Kalayaan Video

I finally finished this video that was stacked on my head for quite some time now. And I might say it turned out pretty nice. In this video I also added a few pages from Issue #3 which will come out this coming February. I Hope you guys like it.

Building an Army

I am building an Army. Army of toys that is. With my very own character leading the team. I have been working with this Kalayaan Action figure months now. I have been spending one to two hours every now and then, every time I have a free time on my hands.

Since june, I was scouting for a cheap possible action figure that I could modify to be a Kalayaan action figure. It was pure luck that I got this Batista action figure for a merely P120 if memory serves me right. And it was kind of coincidental that one of my fantasy was Batista taking up the role of Kalayaan if it is ever going to be a movie. I could not think of any one else. The only thing to work out is him speaking tagalog. And his hair of course.

This Kalayaan action figure is not yet finished. He still does not have the right shoulder pad. And his tatoo on his right arm is not yet totally removed. I just cheated and edited it in photoshop. And there is still the issue of the hair.

Art Jam

This is my entry for the Art Jam of John Becaro Link. I have fantasize back in my collage days of having all the powers of the x-men. And the Art Jam of John was the perfect opportunity for me draw such character.

I have asked my self. What powers of the x-men would I like?

First I wanted the metal body of Colosus for protection. The optic blast eyes of Cyclops. The Skeleton and Claws of Wolverine. I also wanted to fly. So I added Archangels wings. And I wanted to read peoples mind, Psychic powers of Jean Grey, Prof. X and Psyloc.

I also wanted the power of Iceman, Night crawler, storm and Gambit. But I do want to overkill my drawing so I did not include it.

Rex Navarette

Yesterday, my boss (owner of the company) showed me this YouTube video of Rex Navarette. A stand up comedian who is well know for marites and the super friends. Me and my boss were laughing so hard with this video.

Still on schedule

With only 4 more pages to draw. I think it is a little bit safe to say that Kalayaan 3 is still on schedule for the Feb. 2008 issue. But I cannot let my guard down, so I better get back to work now.

Previous issues can still be found at the following stores
1.)Comic Odessey-Robinsons Galleria
2.)Comic Odessey-Robinsons Manila
3.)SkyBucks - SM Fairview
4.)Druids Keep-Unit315 Geteway center, Paseo de magallanes, Makati

Paskomiks

Pasko ng Komiks had passed and I was not able to attend due to the following reasons.

1.) Dec. 11,2007 is a working day... May pasok po kasi ako..
suggestion : I think it would be better (maybe the next time) if the event would land on saturday or sunday so that mas marami ang makakapunta. Both seller and buyer.

2.) Bring your own tables and chair.
suggestion : Mahirap po kasi sa isang tao na magdala ng sariling tables and chairs. Unlike the recently concluded komikon where all tables and chair are already provided. Ok lang naman po sa akin ang may commision ang organizer as long as may mauupuan ako. Magagawan ko pa siguro ng paraan ang pag absent ko sa work para lang makapunta dito, pero ang pag bit bit ng mesa at upuan ay medyo malabo kong gagawin.

Maganda po sana ang event na ito kung lalong mapabubuti ang mga nasabi kong mga problema

Anyway, with or without me, I think that Read or Die organizers did an exelent job for this event. They are really doing their best to help the local comics industry.

Thank you very much and more power.

Ang pagbabalik ni Inday

Inday sa Deal or No Deal =)

Nasali si Inday sa Deal or No Deal

Kris: Magandang gabi mga kapamilya, sa gameshow na ito importante ang sagot sa nag-iisang katanungang Deal or no Deal. Ang ating player ngayong gabi ay walang iba kundi ang fastest-rising household services manager na si Inday!

[umentra si Inday at nagpalakpakan ang mga tao]

Kris: Ok Inday, choose a briefcase.

Inday: Kris, I would opt for case #4 please.

Kris: Briefcase # 4... si Sharmel. Inday, matanong ko lang, how did you come up with the number 4?

Inday: Oh, do you really want to know Kris?

Kris: Oo naman. I'm sure kaya ko naman maintindihan yung sasabihin mo eh.

