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On the Philippine elections

I'll step in very briefly to post my thoughts on the upcoming elections in the Philippines. Then, maybe another about the US elections? Then I'll go back and post more images. :-)


You know the story of the boy who was locked up in his dark room almost all his life, and one day finally saw the door wide open, his captor missing, the abundant sunshine and wide green forest beckoning to him?

However, just a few days and nights in this new environment, the boy got too scared of the new things - "creepy, crawly stuff, the whispering wind, things that go bump in the night". So he went back and stayed in his "safe" cell. (If this were a movie, this is when the audience collectively shouts "Ay, tanga! Kainis!" ["That's stupid! He is frustrating!"] ).

Well, it is eerily similar to what's happening back home with the Presidential elections. Barely 30 years have gone by from our last dictator, a lot of people are toying again with voting into office someone with similar tendencies. People are willing to risk going back into those dark times, for a promise of some semblance of peace and order. Some justify it as "dipping merely their toes", see what happens. However, Jefferson wisely said "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

That we look to someone to discipline us says MUCH more about us than the man.

And for some of us watching this unfold, we can only sigh and join the movie-goers' chorus. 

My budding musicians

Plowing through winter into spring

There hasn't been much that happened between winter and spring, so really my photographs weren't ... inspired. Mostly I just took my camera and if something catches my eye, I snap. If nothing caught my eye, I just force my eye to look for something! I guess in the midst of the tedium of work and the bam-bam-bam rhythm of having three kids at home, I just wanted to kindle that photographic spark and not let it peter out.

I tried to join a few photo projects over one of my favorite forums seriouscompacts.com, and one of those was capturing an image for a favorite album. Of course the first album that comes to mind is Amy Winehouse's Back to Black (I think my iPod classic finally died just because of how much I played that album), and here's my attempt:

As you can see, it's pretty much still inside the house. Ugh.

Once, I even had to ask my kids to think of something silly that we haven't tried before. We experimented with lots of poses, and my phone quickly filled up with silly faces. All very funny (and I kept them all - maybe to show during their wedding? Haha!) but nothing new. Until we came up with this:

Once it warmed up I tried to revisit parts of my adopted city during breaks, and took a few snaps with my X100s.

I was just happy to be out at that time. Though, Boston being Boston, the sun shines just enough to thaw you out, and then hides again for a few days.

So it is no surprise I was positively giddy when a few of my long-time friends way back from college decided to converge in Boston. Will write about it next time.

Tense

I forgot what the kids were watching though. 

Selfie #1

Reflection on an iMac by the window

(I know, I should get the screen cleaned!!)

View from My Window

Weymouth, MA
2/27/2014 11:00 AM
27˚ F

My other hobby ...

Yes, I am a bookworm. And I'm afraid I've turned my kids into one, too! But that story's for another day.

I borrowed Dan Brown's Inferno a few days ago from our library. Granted that he is not the sharpest tool to begin with, but his first two books were at least entertaining. With this one, I think he just mailed it in and cashed his check. It was like reading a tour and art guide of Florence. You'd get lost and sometimes forget that there's a story buried there somewhere, too.

Imagine - Robert Langdon was running for his life, and he can still think about how that big bath tub near Rameses' obelisk should really go? Or that Hercules and Diomedes sculpture (that make college girls giggle with glee) also needed to go? Please.

Not even halfway (surprised I even reached almost halfway?) and I quit and moved on. Now I am happy. Happy. HAPPY.

With this.

That black foamie thing ...

So I've always wondered what's the deal with that black foamie thingy, and how different is it really from just flash pointing up.

Being a real newb as far as flash is concerned, I spent some time figuring out how to setup the Nissin di466 (Micro Four Thirds mount) to pair with my X100s. I was finally able to make them work by:

(a) Setting up my X100s to fire the flash as a "master";
(b) Setting up my Nissin to the S2 mode;
(c) holding the Nissin in front of me where it can "receive" the fire flashed by the X100s.

As far as the black foamie thingy -- I bought a $0.99 8x11 piece of black foam in an arts and crafts store, and cut a roughly 4x6 piece and attached it to the flash head pointing up. When I fired the flash with the foam attachment, it is facing me as the Nissin does not have a swiveling head.

The results speak for themselves! (Images are all OOC, ISO 200, f/2.8)

2014 is here, and I'm aaaalive!!!

I almost forgot I had this blog! Can't believe it's been 2 years since my last post! Some rut, huh. I can't even remember what changed from then! 

Let's see ... I'm pretty sure I bought an E-PL3 after the E-PL2, dabbled in Nex via the C3, gave in to the Fuji bug via X-E1, traded it for an X100s... Whew! And that doesn't even include the lenses!! 

Oh wait .. you wanted to know about what's been up with me, not my gear? Then in the words of Marvin Gaye, let's get it on! 

