Thoughts

Thoughts….

About Nature

It’s been two days of thunderstorms in Manila and yet the season is still supposed to be the start of the flowering month (May). The earth is dying or should I say in turmoil of drastic change which then will surely affect the flora and fauna of this world, moreover the ones who will be mostly affected by this will be us, humans. There is a warning that has been sounded on for almost more than a century now about these drastic changes but it seems that the effort we do are just whispered answers against the sound of that alarm. I have just bought a dvd of this BBC documentary titled Planet Earth and saw the beauty and magnificence of this planet is incomprehensible just to be devastated by a meager species, one that is so insignificant in numbers among the five kingdoms of life, one that has just inherited the earth recently from the dinosaurs about 200,000 years ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human), a microscopic peck in the universe, one that is called homo sapiens. As one bishop said, we are but just God’s guest on this planet and as guests we should try not to destroy our Host’s home. And if you don’t believe in God, just care for the earth for the sake of the generations to come.

What I have been doing the first quarter of 2k9

It’s been a very-very busy and productive quarter so far for me. The year of the Ox as soon as it started brought me a lot of wonderful opportunities to explore both my country and myself. 2009 is a year of firsts for me, as I have been divirginized on the adventures I longed dreamed of.

As January began, I have received an offer to be a part of a full length film as a script supervisor and although the production turned out to be not that professional, I have realized my potentials on the other aspects of filmmaking and turned that not-so-good experience to be a beneficial one. I learned doing the logistics, monitoring the continuity, arranging the costumes, directing the blockings, and feeding the whole production simultaneously. At first I thought I shouldn’t be doing that for a meager amount of talent fee and for the type of administration the production has but in return, I looked on the bright side as always, and charged them all to experience. And what an experience it has been, indeed.

After almost two weeks of isolation in Cavite for that shoot, I came back to Manila and received another call from production friends giving me an assistant position for a music video. It has been my dream since high school to be a part of a music video since the generation I have came from has been greatly influenced by the good old Channel V and of course, MTV. The experience gave me a chance to know other people and how to deal with them hence; I made new connections and found new friends along the way.

Having friends on my side, we also made a commercial for the Department of Agriculture and I was tasked to do some oculars alone in San Ildefonso, Bulacan. It was my first time to do that alone and when I got to the location and took a handful of pictures, our location manager invited me on a birthday party and to my surprise, I just found myself on the same table with the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Secretary, and other political figures of Bulacan with a beer on my hand. Beaurecracy has never been that hospitable before.

After all those busy, busy months, I was in my room for a good week and thinking if there won’t be anymore projects to come. Then I received a call with an offer of a commercial project. I was briefed then that it will be on Cebu City and of course, I immediately said yes and agreed to join a meeting right in the afternoon of that same day. When I got to the meeting, I was surprised to know that it is not only in Cebu we are going to shoot at but to five other provinces in the southern Visayas. Apparently, it is a nationwide coverage tv commercial and our team has been designated six locations namely: Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan de oro, and one in the north, Baguio city. It is so taxing that there are times we get off only in the airport to go back in our respective homes to replenish our clothes and then immediately the next day we are on the plane again on to the next province. It was also a chance for me to see and meet a lot of people and get to know different cultures of our wonderful archipelago. The tawas tapol ( a guy who sells charms along the streets of Davao) were really awesome though I can’t understand what they’re saying except their “Tugsh! Kapiyaw! Booom!” self-made sound effects.

For now, what I am up to is a full length film with this 45 year-old production company and an artsy-shoot for a friend in Ilocos Norte where we will be hanging cunt and dildos in the sand dunes of the far north.

Life has never been this exciting!

On growing old

There is this stage in a human life you call age of discernment wherein a person reaches a certain age (usually that cusp between puberty and adolescence) where he is able to discern what is morally good from what is morally bad. An age of realization, I would say. As a human being grows old, there are experiences he accumulates from all sorts, be it new or different ideas he picks up in that cycle of life. All of those upon reaching a certain age, a man has to decide what from those are beneficial, what are not, what are good, what are bad. And as he introspects further and further down the skin of his humanity, he sees his strengths and weaknesses. And if you are 23 years old and already thinking about these shits, you could join me in my premature quarter life crisis club. The vice-president position is still open.