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2010-12-14T08:04:00.002+08:00

Aha! I smell a reboot. Maybe in 2011.

2008-02-28T17:09:00.001+08:00

BACK, BUT ONLY FOR THIS POST

...because I still live on Multiply. But please, read on...

Okay, so if you've been following Philippine current events, we're chest-deep in another stupid government scandal. And while I may act ambivalent about the whole bit, I am generally concerned about where this country is heading. The government says that our economy is the best it's been in 31 years. But it's not good enough. People are STILL starving and well, in terms of infrastructure, we still pay the highest price for the lowest quality. This is progress you say?

So the children of People Power 1 are now grown up. We have the income, the numbers and, more importantly because of the Interwebs, the power to influence. Friend Lawin has an interesting germ of an idea of bringing about People Power 2.0. Read up, and if you're interested, spread the word and let's see where we can take this.

---

*Please feel free to repost this on your blog. - Jason

Income tax, in an ideal world, is how a government generates money in order to fund its programs and functions, pay government workers' salaries, and make sure that everything works properly for the benefit of the citizenry. A cool idea, taxes. It's democracy in action. It's people pooling resources to make government (and sanity and stability) possible.

But all you have to do is check out our unemployment rates, our declining standards of education, the rise in homelessness, and the proliferation of potholes and you see that conditions are far from ideal. After years and years of debt servicing and the Armed Forces being top priorities when it comes to budget allocation, we're still bilions of dollars in debt. And we can still only sustain less than ten minutes of full-scale conventional warfare before wiping out our ammo reserves. It's almost too sad.

And it's not even that I don't want to pay my taxes. I know it's needed. I just want the money to be put to better use. I want to feel that it makes a difference in a way that's valuable to ME and not just to some faceless board or think tank.

So WHAT IF we could choose exactly where our income tax goes to? When our returns are filed, we fill out little boxes stating the percentages or departments or issues that our taxes will support. For example, if I had my way, I'd like MY taxes to go to education, the arts, and public works. It's a more direct and participative way of doing taxes. It makes taxes feel relevant and meaningful again. Plus government bodies and departments will be compelled to talk more about their programs and why you should put your tax money in their program instead of others. Sure, I know there's bare minimums that should be maintained ond that you can't have departments without money at all, but I figure that's what the OTHER taxes can fund. INCOME tax, well, I think that's something us income earners deserve to have more say about. Heck, with this kind of system in place, the citizenry can actually direct policy and government action with more force and finality than some convention, lobby, or rally. Make the final destination of income tax controllable by the tax payer and you'll have real honest-to-goodness People Power that even EDSA I would have trouble matching.

I'm no economist or governance specialist. But I know that what I've outlined above makes sense. It makes us all more participative. It makes government more accountable. And it makes taxes not so painful.

I'm looking for people who can help turn this idea into a proposal of some sort. With all the professional bells and whistles. Something we can send to governement as a real and solid proposition. If this is interesting to you, if this is something you'd like to see happen, and if you're interested in more intelligent and more constructive mass action, let's get together. Let's meet. Let's talk. And then let's change the world.

2007-12-06T20:28:00.000+08:00

...MOVING

Shifting over to my multiply site for the time being. Blogger's fun, but really - Multiply can do so much more.

2007-11-28T01:04:00.002+08:00

YOWZA.

I hadn't counted on this:

Neil linked my Multiply mirror of The Proposal entry! See it here.

This is beyond awesome. And, as you may see, it's generated a quite a sizeable comment thread. Woweezowee! Thanks, everyone!

Oh, Russ Molina of DDB Philippines FILMED the entire proposal bit.

Neil also said quite a bit about the proposal during the Fully Booked event the day after. Thanks to Charles Tan for the following transcript:

"The great thing about coming to the Philippines is that people always ask what was the strangest thing that has happened to me in the Philippines. Today when they were asking me upstairs as I was being interviewed was yesterday during the book signing that I did in Subic, somebody named Jason with him through my FAQ line on my website and said I want to propose marriage to my girlfriend, would you mind writing Maui would you marry Jason in my book? Of course I did it. I wrote Maui would you marry Jason and--I did a Sandman drawing first and handed it to her and she looked very baffled at first, possibly I was the one proposing. And then she looked at the word Jason attached to it and by that point she had Jason down on his knees pulling out a ring. That was yesterday's strangest thing."

That bit was also captured on video:

And more pictures are popping up:

Stuff from purplycookie.

Pics from Ayn.

I guess more will pop up soon.

*Yes Maui, I'm so sorry for forgetting to have Neil sign the copy of Eternals. I promise I won't forget next time I propose to you. ;cP

2007-11-26T11:26:00.000+08:00

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, PART 2

Title Option 1: How I totally stole the show from Neil Gaiman
Title Option 2: How Neil Gaiman proposed to my girfriend

Oh dear. Where do I begin? The timeline here will be slightly disjointed, so please do bear with me if I hop back and forth in my storytelling. It's been a thoroughly exhausting week and I still haven't recovered from all this pleasant madness.

2007 Philippine Ad Congress, Day 02 - Neil's opening remarks:

I can vaguely recall Neil saying something about creativity, storytelling, and always asking, "What If?" because it's from this "What If?" that we generate ideas and come up with stories. This was directly related to much writing, including his most current masterpiece-in-the-making, The Graveyard Book. In it, he answered the question, "What if a real baby could be raised in a graveyard...by dead people?"

*He read the first chapter of the book at the signing event - it's rather good.

So I think it's apt that I label what I did as my "What If?” moment. Because, to propose to my lovely girlfriend Maui, I asked the following:

"What if I could get Neil Gaiman, our most fave author and fantasy writer, to help propose to her?"

*I was under a lot of pressure from friends to find a "creative" way of proposing. So guys – was this creative enough for you? ;c)

Three Weeks Ago:

I already knew for some time that Neil was going to be at the Ad Congress to have a couple of talks and a signing. So one late night, I went to the "Ask Neil" portion of his blog and wrote a rather long e-mail about how I planned to propose, and if he could find some time in his busy sched to play a role. I did this well knowing that the e-mail would probably discarded along with the thousands of messages he gets every day.

But two days later, a reply from his assistant:

Hi Jason,

I am sure we can help with this, give me a bit to make sure of his schedule...

And a day later, while having lunch with Maui, I got a call from Jaime Daez, owner of local book superstore Fully Booked, telling me that Neil had in fact, agreed, and would be very happy to help me out.

I rushed over to Fully Booked to talk to Jaime (he wanted to see my face so he could signal Neil during the event) and ended up buying a copy of Absolute Sandman Vol. 02 (which was going to be the book).

Expensive, but well worth it.

What followed was about 2 weeks' worth of planning and headaches to make sure everything was perfect.

2007 Philippine Ad Congress, Day 02 - In a Hallway for "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY":

After Neil's talk, Maui rushed off to the loo. So I attempted to ambush Neil and introduce myself as "that insane guy you're helping to propose to his girlfriend."

But Maui quickly exited the bathrooms and rushed towards me, frozen in disbelief that Neil was actually there.

So I instead pushed her towards Neil and took a snap:

Happy Neil Moment #1. If only she knew...

Still not content with my planning (which was reaching new heights of being Obsessive-Compulsive), I approached Lucre Villaluna of the Ad Congress Neil Gaiman event to put in yet ANOTHER failsafe measure. I told her my story, and wrote a short note to Neil reminding him of what was going to go down on Saturday. I know, I know - a bit much, but I WAS in an O-C mood.

And during dinner the next night, I received an SMS from her. What follows is our SMS exchange:

Lucre: Where r u?

Me: What's up? Good news, I hope.

Lucre: Yes, bt pls kip it confidential. Can u call me ASAP?

I rushed out of the dining hall to call her.

Lucre: Hi! Someone wants to speak with you.

SFX: Shuffling, muffled voices, and then...

Neil: Hello, Jason. So we're going to have you married on Saturday, then?

Me: ...

We talked about how it would go down, and agreed on certain visual cues to make things go a smoothly as possible.

Neil: Let's make some magic happen on Saturday.

Me: ...

Saturday, 6:30am, El Centro, Subic:

Groggy from a night of partying, we joined the line at an ungodly hour. Some guy had lined up at 12:30am, which was kind of freaky in a stalker-ish way, but we were all geeks anyway so it was all good. Ha!

Ground Zero.

For a last bit of planning, Lucre pulled me out of the line and shuttled me inside the venue to go over the entire routine. Everyone in the organizing committee was now in on it: ushers, doormen, bouncers and photographers. The operation would be simple: during the signing, they would stop everybody behind us from going up on stage to let the entire thing play out.

So at about 9:00am, a haggard and jet-lagged Neil took to the stage to read the first chapter of The Graveyard Book and answer some questions. Then he would sign books for the first 100 people in line (Maui and I were #19 and #20).

Here's the book.

*The rest of the story will be told mostly in pictures and captions. At this point, my mind was blank and I really, really can't recall what happened.

Yes, Maui. Neil rocks. And he will rock further...

...because in addition to this drawing...

...he wrote this.

...and Maui actually failed to notice Neil's dedication because she was so starstruck. It took him about three times to actually get her to read the darn thing.

Maui (squealing, closing the book): Thanks!!!

Neil: Aren't you going to read what I wrote? You have to read it...

Maui (opening the book, shrugging, closing it again): Thanks!!!

Me: You have to read the dedication...

And she bent over to give Neil a kiss, STILL not noticing what was going on.

Neil: You really have to read this...

When she did (FINALLY!)...

Maui: OH MY GOD!!! (20x)

I took the ring out of my left pocket. Because of portability issues, I left the ring case back in the hotel, instead substituting a velvet pouch I'd hastily constructed before leaving for Subic.

And then I knelt.

I really hadn't planned on kneeling. I thought it was an act that was too typical of a proposal and should be left out. But strangely, I found myself down on one knee, staring up at my now-tearful girlfriend and repeating, "Willyouwillyouwillyouwillyou?" over and over.

...and she said, "Yes."

My guess is that the photographer was getting emotional as well.

This silly little act drew gasps, awwwsss and claps from the crowd. Friends cheered, strangers cried and my knees...were shaking worse than a 5.7 earthquake.

Maui hugged me, her back towards Neil. I reached out to shake his hand, whispering, "Thank you!" over and over. The Author. Neil. Gaiman. just. helped. me. propose. to. my. girlfriend.

And in the midst of all this, we managed to give Neil a copy of Maui's great grandad's book on folk tales (he was the writer of Lola Basyang, a popular children's folktale series).

Anyway, back to the pictures:

Maui talking to her mum: Were you in on it?!!

Which is the ring of power now?

...and to top it off, that night at the Araw (advertising) Awards, we each won a bronze! Me for interactive, and Maui for outdoor.