Let's start to let the pictures do the talking, starting with this tsunami of a change:

Ruts

Been down for some time now, and I turned to my reliable source of pick-me-ups: music. I’ve been drowning myself with loads of it, and lately I realized three of my most favorite songs are songs “owned” by someone: Your Song, A Song for You, and Ang Aking Awitin (My Song).

Pardon the missing images on this post.

Play time

Lately the urge to shoot hasn’t really been there, but last weekend we went to a kids’ party, and I thought I got a few interesting ones – apart from the usual party snapshots.

Snow, Day 2

So finally New England got a dose of “normal” snowfall and accumulation. And there’s just something about snow and kids – so off the two kiddos went, and really enjoyed their share of snow.

I posted a few pictures yesterday of my eldest, and the next two below is my youngest.

And this is one of my favorites from this afternoon’s “session”:

Finally snow

Winter’s been really mild here in New England. I’m not complaining – it’s just that playing with a little bit of snow is one of the few things we look forward to in winter.

So finally we’ve had some overnight accumulation, may 2 or 3 inches? As soon as Justine woke up and saw the snow, she went out and played. And of course, off I went and grabbed my camera.

(All shot with XSi and 50mm.)

 

 

 

Starting the year right

What better way to start the year than by family trips! My family went on back-to-back weekend trips to Atlantic City, New Jersey and New York.

 

 

 

 

Aside from Atlantic City, our main purpose was to stuff ourselves full with Filipino food, and in the East Coast, that means Jersey City (Max’s of Manila especially) and Woodside, NY (Jollibee and Red Ribbon bakeshop). No pictures there – no one wanted their picture shoving food into their mouths.

All in all a great trip, made more memorable with infrequently-seen family and infrequently-tasted food.

Catching up…

Ok, I’ve been very busy since I came back from my trip, and have not been able to update my blog. For the (rest of the) New Year, I’ll strive to post more regularly, even if it’s just a picture a day.

Here are a few more images from the Philippines.

 

 

This here below is Taal Volcano.

Around town

Today was a slow day. I think the daily trips/errands have finally caught up to me.:-)

So, I just went for a walk around town (after my siesta of course), and tried to capture Christmas around our town.


First stop: food. Did I say food is BIG here? This time, I went to a sidewalk vendor famous for their grilled meats.

Here's the master at work ...



... and his masterpiece(s). (Apart from barbecued pork, you can see some more exotic stuff like chicken innards and pork ears.)



Here, the local church is usually the center of activity in every town, so I was naturally drawn towards it. Here's the plaza in front of the church.


A light in the dark


Also, starting today December 16, the traditional karoling starts. It's when everyone, especially kids, go around houses singing Christmas carols, and then they are given coins for their effort. Here are some carolers with their improvised instruments.






Even some grown-ups, too!


After their rounds, the kids divide what they received, everyone goes home happy. And then it starts over again the next night!


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[I](Used G3 for the carolers, the X10 for everything else.)[/I]

Chinatown

I'm now on Day 4, and boy, a week's almost done, and I still have a long list of to-do's! This time, I visited the local Chinatown, where every trip is an adventure.

I decided to go all-Fuji processing for this trip -- these images (except the last two) were straight out of the camera. (The other two just didn't seem to convey the same feeling when I used just the OOC jpg.)

Food is a BIG BIG part of Filipino culture, and when you mix it some more with Chinese culture and cuisine, you have an explosion of culinary possibilities. Sadly, my stomach can only take so much in one sitting. :-)

First off, a shot by my mom of my dad, me, and some local personalities in front of a no-frills, off-the-beaten-track restaurant that's a local legend.




And here's a quick Super-Macro of the food. I said "quick" because I just had to get that snap before I gave in to the sights and smells of the food in front of me! :-)




After lunch, we rode one of the de-padyaks (only this time it was not a bicycle, but a small motorcycle fitted with a sidecar). I rode behind the driver so I can get quick snaps of the area while he navigated the streets.

A ready-to-eat fruit vendor



A calesa (horse-drawn carriage) -- I tried to take a shot of the calesa's front view as we passed, but I almost fell from the vehicle. :biggrin:

PS: Note the yellow ribbon - when one wears it, it's almost always a sign of fondness for the late Corazon Aquino (the wife of our hero Ninoy Aquino) who was swept into power through a bloodless revolution in 1986 (also called "People Power Revolution"), and is generally credited with the restoration of democracy to our country.

Fruits and veggies everywhere! (That's my mom's back, by the way.)


A local grocery shop



East meets West. Note the Chinese incense candles in front of the cross.


A de-padyak (which is also called "sidecar")


It's the way Chinatowns should be (I think): busy, tasty, crowded, colorful. It's sensory overload, but well worth the trip.