Inday: The number 4 was acquired based on a probability distribution function that involves integrating up to an area greater than or equal to that random number which should be generated between 0 and 1 for proper distributions.

Kris: Syet. tanong tanong pa kasi eh.

Kris: Ok Inday, choose 6 briefcases to open.

Inday: I would opt for 7, 24, 12, 2, 15 and 20.

Kris: Wait lang Inday, usually isa isa lang ang pagbubukas natin ng case...

Inday: Why is that? As if I can change the outcome if we're to open a case each time I blurt out a number as opposed to opening each case immediately one after the other right?

Kris: Hayyy...babaguhin pa talaga mechanics (bulong sa sarili).

Kris: Anwyay, di bale na lang nga... tuloy tayo. Number 7. Natalie buksan na!!

[Yung audience sumisigaw ng LOWER!! LOWER!!!]

Kris: Teka lang, bago natin buksan... Inday, usually ang mga contestants naten ay sumisigaw ng "LOWER" every time magbubukas ng case.

Inday: Kris, I guess that's not the way I was taught in grade school. You see, I was taught that we should only use the comparative form of the word or add "ER" to the adjective if we are comparing two things. And since it is only the first briefcase that we are going to open, we have nothing to compare it to. Am I right?

[natahimik ang audience at napaisip]

Kris: Oo nga no!

Kris: Sige Natalie, Buksan mo na.

[Ang laman ng briefcase 7 ay Piso... Palakpakan ang mga tao]

Kris: Good start! Ano yung next case mo ulit?

Inday: Case number 24 please.

Kris: Chloe... buksan na...

[Audience sumisigaw ulit ng LOWER!! LOWER!!]

Kris: Wait lang guys, Inday may nabuksan ng case baket di ka pa rin sumisigaw ng "Lower"?

Inday: Oh my goodness Kris, how long have you been doing this? Have you ever encountered a value that is lower than a peso in this game? Tell me, is there any value left lower than the one we just opened? Sheesh.

[Napaisip ulit ang audience at natahimik]

Kris: Aarrgghh!!!! Chloe buksan na lang nga, pati na rin yung 12, 2, 15 and 20 buksan na rin para matapos na. [naiirita na]

[At sunod sunod na ngang nabukas ang mga case ni Inday]

[nag-ring ang phone]

Inday: Ahh Kris, to save more time can you tell Banker that I'm not interested in his first offer. In the history of this game of chance, I have yet to see someone accept a first offer from the banker. It's quite pathetic and pretentious for contestants to pause and look around the audience as if asking for advice before ultimately rejecting the first offer. I mean come on, isn't that a waste of airtime?

Banker: Potahhh!!! [narinig sa set kahit sarado ang kwarto ni banker]

- Ito ang unang pagkakataon na marinig ng mga audience ang boses ni banker sa Deal or no Deal.

... dumating na sa kalagitnaan ng show at mukhang minamalas na si Inday...

Kris: Ok Inday, mukhang kelangan na natin ng tulong sa mga friends mo... sino ba yung bigotilyong lalaki na naka-polo? Ano name nya?

Inday: Ahh, that's my master Mr. Montemayor.

Kris: Ahhh sya pala yun, how cute naman pala eh. Sige sir, give us a number.

Mr. Montemayor: Hi Kris, good evening. I'm a fan. I choose number 16 please.

Kris: Ano Inday ok ba yung number 16?

Inday: Whatever, we shouldn't bite the hand that feeds us anyway. Go ahead.

Kris: [taray naman] Sofie, buksan na!

[ang laman ng briefcase 16 ay 5,000]

Kris: Good job! Sino naman yung gwapong lalake na naka jumper na katabi ni Mr. Montemayor? What's his name?

Inday: Ahh, that's my on again off again boyfriend, Dodong the gardener.

Kris: Ooohh, sya pala yun. Ok Dodong, give us a number!

Dodong: Hi babes, I choose briefcase 9 if it's ok with you. If not, it's ok with me as long as it's ok with you.