Two bronzes and a diamond. Not a bad haul, eh?

All this excitement and stress in just one day. Whew!

---

So there it is. A crazy, happy and exhausting weekend for us. More pictures are coming in, even a video! We'll post 'em soon.

Until then, there's a week's worth of backlog work to be dealt with.

2007-11-26T01:49:00.000+08:00

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, PART 1

To Neil Gaiman, the Dream King, master writer and all-around great guy: You have helped make the 2007 Philippine Advertising Congress a very, very memorable one for Maui and I. This was my "What If?" moment, and you helped me pull it off.

To Jaime Daez, Lorraine, Lucre + the Advertising Congress Neil Gaiman Committee: You ALL made this possible, and I cannot thank all of you enough.

Stories, pictures, and a whole lot of everything to follow. It's been a mad, mad week and I need some serious rest.

*To those who want to see a preview of what transpired last weekend, head on over to Maui's blog to see a compressed journal of what happened.

2007-11-20T23:46:00.000+08:00

AD CONG NA NAMAN?!!

Okay, mental note...must must MUST remember to update blog more often.

ANYway, so it's Ad Congress time again. Every two years, the Philippine advertising industry gets together to give each other a good pat on the back for some good work done.

And I just realized...it's my FIFTH Ad Congress. Wow. Seven years in the industry, a few awards here and there and here we are again. Good news, too, because this time around, I've been made an official delegate by my agency.

Rumours of a big night for Ogilvy are in the air, but I'll reserve any sort of celebration until the actual awards night this coming Saturday.

Oh, and Neil Gaiman will be there as well. Hurray!

So it's off to Subic for a *hopefully* memorable couple of days. Should be loads fun!

2007-11-11T18:33:00.000+08:00

STILL ALIVE AND KICKING

Been more of a blog lurker the past few months. Mind you, there have been tons to post about, but I really am quite lax right now in updating and promise to do so once this month is over.

In other news, I'm back in racing mode, and the last month has been spent training my head off for the upcoming Men's Health Urbanathlon, happening this coming Sunday, 18th November. It's a 10- kilometer military-style run/obstacle course, so I expect it to be loads of fun. It's great that my new boss has been keen on doing the race with me, too. In fact, this morning was spent running a modified 8-kilometer route near the actual venue. And this is where I found that my indoor training has its disadvantages: Manila's air is thoroughly dirty. I've been doing all my running in the relatively comfy confines of the gym, where the air's filtered. So this morning was a *bit* of a shock to my system. Needless to say, it wasn't a very good training run. Had to stop quite a bit to gasp for clean air (and there wasn't much of it).

So before I start tapering off my training by this Thursday, it's gonna be outdoor running for me.

Oh, and in preparation for the race, I've quite eating red meat. Even chicken. Hello über-healthy Jason!

2007-10-10T00:28:00.000+08:00

LINKY WINKY

By clicking on this link, you understand that it goes with the whole geek thing, and if you're not a Star Wars fan, you probably WILL chuckle, but will miss out on its point entirely. Play the video.

2007-10-04T00:11:00.000+08:00

UPDATES, CHANGES, ETC...

So it's been a while since my last blog post. With the new ECD/Sensei in the house, I've had to make a good impression, especially since said ECD/Sensei happens to be the guy who's produced awwwwrsome work like this.

That said, I have a lot of catching up to do...and that means major hours into pumping out ideas that will make the new head honcho's ears wiggle with glee.

First up, the new Max's TV advert, which I have yet to upload. If you've seen it, well...there. Loads of fun doing it, highly stressful, an uphill climb in terms of timing and approvals and apparently, quite a polarizing ad, as one blogger put it:

Is the new Max’s Fried Chicken Merienda Meals television commercial trying to be funny, or is it showing us one of the gravest disasters some advertising companies make?

The miniature head poking out of the belly of one yuppie, burbling out teasing and inaudible sounds to signify hunger pangs is just so visually grotesque, I cannot imagine how the commercial is actually going to prompt the viewers to conjure up images of food, the merienda meals that is, with their perplexing campaign.

A novel or unusual idea is not necessarily the same as having a great or appropriate one. And I thought everybody learned that in kindergarten.

Right. Can't please 'em all, I guess (rolls eyes).

---

I put MegaPod on the selling block a couple of days ago. She's served me quite well over the past two years, hauling my ever-growing collection of eclectic music. Considering MegaPod had an FM transmitter, car kit and sport armband included, Php 5,500.00 was not a bad deal at all. She was snatched up by an officemate only 10 minutes after I sent out a For Sale notice.

Now why would I sell my trusty MegaPod? Well, Maui was in Singapore over the weekend and got me this:

...the new Creative ZEN isn't as thin as the new iPod Nano, but it has some lurvely features that trumps Apple's mini-player. At 4, 8 and 16Gb storage sizes (Maui bought me the 8Gb version), the new ZEN packs in a high-resolution 2.5" inch screen, FM radio, built-in mic and the best feature of all: an SDHC card slot that accepts high-capacity SD cards (currently at 16Gb). This effectively future proofs the ZEN, since I can just keep on buying SD cards to add space.

That and it plays DivX files. Nano can't do that.

For all this power, it's still no larger than a credit card, decently thin and weighs a measly 2.1 ounces. Granted, it's not as pretty as the new Nano, but will Apple ever include features like an expandable card slot into its players? Sorry, Steve - this round goes to Creative.

2007-09-12T11:38:00.000+08:00

BAZAAR!

It's bazaar season again, and Maui's joined in with some friends to form Halo-Halo, a collective of crafters/designers for this Saturday's Sweet Sexy Thang Bazaar at the Hotel Intercontinental. Please do drop by, especially all you musical types. She'll be selling her guitar straps and crocheted items.

That and it's her birthday on Saturday. So help make it a happy one by buying something from her. ;)

2007-09-10T01:02:00.000+08:00

THE ONCE AND FUTURE ADVERTISING WRITER/RETAIL THERAPY

Been busy producing my latest (after a LONG, LONG time) television commercial, working extremely long days. Thankfully, it'll be out on Tuesday - so watch your local TV stations for the newest Max's Fried Chicken TVC. If you know my humour level, you'll know the spot when you see it. ;)

Maui and I went to the new-ish/yet-to-be-completed Ayala TriNoMa Mall in Quezon City this afternoon. She was a little bit traumatised by the whole affair. Gaggles of people going in and out of a huge concrete firetrap can shake someone quite tremendously. True enough, it's a melting pot of sorts, but MAN there were a lot of people. Add to that the fact that the parking is quite disorganised, and well...

The pluses? It's the only place wher TSUBO shoes are available. TSUBO is my shoe-brand-of-the-moment. They're plenty pricey, but the comfort level is nothing short of amazing. I've already ordered a second pair online. Another bonus? A pretty large GOLA store with most of their international catalogue in stock. So double w00t! TriNoMa's a place to go to on weekdays, so I'll make a second trip then.

Little-know facts: TriNoMa is also home to a large CRUMPLER store. And strangely, Crumpler bags are cheaper in the Philippines compared to the US and Australia. Also, Gola shoes are quite cheap here. Tsubo shoes - well, Amazon has pretty good rates.

2007-08-31T01:27:00.000+08:00

AGENCY OF THE YEAR

In the scheme of things, winning the Philippines' Agency of the Year is quite good. Great, even. It shows that a particular advertising agency is tops in all aspects.

We didn't win AOY, but we did win...Creative.Agency.Of.The.Year.

And as a creative, that's tops in my book.

2007-08-16T17:00:00.000+08:00

Erm...

I AM
85%
MEGATRON Take the Transformers Quiz

2007-08-10T16:21:00.000+08:00

AYUS NA NI, BORD?

Hot on the heels of Thriller by Cebu prison inmates comes...300 dubbed in Ilonggo.

2007-08-09T00:13:00.000+08:00

PITCH WIN!!!

News from the wire: We just won a pitch for a pharma account! It's quite a big morale boost, seeing as everyone's been working to the point of being ill lately. That and we're still reeling from the departure of our ECD Gavin.

Pitches are a true test of an agency's ability. It involves 1/2 guesswork and 1/2 kickass strat, suit and creative work. And we did it in record time, too. This shite is done in the midst of the day-to-day stuff we have to deal with as well, and with only a handful of creative people doing the work, it's nothing short of a miracle. Big, big props to Mike and Ime for fitting this in (and winning!) and managing to stay relatively sane.

Next pitch (for another pharma account) is this Friday - and it's my team's turn to do the work.

Here goes, then.

2007-08-08T20:35:00.000+08:00

EIGHT YEARS OF the iMAC

The original Bondi Blue iMac, 15 August 1998

The new Aluminum-and-glass iMac, 07 August 2007

It just keeps getting better. I heart the gadgets of The Steve.

2007-07-31T20:12:00.000+08:00

THE GREAT AMERICAN VACATION, v1.0

Here's the first incarnation of my itinerary. Bit insane, but at least I get to see most of my friends and family. :D

Maui and I wish we could do a quick trip down to Disneyland. Disneyworld would be much, much better!

Farecast.com is a Godsend.

2007-07-29T22:40:00.000+08:00

SUNDAY.

Weekends are for relaxing and unwinding, and for the past few weeks, I've been taking it pretty easy to the point that I don't even go out at night. It's a welcome atmosphere to just work out at the gym and go home.

Today started out easy enough. A casual brunch with the fam at Gaudi in the Serendra area, then a dizzying walk through the tower of sin that is Fully Booked Bonifacio. Yes, I'm a bit late in the game to gush about Jaime Daez's geek HQ, but D-A-M-N the place is huge. 30 minutes was all I could take because my much-abused credit card was crying out for blood. The body count was pretty low - no books! Just a brainstorm notebook for Maui and a couple of mini-pens for me.

And then came work. Yes, we worked on Sunday.

The team met at about 1.00pm to do a last-ditch brainstorm for a presentation tomorrow. My initial projection of "We'll be done by 4.oopm" turned out to be an extended and brain-melting exercise that saw us work well past 9.00pm, dinner included. Of course, 45% of the we went tangent and discussed things other than work, but we all needed frequent brain breaks. One such break involved this:

The Leaning Tower of PISO

What does this have to do in relation to our project? Nothing at all. But it was a welcome laugh.

2007-07-26T20:21:00.000+08:00

Yes, I shall.

2007-07-25T17:47:00.000+08:00

ERM...

Just when you thought things couldn't get any crazier, they invent..."premium" water. In this age of media-happy excess and growing disposable incomes, Hollywood writer-producer Kevin Boyd has created BLING H2O. According to their site, Bling H2O is sourced from the "award-winning" springs of Dandridge, Tennessee and carries an insanely high price tag of $40.00. What will shelling out 40 bucks get you? A limited-edition bottle encrusted with Swarovski crystals. And it's reusable, too! I'm sure the tree-huggers will love that bit.

