 pm. Don't get me wrong, the men were "round" too, but that's old news! I always thought the women were "ideal" ... Maybe I never looked, except at beauty product endorsers on TV. A quick hour -- back to shopping, for something that will make me look, um, less round?

Vinyl is alive and well. Yes, despite the recent strides in digital music technology, there are many audiophiles who swear that nothing beats music played by good old vinyl records. In typical anal(og) obsession, these audiophiles continue to look for tweaks in their equipment to get "closer to the music". One of these tweaks is a record clamp, which supposedly ensures proper contact between vinyl and mat (that sits on the platter), avoiding slippage during playback. There are many commercial types available, but there are many DIY ideas as well. Here's a DIY record clamp in action. If you play badminton, you'll find it easy to guess where it came from.

Good times ahead? Or maybe not?

A Vietnamese "Luneta photographer"... showing off his L lens...

(Part 1 of Animal Farm is here .) And so it came to pass that the farm elected the Pig for Supreme Animal. Or at least that’s what the Comselec, the commission that counted the votes, declared. Within six months the Parrot lost its voice and eventually died of heartbreak. The Owl retreated into deep silence and seemed not to be sorely missed. The Dove had to go back to its divided flock to explain how it misheard the voice from heaven. The Dog started acting like a domesticated puppy. But the Duck had the most fun, selling recordings of its quack and getting paid for finally acting like a duck. The Pig continued campaigning for a while, as if it needed reminding that it had been elected Supreme Animal. It finally stopped trying to win a popularity contest and tried to solve the problems of the farm with mixed results as in the past. Within a year, excitement was back in the animal farm. Some animals have accused the pigs surrounding the Supreme Animal of hoarding more and more food ill...

(written May 7, 2004) There was an animal farm which was not like any other animal farm. You see, the animals get to elect a Supreme Animal every six years. This year is an election year and there are six candidates for Supreme Animal. They could not be more different from each other. The first candidate is a Pig. It claims it deserves to continue as Supreme Animal because -- all animals should know this -- the Pig is the brainiest animal in the farm, or outside the farm for that matter. It claims experience has taught it how to run the farm and how to solve all the problems of the farm despite mixed results in the past. The problem is that, even if this Pig is diminutive, animals suspect gargantuan greed -- particularly those of the other pigs around it. The other animals suspect that the pigs are hoarding most of the food in the farm for themselves, although there is no evidence except their increasing girth. The harshest accusation of the pigs' greed comes from the second candid...

In the vast eternity of time and space, we are like fireworks. We live on this world, shine brightly for a brief moment, and then are gone forever. Don't you wish there was a way for you to live forever? Yes, there is a way, and that is through the magic of photography. By using a camera, your shining moment lives forever. You will capture life as you saw it. It doesn't have to be a fancy camera. One of my favorite images was taken with a cellphone -- my daughter river-rafting with me. It's not a work of art but it is important to me. It is my life, it is my fireworks. And one day my daughter might look at it, remember that moment, and decide it is part of her fireworks too.

When does perception become reality? When do clouds become a tiger ?

Fifteen years ago Boracay had no electricity, no running water. The best accommodation was in native cottages. It was a fishing village and the locals outnumbered the guests. A tropical island getaway. There was sun, white powdery sand, and fun at night meant singing with a guitar around a bonfire. There was tranquility. Paradise. Things have changed in paradise. Your cellphone works and there’s WiFi. The crowd is thick and there’s a lot more fun. Paradise is getting harder to keep but it is still a beautiful place. The sun and sand are the same. And if you look hard enough you can still find solitude. Here's a take on Boracay, Zen and the Art of Paradise Maintenance . And Paradise Revisited .

You will never know what it’s like To look at a newborn baby’s face And know inside she is yours Unless you’re a mother To nurse a baby to sleep and sit still Cause that will make everything right in the world You won’t know how it is Unless you’re a mother To be proud of your child’s first dance Of your child’s first poem Of your child’s first crush Unless you’re a mother How you are ready to take on All the evil people in the world Specially the other child who fought with your child Unless you’re a mother To weep with quiet tears When your child takes the wrong road You will never know the deepness of this sorrow Unless you’re a mother To fill the void When your child goes away To dance in the bigger world No one worries like a mother And you will not know what it’s like When your child becomes a mother And thanks you for showing her how Unless you are a mother

Sun rises early Hot day silently breaks though A helpless curtain

A couple of nights ago, some friends and I enjoyed an evening of singing our hearts out at Red Box Karaoke in Makati. Very nice place. Here's an article on some wholesome karaoke places to enjoy in the metro.

If you have one day to spare while in Manila, one of the best things to do is head south to Villa Escudero. It’s about 150 km or a good two-hour drive. Villa Escudero is different things to different people – it’s a getaway from the hustle and bustle of Manila, it’s a change of scenery for city slickers, and – with swimming pools for kids as the latest concession, a picnic place for the family to cool down during the summer. To me it is a theme park. Instead of Disneyland trams that bring you to Main Street, you get carabao-drawn buses that bring you to the pavilion. Like Disneyland, where you can get lost in a fantasy world, Villa Escudero is a place for you to immerse in an era gone by, when life was simpler and Filipino culture was the mainstream culture. One of the major attractions is the museum, which holds quite a variety of historical pieces collected by the Escudero family, dating back to the Spanish period. The whole place in fact is a throw back to the hacienda days when t...