Kris: Ano raw? Inday, number 9 daw ok say0?

Inday: Yes Kris, it's fine with me.

Kris: Wow ang bait pag kay Dodong. Ederlyn... buksan na!!

...nanlaki ang mga mata ni Inday at hindi sya makapaniwala. Natahimik at mukhang kakapusin sya ng hininga...

Inday: YOU!!! How dare you invade my moment!

[nagulat si Kris at ang mga audience sa reaksyon ni Inday. Nagpatawag si Kris ng commercial break at nagpakuha ng tubig para kay Inday.]

Nagkatitigan sina Inday at Ederlyn. Nakangisi si Ederlyn habang hawak ang briefcase ni Inday.

Ederlyn: Pinapangako ko, Inday... pagbukas luluhod ang mga tala! hahahahaha!

Inday: What? Can you speak up? What are you mumbling up there. Can somebody give her a microphone please?

Kris: Ano ba!! Tama na nga ang drama ninyo, Ederlyn buksan mo na ang case at umexit ka na kung ayaw mong mapalitan! (naiirita na si Kris)

Dali-daling binuksan ni Ederlyn ang briefcase at ang laman ay... P3,000,000.

Nanghinayang ang mga audience... Ang mga natirang values ay 250, 1K, 20K,50K, and 500K.

Inday: NooOoo.... (sabay tingin kay Dodong at napapaluha), how could you...

Dodong: I'm so sorry Inday, please forgive me.

Kris: Hayyy, drama again. Ang offer ni banker sa pagbabalik ng Kapamilya,Deal..or No Deal!

[pagtapos ng commercial break... mukhang composed na ulit si Inday]

Kris: Inday, are you okay? Ang offer ni banker ay 99 thousand pesos. 'Sing rami siguro ng pilipinong pinadugo mo na ilong. Is it a Deal or No Deal?

Tahimik lang si Inday tilang may kinocompute sa ulo habang ang mga audience ay nagsisigawan ng "No Deal", ang iba naman ay "Deal".

Kris: Wait lang, kung mapapansin ninyo we have only have 5 cases left, and among those 5, apat doon ay mas maliit na value...

Inday: Kris, do you mind? Can I do my own thinking?

Natameme si Kris, pati ang audience ay natahimik.

Kris: Taray to the max! (pabulong sa sarili)

Inday: Ok, I'm ready. Upon looking at the reality of the situation, 80% of the cases left have at least 49K less than the banker's offer. The only way I can do better than what is offered is that if my case contains the 500k or I'd get to open one of the four lower values. But I have to keep in mind that there's only 20% probability that this would happen. I have to take note, however, that the banker's offer is roughly around 15% lower than the offer I expected based on the arithmetic mean of the values left.

Kris: Lorddd... panaginip ba 'to? Ayokonaaa... .

Inday: Accepting a deal for less than the mean should generally be regarded as a weak decision so I would say, NO DEAL!

Limang briefcase na lang ang natitira at kasama na doon ang case ni Inday...

Kris: My God, nakaka-stress itong episode na ito ha. Baka dumugo na rin ang ilong ko sa'yo Inday. Sige Inday, go ahead and choose 1 briefcase!

Inday: Ok Kris, I choose briefcase #5 please?

Kris: Briefcase #5! Mimi bago mo buksan yan I would first like to thank Figliarina by Schubizz for my sandals, Bambi Fuentes for my hair and make-up and Pepsi

Herrera for my gown tonight.

Kris: Ok Mimi, buk...

Inday: Ahh Kris, can I also take time to thank a few people? I mean, I did save us a few minutes of airtime right?

Kris: ("kapal naman talaga ng mukha"...bulong sa sarili) Sige, ok lang go ahead. (naka-smile pa rin)

Inday: Thanks! Yes, I would like to thank Frank Provost for my hair and make-up, Jimmy Choo for my sandals and my dear friend Oscar dela Renta for my gown tonight.

BLAG!! Tinumba ni Kris ang podium at nagwalk-out. Hindi na natapos ang show kaya't binigyan na lang ni Banker si Inday ng kalahating milyon para sa kanyang oras.

