ang paglalayag

Moving

2007-10-24T18:42:00.000+08:00

This site will be moving to something better (I hope. hahahaha)

It's www.totolozano.com

See you all.

50 Minutes Delayed

2007-08-12T21:32:00.000+08:00

While I was informed that my flight back to Davao will be delayed by fifty minutes a day before my departure, some passengers remained clueless about it. I can see that most of them are tired, bored and irritated.

As for me...well...one way of killing your boredom is to shoot!

Home...almost

2007-08-07T22:28:00.000+08:00

After a bloody and gruesome week at the on-campus photojournalism class, it's time to go home and try to live a "normal" life again.

Had a short chat with the beautiful people of MindaNews and their plans before heading to the bus terminal. The bus station going to General Santos City is a total chaos. Passengers are trying to get ahead of each other knowing that only one bus company will be plying the Davao-Gen. Santos route.

Yellow Bus Company Inc. is closing down for a month to protest the recent bombing of one of their units that killed one passenger and wounded others.

I got frustrated by the scene, it made me feel like I'm in Metro Manila. What's more frustrating is that am stucked in General Santos because buses will no longer ply the General Santos-Koronadal City route once the sun sets.

Oh well...am home...ALMOST!

In the Name of The Father.

2007-07-04T02:37:00.000+08:00

While Tatay took his "final exams", went to heaven and taught the angels how to make documentaries, tatay left something that will always remind people how to be human.

Dare.

Pst!

2007-07-04T01:49:00.000+08:00

Wag kang maingay ha.

Gumawa ako ng photoblog. Assignment namin Kay sir Jimmy.
Dun na ako magpopost ng photos para isahan na lang.

Hmmnn ano mangyayari dito?

E di magro roadtrip pa rin tayo!

silip dito

Guilty as charged!

2007-06-30T23:28:00.000+08:00

Yeah this blog has been "dead" for almost a month and am so sorry for not updating it.

Been very busy with so many things that I can't make a sensible entry. Will try to get back into shape and start posting photos of my misadventures.

Thank you for the patience.

T

Buddy?

2007-05-17T23:15:00.000+08:00

Of consumerism and poverty. Tuwang tuwa si Ronald McDonald sa batang kanyang naloko. Ilang Pilipino kaya ang naloloko ni Ronald araw araw. Isali mo na ako dun.

WTF! Bikini Open in Lake Sebu!?

2007-05-15T02:22:00.000+08:00

WELCOME
TO OUR
ANCESTRAL DOMAIN
TRIBAL DATUS AND OFFICIALS OF LAKE SEBU

says one huge marker as the jeep inches its way up in a paved road courtesy of "development."

Lake Sebu is a small town in the province of South Cotabato. It is regarded as the "Summer Capital of Southern Mindanao." Lake Sebu is also the name of one of the three major lakes that irrigates Allah Valley and the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. It has seven waterfalls, and springs.

Legend tells a story of a local princess who went to Sebu, she saw a big leaf, opened it out ...and out jumped a frog. Water gushed out from the leaf and flooded the place and the lake was born.

From the heavens, the princess threw her phyton to the earth and formed the islands. The princess' brother divided the islands so the princess could pass.

Lake Sebu was named in honor of the loyal servant of the princess.

The Tboli's, the indigenous peoples of Lake Sebu consider the lake not only as a God-given food basket but also a miraculous body of water that never dries up.

If you are planning of going to the place, it will take you almost two hours to reach it from the coastal city of General Santos passing through four municipalities of South Cotabato and one city; Koronadal on a public ride.

Lake Sebu is about a thousand meters above sea level with an average temperature of 18 degrees Celsius, a very unlikely and cold place to wear your bikinis!

Salamat sa mga sumusunod:

JR, my narcissistic cousin for his camera. Damo gid nga salamat.

Ossie, Tatay's baby wahahahaha who never stops believing in me.

Elly Maguan, for driving me around town. Sa uulitin ha!

Lang Dulay, for the words and kindness...nawa'y humaba pa ang buhay mo at makakapaghabi ka pa ng maraming tnalak.

The people of Lake Sebu, please protect your place and your culture. You owe it to your sons and daughters and to the generations to come.

Abangan ang susunod na mga pictures.

Green Apple

2007-05-09T20:17:00.001+08:00

Let's admit it!

We all love apples!

We love the fruit: be it green, red, fuji and washington apples that came from China (hehehehe) , and of course: the computer.

When we were in grade school, we associate the first letter of the alphabet to the fruit. And we did our best to pronounce it with all our heart and say...

EEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!

During those days, I don't understand why it has to be an EPOL for A. Ant starts with A! or ARMALITE!

We get into fistfights over red crayon with our classmates during art classes so we can finish the red apples first.

I love apple, both the fruit and the computer. With the fruit, red tastes good in salads while green tastes sooo yummy with hot and spicy "bagoong alamang." Weird? Give it a try first.

I fell in love with the Apple Computers starting with the ergonomic and hip design iMacs. A real headturner..

Then came the powerPC and powerbooks, you'll be needing a seatbelt once you use it.I decided to take crash course in Final Cut Pro at PCCI with Tatay's powerbook.

Powerbook is a must have for filmmakers and digital artists on the move.And for years, Apple leads the race in the industry.I see more people switching from windows-based laptop to Powerbooks. The only bad thing about it ( and the rest of the Apples) is the toxic wastes it carries. These wastes are then being dumped in countries like China and India.

The "green-minded", those who care for the Mother Earth together with Greenpeace started pressuring Apple with its creative campaign.

After a failing mark Apple got from Greenpeace, Steve Jobs released this report. Thanks to the "green-minded" and Greenpeace.

Am seriously thinking of getting myself a Powerbook, the green Powerbook that is. And as for Stevie and the brains behind Apple here's something for you...

Rugby Boys 2 back by demand

2007-05-09T07:02:00.000+08:00

My youngest brother was curious with Batibot and asked for a close up. I don't know if my brother meant a close-up of Batibot's tricks or just Batibot's headshot..

Then came Anton whom most people think is a "rugby boy". Anton's 9 years old and never went to school. He said his mom can't send them all to school.

"I don't do rugby, I work here. *Kasab-an ko nila (points at the skaters) pag mag rugby ko," says Anton.

So when Kapitan Karlo took a break, Anton showed me his tricks.

I call the trick "Look Ma, no skate shoes!"

*Pagagalitan nila ako ( skaters) kung magra rugby ako.

Culture of Impunity

2007-05-08T15:46:00.000+08:00

Garapalan na! as tatay will always say. He'll slam his hand on the table and he'll take a deep breath.

That's the common reaction I see in him, every time he reads the newspaper and sees journalists, activists and progressive leaders being shot, "salvaged" or abducted in broad daylight. I lost count how many times he slammed our dining table or our door. Not that I got tired counting...it's just too many and it makes me so depressed.

Every time I see him on this situation, I remember Beng Hernandez who was murdered by the military while doing her job in Cotabato Province. Beng is a colleague in College Editors Guild of the Philippines.

The son of the press freedom icon Jose Burgos was never spared. John Jonas Burgos was abducted in broad daylight, in front of so many people. Garapalan na that the very son of the person who paved way for our freedom is now a victim of the same atrocity.

Garapal na talaga! as tatay will always say. Garapal talaga that we counter the culture of impunity with the culture of silence. No non-violent protests...as if nothing happened. We rather stare at our idiot box and watch PBB or the latest in show business. Politics is now the new show business.

Bahala na lang ba? Life goes on...as if our lives will be normal with these things happening.Life never goes on when we live in fear...but death.

No Nukes!

2007-05-08T08:17:00.000+08:00

Was doing my morning "point and clicking" searching for Henry Dunant and found this interesting and very educational game.

The game created in flash has 8 Peace Doves with a mission of disarming the nuclear superpowers.

Find the warfreaks and disarm them.

Play and learn here!

Save the world from Nuclear Destruction.

Rugby Boys (alay kay Chrisangelo)

2007-05-07T22:33:00.000+08:00

I went out of the office earlier than usual and decided to take some photos of my skateboarding buddies. I started snapping one frame after another starting, with Drunken Dodoy.

He can still manage to do some tricks right after his drinking session. For Drunken Dodoy, drinking and skateboarding is inseparable, one and the same.

I wonder why his brother's not skating these days.

Meet Tags the Trasher. Aside from skating, he can do more with his bare hands like washing the dishes. Nyahahahaha

He's a frontman in a band that plays christian rock. He likes to do covers of classical music in punk! Ano kaya ang tunog ng soundtrack ng Sound of Music o kaya Annie? Heheheheh

Mas matindi pag Mozart!

"Gian the Magician" is never afraid of doing new tricks and most of the times he does combinations of two. Some of the tricks are not for the faint-hearted.

His scars are proof of his dare-devil stunts. He's tamed when his Ate Cha is watching though.