Those who aren't ready to fork out that much moolah can rest easy, because there are $24.00 plastic bottle versions. Right.

Taste the happy here.

2007-07-24T12:06:00.000+08:00

THRILLER!

More than 1,000 inmates at the Cebu Penitentiary (plus an odd cross-dresser) give Jacko a run for his money. This is hilarious to a whole different level.

2007-07-23T16:02:00.000+08:00

DOG DAYS

Gimme some love, Diesel.

With Maui and I feeling a bit down from our respective work environments, we decided to get a bit of good karma and participate at PAWS' latest Dr. Dog event last Saturday at the Philippine Children's Medical Center near the Quezon City Circle. Dr. Diesel was called back into active duty, while Loki tagged along as an "intern" of sorts.

Strange thing about the PCMC - I remember it as an okay place back in my childhood, but now, like any goverment-run institution, it's in woeful disrepair. The facilities are run down, and I suspect they're running it as a bare bones operation.

But hey, bad vibes aside, we actually had a great, albeit exhausting, time cheering up kids and adults. Diesel, as always, elicited the "OMG! It's a big scary dog! Run away!" reaction, while Loki quite enjoyed himself. Diesel's getting a bit old, and Loki's sociable already - so we're most probably going to make him a Dr. Dog. And being a Dr. Dog is no walk in the pooch park. We've got to have him neutered (!) first, then run through a battery of tests to see if he'll do well with large crowds.

More pictures at Maui's multiply site.

2007-07-17T17:25:00.000+08:00

DISTRACTIONS

As you may have read in my previous posts, work's been a drag of late. Over lunch, I quickly sketched this doodle:

BowiBot is a character I made for Bowi, my officemate's 2-year old son, when he came to visit the office a couple of weeks ago. With a bit of free time today, I decided to bring BowiBot to life in Adobe Illustrator and give it to Bowi for his birthday.

Not exactly ILM level, but I'm quite happy with the results. :D

2007-07-06T23:32:00.000+08:00

POSTMORTEM.

"You're copping out."

"You've breached our trust."

"You failed in your position."

"You have to earn people's respect to get it."

"A disappointment."

Ouch.

To which I say: I have done nothing but give my ALL to this company. You know what really hurts? Realizing that after all you've done - you're really not cut out for the job. And swallowing your pride and admitting it/

In spite of this, I will still do the work. Wickedly good work. Work that will win. And I will still have fun doing what I do.

2007-07-04T18:51:00.000+08:00

(uy, rare emo post)

BECAUSE

...I'm tired of watching other peoples' asses (and that's in a wholesome way).

...I'm not a buffer.

...I've had ENOUGH of having to deal with bullshit.

...I will NEVER be a pushover.

...It never said "I will hold your hand and be your inspiration" in my job description.

...I still need to prove myself in this industry.

...I'm exhausted.

...I still want to win.

Here goes, folks. Chapter 5 closed, and in a total 180-degree move...I'm back to chapter 4.

2007-06-28T10:47:00.000+08:00

ON TRANSFORMERS:

• No, I'm not watching today (28 June). When I went to the ticket counters earlier this week, practically all the shows were sold out. So Maui and I watching the 2:20 PM show at Greenbelt this coming Saturday.

• No, I am not reading any of the pre-reviews online, though the boys at Jalopnik have a hilarious take on the movie.

• Yes, my fanboy mode has been activated. My SMS notification tune is the transformation sound.

• Yes, I will most probably wear my Autobot logo shirt when I watch the movie.

• Yes, I've been buying some of the toys. And...playing with them like a giddy 10-year old. Haha!

• Yes, I HAVE been considering sneaking out at lunch to watch. But Maui would probably kill me.

2007-06-25T21:33:00.000+08:00

HEALTHY OPTIONS

Maui recently turned me on to a very nifty way to keep track of my health via an odd machine. Tucked away in the larger outlets of Mercury Drug is an odd vending machine-cum-health measurement system.

For Php 5.00, this hulking plastic monster with a fake female British accent will more or less accurately measure* the following things:

• Weight
• Height
• Blood Pressure (maximum systolic and minimum diastolic)
• Body Fat Index
• Heart Rate
• Body Mass Index

...and compare them to "normal" data relative to your age and gender as well as World Health Organization values.

You get a nifty little printout after the 3-minute process that tracks your measurements. The updated model even gives you a partial ECG, but I have no idea of how to interpret it.

In its analysis, I have found that I still need to work on my weight. Though my blood pressure is solid (112/71!!!), I'm about 5 kg/m2 over my normal BMI (30.1% vs 24.9%). I'm about 5 points higher than the norm on just about everything related to fat - something that's readily achievable - and now I have a basis for comparison. So that's more running, biking and swimming for me!

*"More or less accurate" refers to weight because the system measures you when fully-clothed. To get an accurate weigh-in, you'd have to strip down to your skivvies in front of everybody, and I doubt Mercury Drug management would appreciate deviant acts like that.

Not bad for five bucks, eh? You owe it to yourself to use this thing at least once.

---

Finally invested in a Polar M61 Heart Rate Monitor, thanks to Amazon.com's Friday sale. Though phased out, I got a new unit for almost 60% off the SRP. Really addicting to see how much calories I burn in a workout (close to 1,000!). Gotta try it out during mile swims.

2007-06-19T20:49:00.000+08:00

SHEER DRIVING INSANITY

Finally got rest and respite from what seemed to be an endless amount of work (and pitches!) that's been keeping me massively occupied for the last couple of weeks.

Obviously, the weekend called for a good sleep-in. But being the faithful ad geek I am, I skipped the normal Friday beer unwinding and went to bed early so I could wake at 6:00am(!!!) Saturday morning for a...client event.

Ah, but this wasn't just any client event. It was a BMW event. And in my book, BMW events are something you get enough rest for. Because at BMW events, you can, no - you're GIVEN the privilege - to drive a car that you can probably never ever afford. The 1-series rallye I did a few months back was a prime example. I can't afford a Beemer right now, and when I can, I'll probably settle for a solid Japanese car. In spite of this, I jumped at the chance to race around Manila at the helm of a BMW 116i. And even if we came in last place, I had loads of fun rocketing down the Skyway at 165kph. Wait, I probably broke some laws there.

This time around, BMW offered us the chance to drive the 2007 X5, their ultra-luxurious SUV, no, SAV (that's Sports Activity Vehicle to you non-car folk). Hey, I'm not one to back out of driving something that costs more than the place I live in.

So early Saturday morning, a very sleepy Strat Planner and I were bussed from Makati down south to Alabang to meet with some colleagues and be transported to what simply was called "The Site."

"The Site" was hidden away in the back hills of Alabang and turned out to be a secluded subdivision road. It had been sequestered by BMW for the good part of the week for BMW's Active Drive Lifestyle Event. In true BMW fashion, it was decked out with all the trimmings: Heavily air-conditioned tent, free drinks and a gourmet menu.

Freebies and nosh aside, we sat through an hour's worth of technical briefings about the new X5. Yes, it was an evolution in every way: new body, new electronic gadgetry, new everything. And no, I still couldn't afford it.

The normal notion of a test drive usually involves about 10 minutes' worth of driving around the block listening to a salesperson attle off endless positives about the vehicle and hoping to convince you to bring out your checkbook. This one involved Pocholo and Cooky Ramirez, two legends in the Philippine racing circles. They weren't there to sell the car; they were hired to teach us to drive the car in ways that would get you arrested in most countries.

Traffic cones were set up on a large patch of road. We were herded into teams and tasked to perform evasive driving maneuvers that tested the X5s and its electronics to the very edge. Forget Grand Turismo - we were doing this for real. Each team member was given two chances per "exercise." These exercises involved many of the following (in no particular order):

- Flooring the accelerator to take the X5 from 0-70kph
- Suddenly swerving left or right, depending on Cooky's mood
- Slamming on the brakes to test the ABS
- Swerving to engage the super-cool Dynamic Stability Control System
- Making the X5 do partial power slides
- Letting the tires scream bloody murder
- Getting a rhino's dose of adrenaline every second

...and of course, breaking many, many, MANY traffic rules. This is the stuff you see them do on Top Gear. Well, on a smaller scale. But it felt like a Top Gear episode to me.

Luckily, I had my camera with me. I took some stills, and with the help of Eileen the Strat Planner, some video as well. This little vid demonstrates some of the stuff we did that day:

*Vid breakdown - My run comes first, then Eileen's. Note the huge smile on her face afterwards.

See? Car I'll never ever be able to afford + Nasty driving maneuvers taught by pros = FUN!

Okay, back to work.

2007-06-12T11:13:00.000+08:00

HUMAN TETRIS

This is the sort of thing you think up when eating too much raw fish laced with mercury.

Either that or the Japanese are beginning to snort wasabi through the nose.

2007-06-10T15:14:00.000+08:00

NEW TECH!

Not to rag on Hercules, my 6-month old PC laptop, but I'm loving the new Macbook that my office issued me. Frustration on not getting a portable led me to get Hercules in the first place - the office took its time in acquiring for me a proper notebook.

Cut to a couple of months ago, and the IT department handed me a shiny new Core 2 Duo Macbook, now known as Kaiser - upgraded to the hilt with all sorts of coolie hardware (2 Gigabytes memory, 100 Gigabyte hard drive, etc). And better yet, they got me the BLACK model! So cheers all around. Now Hercules has been rendered sort of redundant (I have to admit, it's pretty ridiculous to have two laptops) and shall be on the selling block quite soon.

And just yesterday, I sold the Nokia N93i I won in a contest a few months back. It was a good phone, mind you - albeit one that was WAY ahead of its time. Get this - aside from being a phone, it had a 3-megapixel camera, large Carl Zeiss video lens, Wi-Fi and all the bells and whistles you'd expect from Nokia's top-of-the-line nSeries phones. Problem was, there was too much tech built in. The N93i, though beautifully designed, had too many bugs that caused quite a few problems. It was actually my second unit - the first one broke down after three days, so Nokia issued me a new one. The second phone had its share of troubles as well. Hardware resets, software errors and a whole host of things that ultimately led to frustration. So I sent it back to Nokia AGAIN and they supposedly fixed it. It came back after a week and while it didn't shut off quite as much, it seemed to function 30% slower than before.

Not one to be held back by tech, I went to the tech mecca that is Greenhills and sold the darned thing for a decent price. As a replacement, I bought Maui's dream phone-of-the-moment: the Nokia 6131. Beautiful thing, this one. It's a Series 40-based clamshell phone with just enough tech to keep me happy and mobile-functional. And so what if it's not a 3G phone? Who does video calling anyway? The 6131 is slim, has a 1.3 megapixel camera, a 2.2" QVGA screen with 16.7 million colors, Bluetooth, a memory card slot for extra space (up to 2 gigabytes using a microSD card) and a loud speaker, among other things. The reviews are quite encouraging and there haven't been any major bugs published, so I expect to keep this phone for quite a while.