This downloading business brought to mind the “stickiness factor” mentioned in the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell explained how simple things move people from “knowing” to “acting”; for example, increasing the number of students who got vaccination shots by simply including a map to the clinic and vaccination hours in the handouts. In the Canon site, it was the very clear and step-by-step instructions (illustrated with photos) of the downloading process that made me think “I can do this.” And so I did. It was really a piece of cake. You download the file, save it to a formatted CF card (using a card reader), then put this CF card into the 10D. You don’t need to be a geek to feel like one. Maybe the Canon guys read the book?

Last night I downloaded two files from Canon’s download site. The first one is a firmware upgrade for my Canon EOS 10D. I was an early adopter of the 10D so it came with firmware v1.0.0. The latest firmware v2.0.1 added pictbridge compatibility and, more importantly, shorter “microdrive release time lag”. I don't really know what that means but I tried it anyway since I am using a 4 GB microdrive extracted from a Muvo2 . I found that with firmware v2.0.1 the waiting time to shift from shooting mode to view mode on the 10D is significantly shorter. There are other subtle improvements as well, such as the battery power indicating “full charge” on newly charged batteries (BP 511); before the upgrade it indicated “partial charge” on the same batteries. The other download was a free software called Digital Photo Professional (DPP), useful for converting RAW files taken with a Canon EOS camera. I played a little bit with it but still have to learn all the features. Shooting RAW is suppo...

I got a rare opportunity to wander into Quezon City due to an errand. It was also an opportunity to have lunch at the Banawe area. Many have discovered that Banawe Street is not just a place for getting reasonably-priced car parts (new or “replacement”). This place now rivals Ongpin and Chinatown for authentic Chinese food, owing to the large number of businesses in the area owned by Chinese Filipinos. I chose a place called Mr. Poon since the parking slot had some space (it was quite early). It was clean, and, besides, looked like a place where you can order food for just one person. What intrigued me was its menu proudly claiming their Beef Mami (noodles) as “probably the best in the country.” How can you pass up an opportunity like that? So of course that’s what I ordered! The place soon filled up. The table next to me had a family with a “balikbayan” who was making a special journey to this restaurant; apparently part of his homecoming. Behind me, a couple was having a lauriat. ...

I had my haircut at Bruno’s Barber Shop. Behind me (hence in front of me in the mirror) also having his haircut was a man with very little hair. In fact, one can say he was bald on top. The barber was shaving his whole head. I was actually minding my own business (reading a newspaper) but couldn’t help overhearing him asking the barber to cut it shorter. I glanced and realized that he was talking about his moustache (which in contrast to his hair was quite bushy). That’s when I noticed his son beside him. He was about twelve and had a really thick and spiky hairstyle (reminiscent of Mel Gibson in the first Mad Max movie). I couldn’t help but think that genetics are against this boy and, not for long, he is going to be a skinhead too. And the nonthoughts followed: When does a boy become a man? (not in a “rite of passage” way but physically, in the eyes of others). When does a young man become a middle-aged man? When does a middle-aged man become an old man? I wonder what nonthoughts my ...

April 8, 2005 For the first time in a long while, something's right at the NAIA (Manila's International Airport). The floor of the baggage claim area has been newly painted green. It was really clean. The men's room was also a pleasant surprise -- fixtures were new -- and no janitors hanging around for tips. Then there's a "Wow! Philippines" booth for tourists, complete with brochures in different languages with welcoming ladies in local costume. Somebody or some group got its act right. It's not that much but it's not usual to be greeted with positive signs at this airport so, hey, I'll take this one. Of course, in ten minutes I went right smack into Manila's Friday night traffic, but then one bit of good news at a time is good enough... Wow! Philippines booth (this was taken outside the arrival hall with my cell phone).

Pope John Paul II passed away today. Upon hearing this news, many people around the world shed tears. On CNN and BBC, we see people talk about a person who loomed large on the world stage. His historical contributions, such as his role in the fall of communism in Poland and Europe and in bridging the Catholic Church with other faiths are mentioned as part of his legacy. He is likened to other great leaders who have helped shape world events. There is no doubt that Pope John Paul II is a historical figure, having been Pope for twenty-six years. Even comments about his perceived conservatism and some omissions of the church only show the immense expectations and demands placed upon this man. But greatness can only be judged by history, and his place in it will only become clearer with time. But the millions who wept upon hearing of his death are not concerned about historical greatness. If there is one defining image of John Paul II, it is of him holding his staff and smiling. They wept ...

Student: Does this blog exist? Master: By asking, you confirm its existence. Student: Where does it reside? On my screen or in the server? Master: It belongs to neither, it belongs to everything. It is. Student: It only exists in my mind? How come I can read it. Master: Your eyes can see it, but your mind doesn't.