Go Gian...break your leg! I mean break a leg...pareho lang yan! Bwahahahah

Kapitan Karlo also known as The Kagawad! He's one of the guys responsible in organizing local skateboarding contests in the area.

Trashers from other cities like Koronadal and Davao will hitch-hike their way to Gen. Santos City and and earn those scars errr cash.

Karlo's the unofficial maniniyot/videographer of their group too.

Last but definitely not the least...BATIBOT! Ang kilabot! Mukha pa lang matatawa ka na.

His stunts include scaring the gurls and making faces.

Would love to shoot more frames when the "rugby boys" (but they're not!) caught my attention. They love to hang out with the skaters at sundown, borrow their boards and try to do some tricks.

They're enjoying their summer buster so I started shooting some frames. Kakaingit ng kanilang kinakain.

They never cared about the flash and I was able to snap some more, too bad I can't get a close up or I might get hit by the flying boards.

And when they were done...

it's funtime!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2007-05-07T11:19:00.000+08:00

Was digging on my photos folder trying to find something that will fit on the reading material am about to design and found this kid instead.

I can no longer remember what he was doing when I snapped this one. Natawa lang ako nung nakita ko to bigla.

At Long Last

2007-05-03T06:40:00.000+08:00

Whew! Glad it's over. The longest 10-minute video is done and I can now get some decent sleep.

Oh well, I still have to deal with other matters: Office Monsters! They're the Youtube addicts, the cheesy Friendster freaks and just plain whores and bitches messing with the office bandwidth.

Gwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! *mimics meanne" no memo and sanctions can stop these monsters,

Oh well, I should start working on the next "almost-impossible video presentation".

Disaster

2007-04-24T15:04:00.000+08:00

In this day and age of technology, things do come so handy. Things do come in an instant. With digital camera and decent inkjet printer we get an instant photo for our album. We can even upload it on the web and create a web album to share to friends and family.

With the digital handicam and a computer, we're just a shoot away from our dream of becoming a filmmaker. With the LCD projector, you can organize a red carpet premiere of your video.

Technology breeds a new culture. That includes people who lost their patience! It's great to have those piece of technology, but since people are not patient enough to read their users' manual...technology is now spelled as DISASTER!

How long will it take for us to read the manual for our new cellphone or our new handicam's manual. Or go online to search for online support and manuals.

Searching for manuals and support is far better than browsing porn and bet that you won't get any spyware and virus from the site.

For weeks now, I am editing my so-called "Longest 10-minute Video" simply because the people who did the shooting never cared to read the manual or at least ask around how to use their new HDV camera.

They shot different formats on a single DV tape!DV and HD in one tape then add the timecode breaks, poor audio and a tight deadline...that's disaster!

My advice is...know your equipment! Be it a cellphone, a laptop, a camera or even your keyboard. Try pressing Alt+F4.
Nyahahahha

Conversations

2007-04-19T11:09:00.000+08:00

Talked to my Ate Janjan and told her that I already have my flight details for my Hongkong trip.

What about your Montreal application? She asked.

She was referring to the application I submitted for the Video Advocacy Institute in Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. It's a program being run by Witness in association with Concordia University.

"It was forwarded to the screening committee," I said.

"Is Kat part of the Screening Committee?" Ate asked.

"Ambot .(I don't know.) All I know is that she's famous in Canada and she's very productive. I think she's making a documentary film on health, helped other filmmakers across the globe and organized photobloggers for an exhibit.

Kat's one of the directors of a documentary film, Seeing Is Believing. Together with Peter Wintonick they traveled across the globe filming the evolution of handicams, from a simple and cheap alternative for movie entertainment to a tool for human rights activism.

We met Kat and Peter when they filmed Tatay (father) working with various peoples organizations like Nakamata Coalition and the people of Macambol.

Kat's my adviser in the new technology. She's always an email away! If online forums and my Bible can't help me, Kat's always to the rescue. From DV issues, post-prod, Final Cut Pro issues and HDV technology, Kat has the answer (or she always takes time helping me get the right answer.hehehehe)

If Kuya Cito (san na kaya sya?Magbibigay ako ng pabuyang 6-packer San Mig Lights sa makakapagturo ng kinaroroonan ni Kuya Cito. Huli ko syang nakita sa UP Diliman, sa Sonic) showed me how to build an editing equipment based on a Windows system with a minimal cost, Kat showed me "killer filmmakers" equipment and how to get the best out of it.

"She's lucky! She gets to travel, shoot, get support/funding from the government and get an award," said Ate Jan.