Which is probably six months tops. Hehe.

Hercules and the yet-to-be-named Nokia 6131. Loves it!

2007-06-05T01:02:00.000+08:00

OUCH.

I so totally agree with Kottke.

Serena Williams will seriously kick your ass.

This rambling, nonsensical post is borne out of the fact that a thoroughly unreasonable client has demanded to see an entire campaign of work later at 9.00am. We were briefed fully on what to do last Friday, so the team's been crackin' heads into the wee hours (weekend work! Aigh!!!).

It helps tremendously that I live across the street from my place of work, but these OTs still take its toll on me. Bleargh.

2007-05-31T10:43:00.000+08:00

HM.

Your Score: D.L. Hawkins

You scored 37 Idealism, 41 Nonconformity, 37 Nerdiness

I ain't wearing no tights.
Congratulations, you're D.L. Hawkins! You've got a bit of a past to overcome, but you are a strong person and you care very deeply about the people you love. You are good at getting out of tight situations, however, you're not quite as good at simple, practical things like making lunches.

Your best quality: Getting yourself out of difficult situations
Your worst quality: No culinary skills whatsoever, refusal to don tights

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

...I resent the part about not having any culinary skills. I can cook, dammit!!!

2007-05-30T19:40:00.000+08:00

WEAR IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

Cool T-Shirts abound in Threadless' Summer Vacation Sale! Most of their catalog is down to $10.00 a t-shirt, and with the Philippine Peso at its highest level in seven years, you can buy more, more, more!

Click here to go the sale.

BTW, if you plan to get shirts and ship 'em via a relative in the US, you've got to e-mail their customer service for help. There's a security feature that prevents you from sending to a US address using a local (Philippine-based) credit card. Minor hassle, but at least you get coolie shirts.

The sale lasts until 06 June. I've already ordered six so far. Hehe.

*Update: here are a few shirts I've bought so far. Threadless roooocccksss.

2007-05-22T22:01:00.000+08:00

TUNES!!!

Maui and I received a care package from Patrick and Tina, our crazy German friends who visited a while back. Aside from a book and a bottle of Patrick's favourite German beer (he still like s San Miguel Pale Pilsen), the real treasure is a DVD loaded with all sorts of good electronic music. There are some familiar titles (Massive Attack, Sven Vath, Orbital, FSOL and a few others) and a few obscure ones, all which should make for a good weekend listen. The MegaPod will definitely likey.

2007-05-22T12:40:00.000+08:00

RESIGNED.

No, not me.

I guess the entire local advertising industry has heard that my boss, Gavin, has resigned as ECD of the agency. He's off to Hong Kong to whip the creatives there into shape.

Which leaves us wondering - we've experienced a creative renaissance of sorts - WTF are we going to do without him?!! Not to say we're lost without the old bean, but his presence is a massive inspiration to the hungry ones in the agency. We've had a good run in the awards shows of late and wouldn't want slow the momentum.

We always knew he'd leave, but it was more a question of when. But July?!! Aw, crap.

So the question is, who will be the next ECD of the agency? The search is on, and as we say on local TV: ABANGAN.

2007-05-20T14:00:00.000+08:00

ON GETTING A US VISA

I've been holding off on getting a US visa for some time now. My old visa expired more than a decade ago, and an unsuccessful attempt (not denied, mind you - I just didn't want to take any more extra time to file some additional papers) a few years ago totally turned me off to the idea.

Now for people from "developing nations" like the Philippines, getting a US visa is an often long, tedious and nerve-wracking process. Even though our country has "preferential trade" status (or something close to that) with the USA, all Filipino citizens, regardless of age, are required to go to the local US Embassy for an interview and provide mounds of evidence that we won't even TRY to go to the country and live there illegaly - a term more popularly known as Tago Ng Tago, or TNT. Thousands, if not millions of people have done it and are continuing to do it. And it's not just Filipinos. But we do make up a large chunk of the illegal immigrant population*.

*And also the LEGAL type. We make very fine educators, doctors, etc. Not just maids and nurses, thank you very much.

Having firmly established that Maui and I are travel-compatible, we decided a couple of months ago to spend the 2007 Christmas holidays in the US. Maui'll be with her mum and dad, and I'll be going around to visit some friends that have been calling for a visit for the last, oh - 5 years or so. (You know who you are!)

That and I have to see Matmat, my GodSon. Sorry, Mark - I PROMISE to be a good GodFather and buy him many, many toys from Amazon.com. :cD

So, a meticulously-planned operation to get my US visa was put into motion. Note that get an interview schedule at the US Embassy, one has to pay about USD 100.00 for a form, gather all sorts of papers for "evidence of ties," book an appointment via 1-900 number or online (an extra USD 10.00) and wait. A very, very, VERY long time for said interview to come about.

Just the gathering of papers took a good month. I was advised to get bank statements, credit card bills, utility bills, a certificate of employment, my pay slips and all sorts of other documents that tied me to the Philippines and would serve to convince the consul that I wouldn't be America's Next Illegal Immigrant.

That completed, I had to book an interview. The easiest way to do so is via the Internet, a pretty cool way to schedule, actually. Once in their VisaPoint site, you're presented with a little electronic calendar that shows all booked and free dates for interview schedules. This was in early May, and seeing as there are hundreds of people applying for US visas every day, I fully expected to get an interview some time in July or August. But lo and behold, there was ONE free slot in May - just four days from the time I clicked into the site. With my papers 85% complete, I went ahead and took the last slot for MAY - with only three days to prepare.

Maui's mum, my own parents and a very helpful Aunt provided a huge boost - the advice on what to say, what to bring, what to do in case yadda yadda yadda helped massively. Well, it actually got me a *bit* nervous, since I started playing all these scenarios in my head (What if I forget an important document? What if I get the scary Korean Woman?* What if I get DENIED?!!)

*What is WITH this whole Korean Woman rubbish? She seems to be an urban legend conjured up to scare unwitting visa applicants. Can anyone verify who she is?

Nerves aside, US visa interview day came about. Armed with an accordion folder of documents, I braved the oppressive summer heat and headed to the US Embassy for the interview. And I expected the utter worst, even resigned to the fact that I would be denied for lack of enough ties.

The US Visa Interview process goes something like this:

- Go to US Embassy and line up for document check. Make sure mobile phones and electronic devices are left somewhere else because they've banned them on premises.
-Wait.
- Line up for interview confirmation. Ignore stupid applicants who line jump and get one person to line up for an entire clan. Take a number to be called.
-Wait some more.
- Line up to scan fingerprints into US Department of Homeland Security Database.
- Wait yet again.
- Line up for physical interview inside air-conditioned hall.
- Wait, wait, WAIT.

With so much lining up and waiting, one would easily go insane without any phone to fiddle with or iPod to drown out the chatter of people about. I brought a book. Dave Eggers' You Shall Know Our Velocity made for a fine companion.

Waiting in the interview hall, I was able to eavesdrop on some interviews, some of which were hilarious and some just plain sad:

CONSUL 1 (to tomboyish-looking woman): Are you a man or a woman?
INTERVIEWEE 1 (sheepishly): I'm a man trapped in a woman's body.

CONSUL 2 (to obviously non-English speaking potential OFW): What is your profession?
INTERVIEWEE 2 (on the verge of nervous breakdown): (sic) Um, er...ser, I weld steel bar.
CONSUL 2 (frustrated): What did you say?!!
INTERVIEWEE 2: (sic) Steel bar. You know. Weld like sticking together. For buildings and a house.

But ANYway, my interview went something like this:

CONSUL (peppy mood, thankfully): Good afternoon! What can I do for you today?
ME: Well, I'd like a US Visa.
CONSUL (flipping through my Visa Application Form): Okay, says here you work for (my advertising agency) as a Creative Group Head. Is that like a Creative Director?
ME: Sort of. It just sounds better that way.
CONSUL: Okay. And how much do you make a month?
ME: ___ (I won't post my salary here, silly)
CONSUL: Yeah, I figured you guys make that much. I used to be from Marketing Communications, you know.
ME (sensing a bond): Oh really?!! Where?
CONSUL: Some small shop back in Connecticut.
ME: So you know that we ad-freaks take lots of vacations.
CONSUL: Yeah. So have you ever considered working in the US before?
ME: Not really. I quite like it here.
CONSUL: And give me an idea of your clients.
ME: *Rattling off my lovely list of clients.
CONSUL (writing on form): Okay, then. I'll give you 10 years. You shouldn't have to see us for some time.
ME (stunned): Er...God bless you and your family and your relatives and your dog! And thanks!

In five minutes, it was over. And I didn't have to show anything for it. Much of what I printed out is STILL in my accordion folder, untouched and unread. Now I have a 10-year US visa. Hee.

So Mich, Mark, KC, Matmat, Bill, Patrick, Tish, Imo & Family - I'll see you ALL in December.

2007-05-13T03:36:00.000+08:00

SPEAKING UP

I'm taking this little pocket of time to list the candidates (and parties) I'm voting for in the coming elections. I'm not voting a full 12 for senators. As far as I'm concerned, 3/4 of the lineup is composed of liars, cheaters, killers and generally nasty bastards.

Senators:

ANG KAPATIRAN - Martin Donato, Zosimo Paredes II, Adrian Sison.

They are my conscience vote. I know they won't win, but they are the cleanest candidates out there.

Chiz Escudero - Yes, he may be a bit of a blowhard, but he's done a lot for the environment, especially Donsol (home of the whale sharks). And if he's as fiery as he says, he can really shake up the government.

Miguel Zubiri - Too rich to cheat, and uses the environment as a major part of his political platform. That's a good thing in my book.

That's probably it. I'm still seeing if Noynoy Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan and Sonia Roco deserve consideration.

Still deciding on which party-list groups to vote.

2007-04-08T09:11:00.000+08:00

This blog will be on hiatus until further notice.

2007-03-26T13:53:00.000+08:00

MORE FROM SEASIDE

We really should go back to Seaside Macapagal more. The food is amazing, and the beer is cheap at Php 40.00/bottle.

2007-03-24T23:42:00.000+08:00

RANDOM RANTS, A BIT OF RAVES.

The last week has not been kind. Coming from Pattaya for the 2007 AdFest, we were again deluged with a horrible amount of work, of which 90% put me in a very, very foul mood. Arguments, shouting at suits and writing big "NO" marks on Job Requests were in order.

Needless to say, I was NOT in the mood to partake in our office's AdFest win revelries (we were the big Philippine winners) last Friday night.