Inday: Oh, and thanks to the people of Cartier for sending me these nice earrings for tonight!

[Ito ang isa sa mga un-aired episode ng Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal]

Matter of Taste

The following is from a British journalist stationed in the Philippines. His observations are so hilarious!!!! This was written in 1999.

Matter of Taste
by Matthew Sutherland

I have now been in this country for over six years, and consider myself in most respects well assimilated. However, there is one key step on the road to full asimilation, which I have yet to take, and that's to eat BALUT.

The day any of you sees me eating balut, please call immigration and ask them to issue me a Filipino passport. Because at that point there will be no turning back. BALUT, for those still blissfully ignorant non-Pinoys out there, is a fertilized duck egg. It is commonly sold with salt in a piece of newspaper, much like English fish and chips, by street vendors usually after dark, presumably so you can't see how gross it is. It's meant to be an aphrodisiac, although I can't imagine anything more likely to dispel sexual desire than crunching on a partially formed baby duck swimming in noxious fluid. The embryo in the egg comes in varying stages of development, but basically it is not considered macho to eat one without fully discernable feathers, beak, and claws. Some say these crunchy bits are the best. Others prefer just to drink the so-called 'soup', the vile, pungent liquid that surrounds the aforementioned feathery fetus...excuse me; I have to go and throw up now. I'll be back in a minute.

Food dominates the life of the Filipino. People here just love to eat. They eat at least eight times a day. These eight official meals are called, in order: breakfast, snacks, lunch, merienda, merienda ceyna, dinner, bedtime snacks and no-one-saw-me- take-that-cookie-from- the-fridge-so-it-doesn't-count.

The short gaps in between these mealtimes are spent eating Sky Flakes from the open packet that sits on every desktop. You're never far from food in the Philippines. If you doubt this, next time you're driving home from work, try this game. See how long you can drive without seeing food and I don't mean a distant restaurant, or a picture of food. I mean a man on the sidewalk frying fish balls, or a man walking through the traffic selling nuts or candy. I bet it's less than one minute. Here are some other things I've noticed about food in the Philippines.

Firstly, a meal is not a meal without rice - even breakfast. In the UK, I could go a whole year without eating rice. Second, it's impossible to drink without eating. A bottle of San Miguel just isn't the same without gambas or beef tapa. Third, no one ventures more than two paces from their house without baon (food in small container) and a container of something cold to drink. You might as well ask a Filipino to leave home without his pants on. And lastly, where I come from, you eat with a knife and fork. Here, you eat with a spoon and fork. You try eating rice swimming in fish sauce with a knife. One really nice thing about Filipino food culture is that people always ask you to SHARE their food. In my office, if you catch anyone attacking their baon, they will always go, "Sir! KAIN TAYO!" ("Let's eat!"). This confused me, until I realized that they didn't actually expect me to sit down and start munching on their boneless bangus. In fact, the polite response is something like, "No thanks, I just ate." But the principle is sound - if you have food on your plate, you are expected to share it, however hungry you are, with those who may be even hungrier. I think that's great. In fact, this is frequently even taken one step further. Many Filipinos use "Have you eaten yet?" ("KUMAIN KA NA?") as a general greeting, irrespective of time of day or location.

Some foreigners think Filipino food is fairly dull compared to other Asian cuisines. Actually lots of it is very good: Spicy dishes like Bicol Express(strange, a dish named after a train); anything cooked with coconut milk; anything KINILAW; and anything ADOBO. And it's hard to beat the sheer wanton, cholesterolic frenzy of a good old-fashioned LECHON de leche (roast pig)feast. Dig a pit, light a fire, add 50 pounds of animal fat on a stick, and cook until crisp. Mmm, mmm... you can actually feel your arteries constricting with each successive mouthful. I also share one key Pinoy trait ---a sweet tooth. I am thus the only foreigner I know who does not complain about sweet bread, sweet burgers, sweet spaghetti, sweet banana ketchup, and so on. I am a man who likes to put jam on his pizza. Try it!