Lucky indeed! Unfortunately for us Filipinos, we can travel (at our expense), shoot, don't hope for any support or funding from the government, do not expect that you will win or nominated to the award giving body and still get SHOT or GUNNED DOWN by the people from the government.

But hey...LOOK at US! We're shooting right...and will always shoot videos.

Those were my parting words to Ate Janjan.

Dried Fish

2007-04-03T08:43:00.000+08:00

Commonly know as "tuyo" or "bulad", is a staple food among Moro people living near Lake Buluan. Moro people cultures tilapia, catfish and carp at the said lake.

I took this photo when I went to Brgy. Pedtubo, Pres. Quirino, Sultan Kudarat.

Little Pacman

2007-03-30T09:45:00.000+08:00

Was having a site visit in one of the communities in General Santos City when I saw this kid. I can't help but snap a photo. The kid reminds me of Manny Pacquiao.

Check the eyes and the forehead!

Hostage

2007-03-28T21:19:00.001+08:00

My officemates and I were invited for a simple graduation dinner just in time for the primetime news. What a treat...good food and a tabloid format on TV!

It's about Jun Ducat who held day care kids hostage for 10 long hours! His bargaining plea...quality education, eradicate corruption and housing for the poor.

The news became the center of the conversation to most of the visitors. I heard somebody saying...psycho!

For a moment, the dinner became a venue for debate over Ducat's action to the point that it's about to spoil my meal.

Then I said, I just want to remind everybody that we are all being held hostage by a fake ugly president! What's worse than that?

*grins*

2007-03-16T08:21:00.000+08:00

Masarap Huminga!

Masarap nga naman talagang huminga kapag....

Lady Killer

2007-03-03T23:15:00.001+08:00

Meet Lil' Joey...the Lady Killer (sabi ng kaibigan ko!).

He loves to take a morning walk, wafer and yeah...Finding Nemo.He can watch it day in and day out. Nyahahahaha

Lil' Joey has a lil brother now...I call him Lil' Joey v2.0. But nothing beats the original, so to speak.

Lil' Joey ROCKS!

Thanks to Tito Baby for the alien look.

2007-03-03T21:23:00.000+08:00

I was "point and clicking" (again) that lead me to this site then I saw this interesting clip.

I wonder how many of us share the same dream...and if only we believe, it will be very fantastic!

2007-02-26T14:32:00.000+08:00

KABATAAN!

TAYO PA RIN ANG PAG-ASA NG BAYAN!

makilahok! MAKIALAM!

para sa kinabukasan!

2007-02-06T10:08:00.000+08:00

BOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEDDDDDDDDD!

the sun's been hiding from us for two straight days.
my paper works start to pile up on my table and I don't even want to touch it.

email ms and mr so and so with this and that...

whew...am looking forward for my Friday night meeting...and yeah my Davao meeting with a Malaysian NGO.

Am crossing my fingers for a more exciting things to come.

Speaking of exciting activities...made me realize that the first month of 2007 is not that exciting.
Never had the chance to hit the beach with skimboard, my skateboard deck needs tracks and wheels ( I accept donations) , never had the change to shoot and the handicam has been on the shelf for quite some time now.

I don't make sense...don't read this entry.

2006-08-21T22:16:00.000+08:00

Today in our history, he made his-tory.

23 years ago, Ninoy Aquino was assasinated even before he was able to set foot in his motherland. He was shot by one of his military escorts,his body lay flat at the airport tarmac face down.

His death became the catalyst of the EDSA revolution we bacame very famous of. Famous not only because it was the first bloodless revolution in the entire history, but also because it happened again twice decades later and still never learned from it.

Just like Rizal, he put so much hope on us, youth. Ninoy believed we are the hope of this land, and that education will emancipate us from poverty.I hope we, the youth, did not disappoint him if we spent so much time hanging out on the malls, or chatting with our friends online rather than taking active stance on the issues that confront us.

In this day and age of technology, of consumerism and MTV, we became so numb and disoriented by the very issues that we ourselves are directly affected. Poverty, environmental destruction, unemployment, mass urban migration, vigilantism and militarization. The numbers are growing every second of our "care-free" life.

Today we remember his story...when are you going to start making your own story for the next generation to remember?

hope of the nation?

2006-08-12T10:01:00.000+08:00

This is my 2nd trip to this community when I saw these kids.

With only 1.3% of the Philippine budget goes to health, 15% of our budget goes to Education and 33% of our country's budget goes straight to debt, I don't think these kids will have a better future.

NO MORE EXCUSES, PHILIPPINES!