I'm sorry, I was tired and needed to separate myself. I seldom do that, but I think the week's rollercoaster mandated a bit of alone time to recharge my depleted energy and refocus my negative state.

...So Maui and I decided to take her exchange-creative Patrick, the mad German from BBDO Dusseldorf, to Seaside Macapagal to sample fresh seafood and copious amounts of beer.

Patrick doing his best to be David Hasselhoff, sans the curly 'fro.

In between weird references to German-based ambient electro and comments about one of Maui's body-obsessed officemates, we shared many laughs and plenty of lager, which judging from Patrick's half-drunken shuffle back to my car, enjoyed tremendously. Prost, indeed.

...And today, Maui and I took Diesel and Loki to a Doctor Dog/PAWS event all the way in Tagaytay Highlands. More fun stuff, as people fawned over an extra-large doberman with the demeanor of a pussycat.

Diesel: Are we there yet?

My car is a fur repository and smells of dog, but it's quite okay. It's the kind of catharsis I needed.

---

I promise I'll be calmer on Monday.

2007-03-06T12:28:00.000+08:00

OUCH.

Somebody's been messing with my Stickman again. Sigh.

2007-03-02T00:22:00.000+08:00

HEADACHES

With Boracay 2.0 out of the way, we're free to deal with the aftermath of leaving for two days: lots and lots of rush work. We've been on a winning pitch run lately, so everyone's been spread thinly with projects coming out of the wazoo.

Today was the worst. Almost 35 ideas shot down, a team of suits who don't believe in the work, and an ECD who's fresh from New York (read: JETLAGGED). Needless to say, I was in a vewy, vewy bad mood this afternoon, even getting a minor blowup at a suit and PA. It's horrible - I'm rarely like this, and the combination of a stupid deadline and idearrhea didn't help much. And may I just say, I simply did not appreciate the following exchange:

*Simplified version follows. I'm sleepy and trying to restructure this from my already hazy memory:

Suit: Do you believe in the work?

Me (groggy and with migraine): Of course I do.

Suit: Because I'd rather just tell client that we can't present anything than head into it half-assed.

Me: Well, we were given two days to do this. What you're getting is two day work. That's simply the best we can do given the time frame.

Suit: I'd rather get a slap on the face than have them sense that something's up.

Me: Do YOU believe in the work?

Suit: If you guys believe in it, then we believe in it.

(useless chatter continues).

SHEESH.

---

Well, we're presenting tomorrow. To the regional client at that. My ECD is probably not going to attend given his massive yawning sessions earlier today, so that leaves me and my Art Director to run the show. With a team of suits that don't believe in the work. No wait, we believe in the work so THEY believe in the work.

I also want to jump off a bridge. Will they follow? I'll be harnessed and tethered, of course.

But I won't tell them that.

2007-02-25T00:13:00.000+08:00

RANDOM USELESS STUFF BEFORE I LEAVE

Zek's Comic Strip Generator is nothing new conceptually, but the graphic elements they use are way fun.

2007-02-24T22:53:00.000+08:00

BORACAY 2.0

Faster than you can say "One Chori Burger please," I'm going to be back in Boracay (sans Maui) tomorrow morning for the yearly office planning session. That just means 10% work and 90% drinking - both of which I plan to do in very small amounts. Most of my time will probably be spent a) sleeping or b) falling asleep while getting a massage.

I may *try* to rent an ATV and go around the island to track down some friends.

...Or I can just sleep. Not much of that going around these days.

2007-02-23T18:35:00.000+08:00

EEP!

If you have the bandwidth and time to spare, you HAVE TO see what Eric Chan's done with his eepmon site.

This guy is the bee's knees!

And smashing soundtrack, btw - Susumu Yokota?!! EXCELLENT.

2007-02-23T07:19:00.000+08:00

Feeling rather good today. Maybe it's euphoria from only having two hours of sleep, but I think it's due more to this logo I've redesigned.

Sea-Cid is the company name for the guys who trained me in scuba diving. They've grown to be great friends over the past couple of years and had been talking about redeveloping their corporate identity to make it more professional looking. The leftmost logo is their original one. Not my cup of tea, personally - Found it rather whimsical, with limited applications as an identity.

Funnily enough, the one in the middle is actually MINE. I started working on a new logo a few months ago, playing around with the familiar Manta Ray shape while trying to re-orient myself with Adobe Illustrator and the finer points of logo design. Mind you, it's been a while since I've done any logo/art direction of any sort. This was actually approved by the guys - they thought it was an appropriate image update for their company. And they LURVED the whole Manta Ray thing. The whole concept of this was about the Manta diving down into a sort of stylized globe/sphere/circle thingy. I used a gradient to show the Manta diving deeper into blue water. We were all pretty happy about this one.

But in hindsight, this logo stank to the high heavens. I now realize that it looks like a 5-minute logo some 13-year whipped it up on Corel Draw. Come to think of it, I used to design like this on Corel Draw - when I was 13. But I'm turning 30 this year so you'd think I'd developed better design sensibilities by now.

ANYway. I started working on the rightmost logo late last night. The Manta's still there - though it's not so cartoon-y. Changed the perspective and made it look a wee bit more streamlined. Instead of diving down, I made it somewhat "swim out." The sphere is more of a sphere now. I found some handy Adobe Illustrator CS2 tutorials that helped me do a Web 2.0-ey/GooeyGelPlastic effect on the sphere, giving it a lot more volume and dimension. I re-did the typeface as well, as the previous one was something out of a Scooby Doo cartoon. This typeface isn't so obtrusive. The colors of the entire logo are much more muted as well.

Me likey this one! It's slick, professional and looks loads better than my first attempt. Let's hope the guys feel the same way.

2007-02-14T16:52:00.000+08:00

We all know that Jack Bauer of 24 kicks some major terrorist/bad guy ass. GuyGear Lust site UNCRATE has compiled a real-world gear list for all those Jack Bauer wannabes, complete with weapons! I like the HK USP but highly doubt the guards of my building would appreciate somebody walking in with a holstered weapon. Maybe if I could buy a fake FBI badge from somwhere in Recto...

Be like Jack! Click here.

2007-02-13T11:53:00.000+08:00

NEW GEAR!

This happened a while back, but my trusty Casio Exilim Z40, fondly known as "The ScoobyCam" for its double life as my underwater camera, met an accidental end when the LCD screen was cracked beyond repair*.

*If anybody knows of a place here that can fix/replace cracked LCDs on the cheap, your help would be appreciated.

Enter ATTICUS, my super digital camera. It's an Olympus SP-350 8-Megapixel marvel. Atticus is a worthy (if not more superior) replacement for ScoobyCam, with infinitely better performance and a manual setting reserved for higher-end dSLRs. It's not as slim as ScoobyCam, but it's still compact enough to fit in a pocket (or Maui's bag - hehe). We loves it!

And with the PT-030 Underwater Case, he becomes ATTICUS XL, the super underwater digital camera.

I'm slowly going to upgrade ATTICUS XL in the months leading to Tubbataha 2007 this April. Eventually, he will be ATTICUS XXL. And he will look something like this:

Sweetness! There's a digital camera in there somewhere.

2007-02-11T22:37:00.000+08:00

FEET IN SAND, BEER IN HAND

Took a much-needed break and went to Boracay two weekends ago with Maui to attend her soon-to-be-ex-ECD Raoul's wedding. Very surprised at the island's new infrastructure since my last trip there. They've set up a dedicated port on the other side of the island, eliminating the unsightly (and often dangerous) boat dockings on the main stretch of the white beach. The main road through the island has also been paved, which is a much-welcome development. No more bumpy/dusty tricycle rides! They've also integrated the transport system from Caticlan airport to include the boat ride. Yay!

Most of the resorts have gone boutique and zen as well. I do miss the old rustic style of Nigi Nigi Too (my default resort), but they've gone and done a major upgrade to a four-star resort, with the accompanying rates. My old Php 1,200 - 1,900 bahay kubo rate is gone, replaced by a Php 6,000.00 air-conditioned, super large and clean room. Very, very luxurious. Expensive, but well worth it. Looking forward to trying out the new Beachcomber, Zuzuni and a few others (time AND budget willing)

Maui and I lucked out and found the island with barely any visitors. Being an off-peak weekend, it was free of the usual gaggle of drunken tourists. In short, it was PERFECT.

The wedding + reception was great as well, with good food (the Caesar salad was yummy), bottomless booze and semi-good entertainment (Paolo Santos? Ehhhh. Brass Munkeys? YEAH!!!)

---

While I do appreciate all the improvements to Boracay, I guess this signals the end of it being a sleepy island with a great beach. Yeah, it's been crowded many times before, but this is really it: The island can more or less sustain a huge tourist poplulation now. I see this going the way of Bali or Pattaya. Unless the locals do something about sustainable eco conservation.

Now to look for another island.

---
Vacation pictures at diveabout.

2007-01-31T17:58:00.000+08:00

CHAOS!

...January was utterly exhausting, thanks to a barrage of pitches for some high-profile clients. Thankfully, we've emerged from pitch season with a big, big win for Canon. That means more $$$ and, unfortunately, lots more work for us. But money is money, and that's always welcome.

Maui and I decided to play hooky today so she could go to the grand warehouse sale of Chocolate Clothing Company. At 9:30am, the place was already awash with rabid shoppers:

Maui, paired with her ever-resourceful shop-happy boyfriend, was able to get some really cool stuff after 15 short minutes. Huzzah!

---

BRRRRRR!!!

We've been blessed with chilly weather for the past few days, so Gabi decided to pull out her el cheapo Php 80.00 scarf and make like Neil French.

Gabi: Frankly, I think it's crap.

Am off to the beach this weekend to recharge. So there.

2007-01-25T17:03:00.000+08:00

SWEET!

I was initially a *bit* envious when Maui got her personalised Team Manila wallet yesterday. To my surprise, the office receptionist handed me this today:

Major, major props to Jowee and Momon, those most excellent guys behind Team Manila. Yay!

2007-01-24T16:51:00.000+08:00

Heroes ep12 is out! Huzzah!

2007-01-19T11:19:00.000+08:00

LINKY-WINKY

It's a bit slacker-ish of me to be doing actual web browsing in the midst of pitch season, but I need my downtime, damnit! Here are a few linkworthy sites worth clicking to:

• DJ Steveboy's Podrunner is an amazing music resource for gym rats and fitness geeks. He posts weekly mixes of 1-hour long sets of varying BPMs (ever tried to run to a 180bpm track? Insane!) to get your groove going. Access it through your iTunes Podcast directory, or go directly to his site to download the mp3.

...and it's free! Go! Then hit the gym and keep your New Year's resolution, you slacker!