It's the weird food you want to avoid. In addition to duck fetus in the half-shell, items to avoid in the Philippines include pig's blood soup (DINUGUAN); bull's testicle soup, the strangely-named "SOUP NUMBER FIVE" (I dread to think what numbers one through four are); and the ubiquitous, stinky shrimp paste,BAGOONG, and it's equally stinky sister, PATIS. Filipinos are so addicted to these latter items that they will even risk arrest or deportation trying to smuggle them into countries like Australia and the USA, which wisely ban the importation of items you can smell from more than 100 paces. Then there's the small matter of the purple ice cream. I have never been able to get my brain around eating purple food; the ubiquitous UBE leaves me cold.

And lastly on the subject of weird food, beware: that KALDERETANG KAMBING (goat) could well be KALDERETANG ASO (dog)... The Filipino, of course, has a well-developed sense of food. Here's a typical Pinoy food joke: "I'm on a seafood diet. "What's a seafood diet?" "When I see food, I eat it!" Filipinos also eat strange bits of animals --- the feet, the head, the guts, etc., usually barbecued on a stick. These have been given witty names, like "ADIDAS" (chicken's feet); KURBATA" (either just chicken's neck, or "neck and thigh" as in "neck-tie"); "WALKMAN" (pigs ears); "PAL" (chicken wings); "HELMET" (chicken head); "IUD" (chicken intestines), and BETAMAX" (video-cassette-like blocks of animal blood). Yum, yum. Bon appetit."

When I arrived in the Philippines from the UK six years ago, one of the first cultural differences to strike me was names. The subject has provided a continuing source of amazement and amusement ever since. The first unusual thing, from an English perspective, is that everyone here has a nickname. In the staid and boring United Kingdom, we have nicknames in kindergarten, but when we move into adulthood we tend, I am glad to say, to lose them.

The second thing that struck me is that Philippine names for both girls and boys tend to be what we in the UK would regard as overbearingly cutesy for anyone over about five. Fifty-five-year-olds colleague put it. Where I come from, a boy with a nickname like Boy Blue or Honey Boy would be beaten to death at school by pre-adolescent bullies, and never make it to adulthood. So, probably, would girls with names like Babes, Lovely, Precious, Peachy or Apples. Yuk, ech ech. Here, however, no one bats an eyelid. Then I noticed how many people have what I have come to call "door-bell names". These are nicknames that sound like -well, doorbells. There are millions of them. Bing, Bong, Ding, and Dong are some of the more common. They can be, and frequently are, used in even more door-bell-like combinations such as Bing-Bong, Ding-Dong, Ting-Ting, and so on. Even our newly appointed chief of police has a doorbell name Ping.

None of these doorbell names exist where I come from, and hence sound unusually amusing to my untutored foreign ear. Someone once told me that one of the Bings, when asked why he was called Bing , replied, "because my brother is called Bong". Faultless logic. Dong, of course, is a particularly funny one for me, as where I come from "dong" is a slang word for well; perhaps "talong" is the best Tagalog equivalent.

Repeating names was another novelty to me, having never before encountered people with names like Len-Len, Let-Let, Mai-Mai, or Ning-Ning. The secretary I inherited on my arrival had an unusual one: Leck-Leck. Such names are then frequently further refined by using the "squared" symbol, as in Len2 or Mai2. This had me very confused for a while.

Then there is the trend for parents to stick to a theme when naming their children. This can be as simple as making them all begin with the same letter, as in Jun, Jimmy, Janice, and Joy. More imaginative parents shoot for more sophisticated forms of assonance or rhyme, as in Biboy, Boboy, Buboy, Baboy (notice the names get worse the more kids there are-best to be born early or you could end up being a Baboy). Even better, parents can create whole families of, say, desserts (Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Honey Pie) or flowers (Rose, Daffodil, Tulip). The main advantage of such combinations is that they look great painted across your trunk if you're a cab driver. That's another thing I'd never seen before coming to Manila -- taxis with the driver's kids' names on the trunk.