• The Bargainst indexes all sorts of great...bargains...you can find on the web. There are sales, discounts, coupons and even freebies. I would've personally gone for the "Buy 50 tokens, get 50 tokens free" at Chuck E. Cheese, but alas - we don't have a branch in Manila.

• For you Amazon.com-obsessed, there's Spendfish, which is an index-cum-search engine for Amazon-exlcusive bargains. Quite handy if you think eBay is way too dodgy for an e-com transaction.

Back to work, then.

2007-01-18T22:11:00.000+08:00

The fates have conspired to make January 2007 a very, very, VERY insane month. Pitch season started way early, and we're currently in the midst of three very big pitches. That means longer hours and less sleep - and even though I live across the street, yes - I do still get plenty tired.

Did I mention that the office is also being renovated? See, now things get doubly difficult. Not only do we have to deal with thoroughly unwieldy pitch deadlines, but now it's dusty and the office resembles Tikrit on a bad day.

To counter the mini-dust storms we've been having, the office was gracious enough to issue surgical masks so we could work without emptying the contents of our lungs onto our desks.

But then, the renovation contractors figured that creatives doing OT put a serious strain on their already tight (and extremely delayed!) work schedule.

So earlier this week, we were rounded up and corralled into the main conference room. Whee! Now I know what a call centre feels like.

Which leads to the question: How do you fit 11 creatives on pitch mode, their Macs and their egos in a small conference room?

Answer: With great difficulty.

And the whole Great eQuake didn't help much. Boo to slow (or nonexistent) Internet access!

2006-12-31T03:47:00.000+08:00

BLEAGH.

An undersea earthquake near Taiwan has made it loads difficult to get on the web and do just about anything. My supposed DSL connection has been reduced to a trickle, emulating that of dial-up speeds - which totally sucks eggs because amazon.com and blogging takes ages to load. Boo!

---

Maui and I decided to brave the League of Extraordinary SM Megamall Shoppers today to find Loki a decent doggie bed - and we found one! Proof that if you have enough intestinal fortitude to brave the human tsunami that is SM Megamall, you can actually find some decent, low-priced items to suit your needs. Loki now has a pretty darn snazzy doggie cushion that's made of jean material - according to Maui, he lurves it quite a lot. And it was a steal at below Php 400.00! Huzzah!

Loki on his new pillow. Woof!

Diesel, of course, is way too massive for pillows, opting instead for our laps. Here's Diesel using Maui as a pillow:

Diesel and Maui striking a pose.

---

New Year's Eve will be spent with Maui, her mum and Rob at the new Serendra shopping strip, where we plan to dine on Balducci's (a new restaurant by the L'Opera Group) most excellent Italian Cuisine and get plenty tipsy on expensive wine. We'll hopefully be sane enough to catch whatever fireworks display Fort Bonifacio throws at us.

---

Christmas 2006 was definitely more rockin' than the past few holiday seasons. Maui gave me a snazzy wallet that's thankfully forced me to unload all the crap that's been parked in my previous wallet. At least it fits comfortably into my back pocket now.

The temptation to acquire a Sony PSP has been put off for a while in lieu of saving for a major vacation in 2007. I still DO want one, though - it seems that 76% of my friends have decided to indulge their techlust and purchase PSPs, leaving me in portable gaming limbo. There's still room to get one, though - maybe in a couple of months when I can think more clearly and resist the urge to impulse buy.

2006-12-20T14:51:00.000+08:00

SPINNING AT 172BPM

My new side career, just in case my Group Creative Deal doesn't work out. Hah!

So December is turning into a dizzying season. Apart from the loads of Christmas parties, there's a workload that only seems to get worse as the year comes to a close.

I *hope* to be able to take a break starting this Friday. I'm counting on clients to feel a bit of the Christmas spirit and give the agency a break for the holidays. Yeah, RIGHT!

Still, this is a happy season. Haven't felt like this in YEARS. Humbug mode is gone, and those who know me know why I'm this way now.

She rocks. :cD

Oh, I'm blushing.

2006-12-08T21:23:00.000+08:00

Santa gives a poor reindeer some of his Christmas spirit.

Ho, ho, HO!

2006-11-26T21:34:00.000+08:00

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?

148 feet, apparently. After a good three (THREE!!!) months of not being able to dive, I was finally able to go back to Anilao for some much-deserved R & R. I actually almost didn't go since an office crisis (!@#*148 feet, apparently. After a good three (THREE!!!) months of not being able to dive, I was finally able to go back to Anilao for some much-deserved R & R. I actually almost didn't go since an office crisis (!@#*$&!@! clients! Grumble grumble...) cropped up in the 11th our.
amp;!@! clients! Grumble grumble...) cropped up in the 11th our.

But I did. And I finally went diving again! Not only that, but my trusty ScoobyCam is back from the shop and working like new! Huzzah!

Anemone Shrimp. Very tiny.

Our 2.00AM arrival on Saturday gave me just enough time to sleep before a 6.30AM call time for the first dive. The target: Mapating (translated: Place with many sharks) - a cave system at dizzying 150 feet. At that depth, you run the risk of Nitrogen Narcosis (getting 'narced') - it's a sensation that is akin to being drunk. This is where deep diving gets dangerous. If you're narced, you become oblivious to the levels upon levels of safety protocol that all divers learn about. No, we weren't suicidial. This was a planned decompression dive, meaning we had a separate se of protocol and procedures in place. This made for a safe, comfortable dive. And we were all Rescue Diver-certified anyway, so everyone in the group was pretty much qualified to go.

And it ended up being 1 of 3 dives I did for the entire weekend. Blame the exhaustion from a thoroughly hectic October in the office. I spent most of the weekend lounging and playing Boggle on Hercules (my laptop) than getting into the water. Oh well.

This looks to be the LAST dive of 2006. December's already around the corner and the JOs are piling up. Sigh.

2006-11-24T15:33:00.000+08:00

...yes she is.

And Maui's off to the 2006 Camp Creatives next week! She faces the youngest and *best* advertising creatives in the Philippines.

Ogilvy's also fielding our own super team - Gabi (our newest hire, ex-Burnetts) and Sarah (super writer-cum-bronze Cannes Lion winner).

I wish I still could've joined. Alas, it's my 6th year in the industry.

2006-11-23T17:07:00.000+08:00

THE GOOD + BAD + PICS

This most excellent picture is courtesy of Type Records, an indie label that's home to my new el-weirdo electro/acoustic/dreamy fave musician Khonner. Handwriting, his newest album, is a mishmash of dirty ambient acoustic pop that just lends itself SO well to late-night brainstorming sessions. Highlights from the album: "Man From The Anthill" and "Little Secret." Brilliant stuff!

Oh, did I mention he's only 17? Gah!

---
R.I.P. LOKI

I was really looking forward to going to PAWS with Maui to get Loki, but an outbreak of distemper swept through the entire place and Loki was one of the unlucky ones. He was rushed to the vet last weekend and didn't make it. :(

...and we were really looking forward to bringing him to the beach.

PAWS would really appreciate donations of Bleach, detergent, scrubbers and other cleaning agents to sanitize the entire place. Cash is also accepted since they barely have any finances to buy vaccines for the rest of the dogs. We went to Rustans Supermarket yesterday to get some stuff, but they need more. A lot more.

---

Maui's been feeling down for the past few days, so I decided to treat her to Phad Thai at Banana Leaf PowerPlant. Ordered a bit of Roti with Curry Sauce, but since Maui's not into spicy food, she ordered their extra yummy peanut sauce on the side.

I love my peanut sauce!

---

My rescue diving batch FINALLY got together last week for a semi-reunion at 121. Almost a year on, we're still mostly diving. I say mostly because I've been quite the flaker when it comes to diving these days. Blame my workload and the fact that my responsibilities have tripled.

But thankfully, I'm going to Anilao this weekend after almost THREE MONTHS of not being in the water.

---

Because of Kris, I was able to indulge my media whore habit and appear on TV (again!). I guested on Pia Hontiveros' Shop Talk, a news show on careers, etc that airs live on ANC. Quite fun. Yes, Kris...you rock. And I owe you a beer (beers) or a discounted Motorola Phone. Hee!

Director Mark Querubin was also a guest.

And I also had the opportunity to park in the slot beside Charo Santos-Concio's. Hahaha! How's that for being a superstar VIP?

---

Krispy Kreme is in town. Some kindred spirit brought a dozen boxes (!!!) of freshly-baked heaven to the office.

Can you say, "GOODBYE, diet?"

---

And nephew Daniel got a buzzcut, just like his Uncle Jason.

Daniel likes spaceships.

2006-11-17T19:18:00.000+08:00

MAUI ROCKS!

Maui practicing her "chopstick-as-drumstick" Kung-Fu.

...and the final product:

2006-11-16T16:01:00.000+08:00

Back when I was working in BBDO, I used to see a folder on David Guerrero's desk that said "For your signature/approval: David Guerrero." I assumed there were important boss-type documents inside like checks, JOs and the like.

Saw the same thing in JimBasic.

Ogilvy had one for my current boss, Gavin Simpson.

And now, this:

Weird.

2006-11-15T17:53:00.000+08:00

WE WON!

Finally, a pitch win. 2.5 days to create a body of work that was frankly, quite impressive.

Drinks are in order.

We won, we won, WE WON!!! Huzzah!

2006-11-13T00:30:00.000+08:00

NEW STUFF

We just launched Inside Pacquiao for Nike. Take your bandwidth for granted and see it here.

Just do it.

2006-11-12T17:38:00.000+08:00

I fail to see the educational value of pentrix, but it looks quite fun.

2006-11-12T17:04:00.000+08:00

THE WEEKEND AFTER

Pitch day came and went. After a brief 30-minute technical fuck-up (which sent everyone into a massive panic), we were finally able to get up and running to present the work. I have to say...with only 2.5 days to rush the work, we DROWNED the clients in ideas - and it showed in their collective reactions. Now we cross our fingers, because their decision comes down TOMORROW.

Saturday was officially declared a non-work day and was spent treating Diesel, Kailen, Sanya's dogs and Loki to K-9 Cupcakes.

My, Loki's getting big. Maui says he's looking like a beach dog. Good for me! That is, if I can find the time to go to the beach.

Loki @ 1.5 months

2006-11-09T23:12:00.000+08:00

LAST SUPPER

Tonight's pitch meal: Yellow Cab Pizza, Buffalo Wings
# of hours to pitch deadline: 10
# of Grande-sized coffees taken: 2
# of cigarettes smoked: lost count
# of ideas presented: lost count
# of ideas approved: lost count
# of braincells left for pitch presentation: enough to drool and nod head
Current soundtrack: Stuff from House, M.D., CoStanza and Reel Big Fish

I want my weekend.

2006-11-09T00:32:00.000+08:00

DISTRACTIONS

And now, a break from advertising:

And this HILARIOUS bit from Chockwit:

2006-11-08T21:08:00.000+08:00

BRING IT ON! The pitch team (clockwise, from L-R):
AJ, Manny, Mark, Me, Gavin, Mike and Gabi

As Maui may have mentioned, she and I are on opposite ends of a semi-big pitch with a thoroughly unreasonable deadline. The task: do creative work in two (TWO!!!) days. There's a mountain of work to do, requiring us to stay in the office until Starbucks can sustain us no further. Here's the breakdown to see how things are going:

Days left to pitch: 1 (It's on Friday!)
# of pitch OT dinners: 2 (Yesterday was North Park, tonight it was Max's)
# of ideas brainstormed: Oh, about a hundred. At least.
# of ideas shot down by ECD: Oh, about a hundred. At least.
# of migraines: 2
Average Grande-sized coffees consumed/day: 2
Average cigarettes smoked/day: 1. Pack, that is.
Average hours of sleep/day: 3

Gahhhh. My brain hurts.

2006-11-07T19:50:00.000+08:00

Neil Patrick Harris, who shot to fame playing young doctor Douglas Howser in Doogie Howser, MD has apparently just admitted he's gay.

Now five or more years ago, this would have been big news to the world. But in 2006, he's Hollywood star # 23810572 to come out. Whoop dee doo.

Wala lang, something to break the monotony of OTing on this pitch.

Okay, back to work.

2006-11-06T23:47:00.000+08:00

This wasn't quite the way I imagined my *new* career path would start out, but I've been given two days (TWO DAYS!!!) to complete a semi-big pitch.

Cue migraines. MASSIVE migraines. And I haven't had a migraine attack in years. Is this really what I signed up for? Well, in a nutshell...yes. I guess this comes with the territory. After all, ascending the corporate ladder means double the workload (on top of my unwieldy pile of Job Requests already) that involves management and workflow issues.

Something positive, though - BigbossECD will probably field extra people to help us complete all the requirements. Thank you, Gavin! You rock, lah.

AUTOLUST:

I'll take her in black, manual transmission please. Woof! You will be mine - yes, you will be mine.

Soon!

2006-11-05T17:54:00.000+08:00

WTF?!!

In a dizzying waltz of internal politicking and egos clashing, something big is brewing in the office. I've made it clear that I don't want to take any sides, even if I'm treated to free coffee (because they know I'm cheap that way - HAH!).

It's always been the work, and trying my best to do great work. Winning work for real projects and clients. But should I always be a soldier about it?

Something's been offered to me. There are those who say that it's too soon to do this thing, that I'd be less effective a creative person if I take it. And there are others who tell me that this is IT - the one thing I have been working AND waiting for.

*Jason takes a deep breath.

...and I'm taking it. God help me.

2006-11-02T02:21:00.000+08:00

Further proof why Landmark Department Store rocks my socks: Coolie kitchenware!

While passing time before watching Sofia Coppola's new Marie Antoinette (which is a great film, btw - but it's a love-it/loathe-it affair - catch it soon since it'll probably be running for two weeks at best), Maui and I chanced upon these really nifty-looking plates, mugs and bowls. Nothing ornate here - just simple ceramic deals tinted inside with either blue, orange, lime green and yellow. All items are microwave safe and are on sale for...gasp...UNDER Php 30.00! That's right, plates are Php 30.00, Bowls are Php 25.00 and Mugs are Php 20.00. They're not PERFECT, though - some have a few dings and nicks, but apart from that - they're quite solid.

Doing the math, I spent under Php 500.00 for a new set of six per item.

Ah, domestication.

2006-10-31T02:58:00.000+08:00

TRYING TO KEEP UP - Bits & Pieces of October

With the long break ahead, I should be off to Bohol to do some much-needed diving - something I rarely do these days due to an epic pile of work and responsibilities at the office. But due to said epicness, I'll probably be staying home to get some rest. Not exactly the vacation I was planning, for, but time away from the office is STILL time away, even though I live right across the street. Hah!

Lots of stuff to keep me busy, though. The recent arrival of Hercules, my super-laptop, and DSL being hooked up (Huzzah!) will ensure hours upon hours of useless web browsing, chatting over Yahoo! Messenger and ripping musicians off by downloading torrents.

Home's feeling a lot more homey these days, with recent furniture acquisitions from Baguio. Spent a small fortune to upgrade my flat's atmosphere with some tables, chairs, lamps and modular shelving. It's definitely more livable, and I don't have any problems at all with staying home on most nights - even weekends. Another trip is in the works to get a new dinner table since my current one looks pretty much out of place now.

Yes, we won the Amazing Race Asia. Not the bigass one that AXN is premiering this month, but the small regional pocket tour they did a few weeks back. Quite fun, considering it was done at the SM Mall of Asia - that place is positively insane! We didn't win 1 million dollars, but I still took home a nifty MP3 player, some sneaks, gas cards and gobs of other prizes that I'll probably never use. And yes, it fed the media whore in me - apparently, we received gratuitous television and broadsheet coverage. Maybe next time, we'll be participating in the real thing.

The long-delayed Birthday Mix should be up soon. Haven't had a chance to upload and make the formal playlist. Been spreading the final mix around the office and been getting lots of positive feedback. Some details: a) It's about an hour long b) Quoting an officemate, "Pang-MOMOL yung mga kanta." Mwahahaha!

And a recent trip to Gold's Gym with Maui reintroduced me to the wonders of spinning. Must integrate it into my fitness regimen. It's just that Gold's Gym is so...FAR.

2006-10-16T16:05:00.000+08:00

GONE TO THE DOGS.

Well, not exactly. But a whole lot has been happening. Other than work, work, work, there's a thing about Amazing Race Asia (promo tour nga lang), new work, new hires, new toys, lots of new new new (and wonderful) things going on right now.

Oh, that and I quietly turned 29. Woo!

Some recent snaps:

Floppy-eared Hound. Woof!

Me and Sandy the Great Dane.

Loki, Maui's new pup-to-be

Furry Tales for PAWS. Go!

2006-09-27T08:31:00.000+08:00

UPDATES

The last few weeks have been...interesting, to say the least. The office has been dealing with a massive workload and a constant stream of job requests. Everyone's frazzled, hell - I'M stressed out as well. And it takes a whole lot to stress me out these days. I know it can't be helped since we're a lean and mean crew of ten (soon to be eleven, with the addition of a new writer), but our load has brought most of the crew to the point of stress/fatigue-induced sickness.

But this is a good thing. More work = more money, so I'm hoping all these all nighters will pay off in great dividends for the office. My observation is that most clients are moving their budgets to non-traditional forms of advertising (direct, interactive, etc) which puts my group right smack in Ground Zero. Hurrah for that, then! More sleepless nights and putting the brain through the wringer to squeeze out ideas.

In the middle of it all, I failed to notice that I was the only creative using an old mac from way back when. My PC requirements are quite simple: something that lets me type documents, and a hard drive large enough to store all my music (in addition to the MegaPod's 60 gigabytes). The OldMacG4 did a pretty good job of keeping up, until a few weeks ago. The problems: It had a 40 gigabyte hard drive. I had 27 gigabytes of music and about ten gigabytes worth of programs and work files. Its processor was old - a good four generations old. And I was running Photoshop, Illustrator and a slew of graphics-hungry applications. I was surprised it didn't suffer a meltdown sooner. That and I couldn't burn CDs or DVDs.

So yesterday, I called the IT department to issue me a new Mac.

BAM! New 17" iMac with an Intel Core Duo processor running at a sweet 1.83 Ghz, 2 gigabytes (!) of RAM, a 120 gigabyte (!!!) hard drive, dual DVD burner and other geeky whatzzits that rock my socks.

Alas, she is just a temp, meant to tide me over until the office can get my MacBook (Pro sana). But eez cool - at least I have a new toy for the next month or so.
---

It isn't all about work, though. The big Two Nine is next week!

Yipes.

2006-09-22T12:18:00.000+08:00

Lack of posts = lots of work.

At least I still have time to watch superfun stuff like this:

at the height of it all, we weren't able to celebrate World Talk Like A Pirate Day. Ahhhrrr, that be a shame.

2006-09-04T13:13:00.000+08:00

+ THE CROC HUNTER

Crikey! Steve Irwin, the wily Croc Hunter of Discovery Channel/Animal Planet fame, was killed in a freak accident off Port Douglas near the coast of Eastern Australia. Apparently, he was impaled in the heart (!) by a stingray. Totally freak accident.

Stingrays are the gentlest of sea creatures - they don't attack, and the sharp boney barbs are a defense mechanism.

Quite sad. I'll miss that khaki uniform.

Report # 01
Report # 02

2006-08-24T00:10:00.000+08:00

Busy, busy, busy. That’s what a shop staffed by nine creatives is all about. 9 people to do lots of things: Advertising, DM, interactive and everything above, below and wherever the line is. With this, there are the pocket vacations and little stupid things I do to keep sane, like going to Cebu for the weekend and participating in a BMW race (documented on diveabout, in glorious full colour!). There’s also the non-stop semi-late night binges with our new next door neighbours in the bignewoffice. Old crew mixed with the new crew. One big happy advertising block (bloc?) party.

No time to write. Plenty of time to write copy and brainstorm, but never enough to document. And draw. And take more pictures of what’s going on. It’s fun and exhausting. I’m having (again, apparently) the time of my life.

And then this happens. After six long years in this advertising experiment, it really, really happens. For REAL. A chance to finally do some damage on MY terms. A strong (but really small!) team of talented people. Clients that will let us (hopefully!) take their brands into areas where traditional advertising doesn’t dare go. Smaller budgets? Maybe. Smashing creative work? Definitely.

Then there are new things to consider: Budgets. Targets. Shows. Training. Team Morale. Scheduling of deadlines. Frontlining. Evaluating. Being, all things considered, a...boss.

This is great. Everything I’ve worked for is paying off, FINALLY.

So why am I terrified?

2006-08-03T18:39:00.000+08:00

FUN ON TREADMILLS!

Those kooks from Ok, Go! have a new vid, and it is totally way-coolie. I think I posted about them a couple of months back for their "A Million Ways" vid. Here's a refresher:

I thought they did a pretty top job on that one, but with "Here It Goes Again," they've totally outdone themselves:

I wonder how many takes it...took to get it right. Visit the band's site here. Loving it.

2006-07-26T11:03:00.000+08:00

GOOD MORNING HAPPY DANCING NINJAS SUNLIGHT SMILE

I am totally lurving The Pythagoras Switch.

With ninjas, no less.

---

On the subject of ninjas, The Daily Musings of Shuruku Umezawa: Junior Salesman, Ninja is gut-bustingly hilarious! Read it on McSweeney's here. Thanks, Kris!