Another whole eye-opening field for the foreign visitor is the phenomenon of the "composite" name. This includes names like Jejomar (for Jesus, Joseph and Mary), and the remarkable Luzviminda (for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, believe it or not). That's a bit like me being called something like "Engscowani" (for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Between you and me, I'm glad I'm not. And how could I forget to mention the fabulous concept of the randomly inserted letter 'h'. Quite what this device is supposed to achieve, I have not yet figured out, but I think it is designed to give a touch of class to an otherwise only averagely weird name. It results in creations like Jhun, Lhenn, Ghemma, and Jhimmy. Or how about Jhun-Jhun (Jhun2)?

How boring to come from a country like the UK full of people with names like John Smith. How wonderful to come from a country where imagination and exoticism rule the world of names. Even the towns here have weird names; my favorite is the unbelievably named town of Sexmoan (ironically close to Olongapo and Angeles). Where else in the world could that really be true? Where else in the world could the head of the Church really be called Cardinal Sin? Where else but the Philippines! Note: Philippines has a senator named Joker, and it is his legal name.

Two Choices

What would you do? You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third ! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS
STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them

Busy again

I have been so busy with my programming work and updating the new Kalayaan site that I did not post any thing here lately. Starting to be pretty boring huh?

Just like the other artist who participated in the recently concluded Komikon, I was stucked to my chair. I did not have the privilege to go around and see other stuff. Maybe next time I would have somebody with me to watch my comics even for just a short period of time. It was nice enough for somebody to documented the even. Thanks to Azrael for posting this video to Youtube.

Fan Art

I recently received this very nice art from Jerwin San Juan. It is quite flattering for a starting comic book artist like me to received a Fan Art from other people. I never get tired of looking at them. And that makes me think to create a Fan Art section for the newly created Kalayaan Web-site.

Kalayaan Website

I just recently created a KALAYAAN website. It is still far from being complete. But for now it will suffice. I will just be adding more stuff as time goes by. I also created a new email address for the letter page which is kalayaancomics@yahoo.com

Having fun at Komikon

Ian Walter Along created this very nice caricature souvenir for me. It is a drawing of him, Bien and me. Thank you very much man. I owe you one.

Ian again, goofing around with some cute girl.

It sure is nice to find some new friends that think like you. People that has the same passion as you. The only thing that I did not like on the last comic convention is that it ended so quickly. I had so much fun, I completely forgotten time. I wish that it was a two day event. Or at least that it would happen more than once a year. I wanted so much to go and see other booth. But I was tied down to my seat. I did not even had a chance to go to Gilbert Monsantos table. The only break I had was to go to a bathroom. The one time that I had to go, when I came back, Wilson Tortosa was at my table trying to buy a copy of my comics.

Komikon w/ known people

At long last, I have finally met Reno (creator of Maskarado) in person. He is one of the person at I admire the most in local comics. He had also released the Maskarado 15th anniversary portfolio which he made a 7 page tandem of Maskarado and my very own Kalayaan. It sure is nice to see my character on capable hands.

Me again with Azrael. The main man behind the Philippine Toy Convention held a few months ago.
Me again with John Becaro. One of the nicest guy I met at the convention. The thing that amaze me with this guy is that he remains to be humble despite that he is a great comic book artist. Nakakahiya tuloy sa kanya when I miss pronounce his last name. I said "Bakero" instead of "Becaro".

Me with Gerry Alanguilan. I was so nervous when he purchase issue #1 and 2 of Kalayaan.
Carlo Vergara (creator to Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah). Another nice person that I met. I just cant believe that he bought my comics.

There were also other people that I have met that I forgot to get a picture. Such as Wilson Tortosa (Battle of the Planets), Ian Sta. Maria (Sky World) and Ed Tadeo.

More Komikon Pics

I was so tired yesterday. Thats why I only posted a few pictures. And now, the aftershock is still there. But I think, I got most of my strength back.