2006-07-18T14:41:00.000+08:00

ROCKSTARS

Photo by bahaghari

We hired a jeep to drive us around the Makati area for our photo op due to appear in a future issue of Campaign Brief magazine. Good fun! Though it started to rain so we ran out of dry locations.

This is the Ogilvy creative division, circa 2006. Bit of a ragtag bunch, really. But all hungry to win that next Cannes Lion (and more!). Heading the crew is Gavin Simpson (the Indian-looking guy sitting on the hood of the jeep), our Executive Creative Director with an entire shopping list of awards. We've also got interactive, graphic and industrial designers doing art direction. We're lean and mean, well...more anorexic now because of the workload, but it's all working out quite well.

*We're currently looking for TWO creative teams (writer + art director). If you know anybody, drop me a line.

2006-07-18T11:53:00.000+08:00

GEEKS GONE WILD

Recent advancements in video technology (cheaper, higher resolution cameras and home-brew post production software) have given rise to the ultimate expression of geekdom: the fan film. Leagues of fanboys (and girls, yes) get together, dress up in their favorite comic/fantasy costumes to re-enact their favourite movie scenes. Some even write out new plots based on a comic, book or movie and come up with totally new serialzed versions. Others just make movie trailers. Quite amazing, if not a huge waste of time and money.

Most of them end up with trash that'll make you snort up popcorn through your nose.

Ever see the Thundercats?

Then again, some guys like Sandy Collora are dead serious about fan films. He's done some great stuff for Batman, Superman and the Justice League.

It's possible to mix genres as well. Remember the old 90's 'reality show' Cops? Plunk in a Star Wars theme and you have Troops.

There are quite literally hundreds of fan films out there. And with the advent of YouTube and Google Video, well - there you go. Geek nirvana.

I DO have a light saber (with real sizzling sounds!) and a Jedi cloak, but I don't think I'd go past using 'em for costume parties.

The whole fan film culture has even been parodied. This one is pretty funny.

---

On a separate geek note, Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame) has a new cartoon series coming out on the Sci-Fi network. The Amazing Screw On Head pilot is online on Sci-Fi's website and looks excellent. Paul Giamatti helps on voicing.

2006-07-17T17:52:00.000+08:00

CITIZEN GOOGLIA

I lurve Google.

Aside from giving the world possibly the best search engine ever made, they've also bequeathed cool freebies like GMail (which we now use for our family's mail server), Google Earth (voyeurists rejoice!) and now, Google SketchUp, a free (FREE!) 3D modelling tool. Amazing.

Oh, and they run blogger as well.

And the great thing is, most of the stuff they give out are free!

I wouldn't mind Google running the world. I'd be a willing citizen of The Kingdom of Google. Googlia. Whatever you call it. They rock.

Google loves to innovate. Constantly. They're churning out a TON of products and offering them free (FREE!) to the consumer. The trade-off? A bunch of small text ads on your screen. No biggie.

But what keeps them going? Wieden + Kennedy London explains Google's 9 Notions of Innovation:

1. Ideas come from everywhere. (Google expects you to innovate.)
2. Share everything you can. (Every idea accessible to everyone.)
3. You’re brilliant. We’re hiring. (Google favours intelligence over experience.)
4. License to pursue dreams. (Employees get a ‘free’ day a week to pursue self-set projects.)
5. Innovation, not instant perfection. (Google launches early and often with small beta tests.)
6. Don’t politic, use data. (Use of ‘I like’ discouraged.)
7. Creativity loves restraint. (Give people a vision.)
8. Worry about usage and users, not money. (Provide something simple to use, easy to love. Money will come.)
9. Don’t kill projects, morph them. (There’s always a kernel of something good that can be salvaged.)

Well put. I printed these out and posted them in my cube. #4 and #9 are tops in my book.

2006-07-14T17:53:00.000+08:00

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

Everyone's favorite kaiju (big monster, or big rubber monster suit) killer Ultraman scats his way to your screens. Absolutely hilarious.

2006-07-12T14:36:00.000+08:00

FUN WITH CAMERA PHONES!

Saw this in Market! Market! a couple of weeks back. Y'know, I was beginning to wonder why I had such a massive munchies attack...

...and do these guys sell wangs of every size and shape? Many are anticipating the grand opening.

2006-07-11T19:27:00.000+08:00

PLUGGING GOODNESS

AJ's having his first solo show this Saturday! For those who are just mildly interested, there's free beer involved. 4 cases nga lang.

Ryan, my cousin from down under, has a band! He's currently shopping their sound all over Australia, hoping to reel in a label for a major release.

I'd say they music is on the funkier spectrum of rock and R&B - rather like Incubus before they went all commercial on our arses.

Have a listen here.

In case you were wondering, my cousin's the chap in the middle of the shot. See the resemblance?

2006-07-07T17:33:00.000+08:00

Much love to our clients at Nike for sponsoring our race clothes and gear for tomorrow's San Mig Light Enduro Race. And yes, our team name is MOMOL. Those in the know, you may laugh. Those who don't, well - over the next few weeks, you'll know what it means. Hehe.

2006-07-04T20:09:00.000+08:00

ROOM TO BREATHE

*Finally* the one-week-wonder TVCs are done. In a hell week that saw me work a 32-hour day, give up a Saturday (!) and decrease my sleep to about 4 hours a night, we finally put the project to sleep. Pretty proud of the output - two 30-seconders involving an alien abduction, a fortune teller and some tasty chicken. Catch it on all major networks and cable channels, Wednesday night at approximately 6.30pm.

Erik Matti, you rock gyud.

Now I have to deal with all the work that was sidetracked because of the one-week-wonder. That's about SEVEN job bags' worth. Aigh!

---

That leaves me with a absurdly small window of training time for the San Miguel Light Enduro. The race is this Sunday and I don't think the team is in tip-top shape. Scary.

2006-06-26T15:01:00.000+08:00

It begins.

I really, really, REALLY don't want this to suck. Michael Bay, PLEASE don't make it suck.

POSTSCRIPT: A teaser trailer is now up. Aigh!

2006-06-23T19:25:00.000+08:00

THE WINNAH!

Grand Prix in Print Advertising (meaning 'Best in the World')

Lego. Imagine

I like it, but I like these adverts for 42below Vodka a lot better. They were awarded gold. Excellent, simple and more importantly, they tell stories.

2006-06-21T20:15:00.000+08:00

After five years of trusted service, my Panasonic DJ100 headphone system has thumped its final bass note. It'd actually been broken for quite some time, kept alive by a McGyver-worthy patch job consiting of paper clips and duct tape. Technically, I CAN still revive it, though. But maybe it's time to buy a new set - hopefully one of the coolie Sennheiser portables.

Like this one. Sweet!

Aigh. Extra expenses!

2006-06-21T20:09:00.000+08:00

Office collaboration to solve the lovefilm poster movie hunt. We've got over 80 so far!

2006-06-20T19:03:00.000+08:00

Mr. Justin Gignac is a rather enterprising fellow. He sorts through New York City's garbage, seals them in little plastic cubes, individually numbers and signs them...and sells the boxed garbage for $50.00.

$50.00 for your own little piece of New York's refuse. Each "sculpture" is unique - no two cubes contain the same pieces of rubbish. And they're sealed in such a way that the smell doesn't leak out.

I love the idea because it's another one of those "WHY THE F!$%! DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT" things.

I hate the idea because...wtf, this guy is selling GARBAGE. And people are actually buying it!!! FOR $50.00!!! And according to his site, he's sold over 700 already. Aaaaaaaggghhhhh.

Buy your trash here.

2006-06-19T22:10:00.000+08:00

CANNES COUNT

It's that time of year again when the advertising world comes together in Cannes, France to get high, wasted and give each other pats on the creative back for doing some great creative work. The Philippines as a whole is doing quite well, with BBDO Guerrero Ortega leading the pack with seven shortlisted works, Ogilvy Manila with four (yay!), and Y&R Manila and DM9JaymeSyfu with one each.

Quote of the day: "Why do I need to shortlist when I can short time?"

Hahaha.

And recently spotted, that awful Bayantel Billboard near Guadalupe-EDSA Northbound. What the HELL is that all about? I'll try to snap a pic when I pass the area. Total rubbish, that one.

And the winning tagline-of-the-week award goes to restaurant chain Yoshinoya for their massively entertaining tagline:

"Yo the one!"

The Tokyo-Tokyo Writer strikes again! Oh you know him/her - made memorable lines like "Tonkatsu Very Much" and "Eat All You Kan-in!"

I love my work, I really do.

2006-06-16T20:46:00.000+08:00

boingboing reports that there's a Neil Gaiman Tribute CD coming out this July. Here's a leak of the tracklist.

1 Rasputina - Coraline
2 ThouShaltNot - When Everyone Forgets
3 Tapping The Vein - Trader Boy
4 Lunascape - Raven Star
5 Deine Lakaien - A Fish Called Prince
6 Thea Gilmore - Even Gods Do
7 Rose Berlin (feat. Curve) - Coraline
8 Schandmaul - Magda Treadgolds Märchen
9 Hungry Lucy - We Won't Go
10 Voltaire w/The Oddz - Come Sweet Death
11 Future Bible Heroes - Mr. Punch
12 Razed in Black - The Endless
13 The Cruxshadows - Wake the White Queen
14 Ego Likeness - You Better Leave the Stars Alone
15 Azam Ali - The Cold Black Key
16 Joachim Witt - Vandemar
17 Tori Amos - Sister Named Desire (New Master)

I recognise Future Bible Heroes (one of Stephen Merritt's side projects) and duh!, Tori Amos. Could be worth a purchase, methinks. ;cP

Mr. Punch, Future Bible Heroes' track is available for download here. The clip's low-res, so it's probably just worth a streaming listen.

2006-06-15T21:04:00.000+08:00

PUZZLE FUN, MOVIE-STYLE!

Some of you may have seen those weird Virgin Music Store posters where you're tasked to identify musicians/groups based on cryptic images - lovefilm.com has come along and done it for movies. Lovin' it!

2006-06-09T19:49:00.000+08:00

An empath officemate has just seen/identified my two Guardian Spirits: Two very, very old men.

Guardian #1 is a battle-hardened warrior, decked out in full armor.

Guardian #2 is a philosopher-librarian.

This comforts me. And explains a whole lot of things.

2006-06-09T15:29:00.000+08:00

The Associated Press reports that iPods are now more popular than beer.

In a study done by Student Monitor, 73% of 1,200 undergraduate college students now rate the iPod ahead of text messaging, bar hopping and downloading music.

Wow. I do lurve The MegaPod to bits, but not to the point that it overtakes my semi-regular pint/s of the good stuff. Especially with World Cup season around the corner. Football + lotsa beer = superfun!

Go England!