This is the early part of the event. I could easily tell because there were still mini-poster at my table available free for the early buyers. I only wish that I could have printed more of those give away mini-poster coz they were easily sold out on the early part of the event.
This is Jed, a cool comic book fan that I just met during the event. This kind of people make it worth while all the hard work that comes into making an indie comics.Here I am signing an issue of Kalayaan for Jed. I think he is very happy with the free mini-poster that I gave him. This is Teardrop. Don't ask me his real name is, because I also don't know. I asked him once and refuse to tell me coz he says it was too common name :-) This is the first time I met him in person. But we know each other for quite some time. We were constantly exchanging messages in DeviantArt. I don't know about the other artist, but I think I have the most kindest and nicest fan based there is. And Teardrop is one of them. This makes me wish that there could be more than one comic convention a year. This cute young girl is M.J. She asked me to draw her a caricature of her self. She asked me so nicely that I could not refuse. And besides, it only took me around 4 to 5 minutes of quick sketch. My work is located on the lower right corner.

Comic Convention

I just got back from the 3rd Philippine Comic Convention 2007 at UP Diliman. And what a blast it was. I was lucky enough to sit along with two nicest guy I just met at the convention.

Me with Ian Walter Along. He is such a playful guy. Always throwing away joke at every body. Even with people he just met. You can see that his comics "Grads Tayo" is an extension of his humorous personality.Me and Ian also has another interesting thing in common except comic. And that is Math. He is an education graduate with major in Mathematics, while I graduated B.S.Math major in computer programming. He has such a great character. There is no dull moment when he is around.

This is Bien del Rosario doing some sketches. Unlike Ian, he is a little bit more conservative that him. But then again, I think almost every body in the convention is a little bit more conservative than Ian (I think he is going to kill me when he read this,nya ha ha ha).

Gener Pedrina gave me a cool Kalayaan and Sandata trading cards. He has printed this amazing Filipino Superhero trading cards for only P10 each. I was really happy to got this card for free, coz I was sort of collecting superhero cards such as Marvel and DC for quiet sometime. And now we have our very own heroes.
Bien also created a fan art Sandata. So he was also given a free copy of it.

Preparations

I am just preparing for the Comicon tomorrow. I am so exited because this is the first time I am about to attend. I wasn't able to attend prior to this because of some health issues. But I am so busy today printing these mini-poster that I have been working on. It is a give away for every purchase of Kalayaan comics. I only hope that there would be many people going to attend this Comicon so I can sell as much many comics as I can. I also hope that people would like these poster enough for them to buy a copy of Kalayaan comics.

I am also exited to see my favorite local comic book artist (hey, I'm a fan too you know) like Reno Maniquis, Gerry Alanquilan and Ed Tadeo just to name a few. I only hope that the weather is not going to be much of a problem tomorrow.

Yes you can

I got another chain mail from my Inbox that is pertaining that it is a chinese proverb which I highly dought.
I hate this kind of things. This junk mail are a complete BS (Bullshit) and a waste of bandwith of the internet ISP. I wonder why so many of my friends believe in this kind of BS. And the thing that really annoys me is that they are saying that "if you dont send this to 10 people in you contact you will have an accident and be like this and like that" Bla bla bla. "And if you send this with in the next 1 hour or so you will be bless with one million Peso and your life wil prosper" Bla bla bla bla again. And some of this BS email even uses the name of the BIG GUY above.
Does this people doesn't have any fear at all? Don't they know that they should not use his name in vain?

Anyway, the email was send through our yahoo group. And I just could not let it pass and let every body in our group would believe this kind of crap. So I replied a serious sarcastic kind of way.

Here it is.

------------------------------------------
Pls. excuse me. But I just have to answer this.
I am not really sure that this is a chinese proverb,
because I know many chinese, and this is not the way
they think.

1.) With money you can
buy a house. But not a home?

Yes you can.
I know rich people that owns a house and a home at the
same time. They live there happy law abiding citizen.

2.) With money you can
by a clock. But not time?

Yes you can.
I personally know an owner of a company that go to
office at 9 or 10 am and goes out 2pm to plays golf.
Others I know works only mon to thursday and plays
golf every friday. I also know a person that was
financially secure at an early age. He retired at age
45 years old instead of 65. That is an extra 20 years
of FREE TIME.

3.) With money you can
buy a bed, but not sleep?

Yes you can.
I think the person that can sleep the most are the
people that does not worry on the thing that if he or
his family has something to eat tomorow morning.

4.) With money you can
buy a book, but not knowledge?

Yes you can.
There is no exclusivity in this. There are smart rich
people and there are smart poor people. But if you got
money, you can study in any school that you want.
Information is at you finger tip. It is much harder to
gain knowledge if your resources are limited.

5.) With money you can
buy a doctor, but not good health?

Yes you can. DAMN IT.
If your body is born geneticaly weak. There is a little thing a doctor can do.
Even if you have money there is a LITTLE thing that anybody can do.
If you dont have money. There is nothing you can do. PERIOD.
Maliban na lang kung gusto mong gayahin si FPJ. Tutukan mo ng baril ang doctor... ILANG DEPOSITO ANG GUSTO MO?

But seriously, you can buy a good health. I can go on about this all day long, but I will just give a few example. With money you can enroll to a fitness gym, buy fruits, vitamins and take a vacation on your rest house some where that has a fress air. nuff said.


6.) With money you can
buy a Position, but not respect?

Yes you can.
There are asshole every where, in every company.
WITH or without money you can gain respect.
And I would like to emphasis on the word "WITH"


7.)With money you can
Buy blood, but not life.

Yes you can.
Maybe the person who wrote this have never been in a hospotal before. Peoples lives are being extended because of their health insurance and cash on their pockets. Think man, think.

8.) With money you can
buy sex
but not love.

Amen to that.

Angry Hero

I finally got some few time to color some of my drawings. And I might add that it turned out not bad at all despite that it is just only a flat colors.

This particular piece is also a submission for the T-Shirt company that I am engaged in right now. A few weeks ago, they e-mailed me that they need more designs to choose from. This is already the 4th one that I just finished, and I am still planning to send another one. At first, about the beginning of October. I thought that they could already create a printed T-Shirt of Kalayaan before Nov. 17(Comic Con). But never the less, I am still very much optimistic about this whole T-Shirt thing.

Dead Wrestlers

I know that this is a little bit late for November 1. But I just could not resist posting this here. I consider this as a small way of tribute to them.

I was just cleaning my Hard drive when I stumbled into an old file of mine that contains the deceased wrestlers. It saddened me to see these great wrestles died so young. I guess, no matter how strong you are, death can still come to you when you least expect it.


1.) Chris Benoit.
     June 25,2007 Age : 40 , murder-suicide


2.) Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow.
     Jan 19,2007 Age : 45 , Drug overdose


3.) Eddie Guerrero.
      11/13/2005 Age: 38 , heart disease


4.) Big Boss Man (Ray Traylor)
      September 22, 2004  Age: 42 heart attack


5.) Hercules
      March 6, 2004,  Age: 47 heart attack


6.) Crash Holly (Michael Lockwood)
      November 6, 2003 ,  Age: 34


7.) Road Warrior Hawk.
      June 2,2003    Age : 46


8.) Miss Elizabeth
      May 1, 2003  -  Age: 42


9.) Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig
      Feb. 10, 2003  - Age: 44 , Cocaine Intoxication


10.) Davey Boy Smith (British Bulldog)
     May 18, 2002   Age: 39- Heart Attack


11.) Yokozuna (Rodney Anoai)
     October 22, 2000   , Age: 34 Heart Attack


12.) Owen Hart (Blue Blazer)
     May 23,1999 , Age 33 ,
     Internal bleeding from blunt chest trauma


13.) "Ravishing" Rick Rude
     April 20, 1999 , Age: 41 heart Attack


14.) Junk Yard Dog
      June 2,1998  - Age: 45 , car accident


15.) Dino Bravo
      March 11, 1993 -  Age : 44 gunned down


16.) Kerry Von Erich (Texas Tornado)
      February 18,1993 - Age: 33 , heart attack


17.) Andre The Giant
      Jan 27,1993 - Age: 42, heart attack
----------------------------------

Some of these wrestlers are the same age as I am today
when they died. This makes me think that I should 
really take good care of my health from now on.