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Showing posts from January, 2010

So...is Apple the next tech bully?

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Junnifer: "Uyyy!! Meron na akong iPad!" Zoorlah: "Anong iPad? iPOD, 'ka mo! Nagpapaka-American twang ka pa diyan!" Junnifer: "Hindi nga! iPad ang pinakabagong ni-launch sa pataasan ng ihi ng mga tech companies. iPAD, gawa ng Epol!" The feature-rich color-screen iPad, which conveniently looks like a widened iPod Touch, has a suggested retail price of $499 for the 16GB model, thus trouncing the $489.00 Kindle DX and most other tablets and e-readers in the market. It looks really, really enticing. I can hear little I- want-one's coming in from all over the globe. Time was when you either had a PC or an Apple, a PC smartphone or an iPhone. But with the iPad... you either choose to have it or nothing at all. At least until someone attempts to lock horns with it. As for me, "iPass." To view the mouth-watering video, visit the Apple website .

Summit Media Job Openings - January 2010

If interested to apply, send a cover letter and your updated curriculum vitae to: Rad Santos: rad (dot) santos (at) summitmedia (dot) com (dot) ph Paolo Cuerpo: paolo (dot) cuerpo (at) summitmedia (dot) com (dot) ph EDITORIAL EDITORIAL ASSISTANT – SMART PARENTING At least a Bachelor's/College Degree in Creative Writing, Journalism, or any related course. Excellent communication and WRITING skills. Female; 21 years old and above. Know how to write and should be very knowledgeable in parenting issues and / or concerns. Dynamic, creative and flexible. Interested and knowledgeable in parenting issues and / or concerns. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT – COSMOPOLITAN At least a Bachelor's/College Degree in Creative Writing, Journalism, Fashion, or any related course. Excellent communication and WRITING skills. Female; 21 years old and above. Know how to write and possesses a keen interest in trends pertaining to the content of the magazine. Dynamic, creative and flexible. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT –

Coloring Practice: Sleeping Dodong

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Coloring *sigh*... Such a frustration...

Racist Cameras?

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From Yahoo! News: "...a Taiwanese-American strategy consultant who goes by the Web handle "jozjozjoz," thought it was funny that the camera had difficulties figuring out when her family had their eyes open. So she posted a photo of the blink warning on her blog under the title, "Racist Camera! No, I did not blink... I'm just Asian!" " And something simple I cooked up (click image to enlarge). Read the entire news article here.

On Making Changes

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Shown here are two panels I'm quite proud of (click on the image to enlarge). I took some time thinking about how to compose them and what sort of props would go into them, down to the pattern on Gwyneth's goblet. I also like how cleanly my lines ended up, like Ada's hair and the little basket filled with sewing thingies. I wish all the panels of the book would come out this way. The punchline? These panels are "rejected." They will never see print. Not to say that they're not good enough. It's just that they didn't fit anymore. When I painstakingly reworked the script, a very draining activity, this simple event -- Gwyneth talking to Ada and Dodong in the living room -- didn't happen. Sort of a "Sliding Doors" moment, and the rest of the first two chapters changed for the most part. Hopefully for the better of the whole. There are times when we need to change the way we do things if we intend to move forward. The first way, the most comf

Story Hooks That Can Sell

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Reprinted from an article written in 2007. Author anonymous. Story ideas are everywhere. You can 1) go over the news; 2) recall a special event in your life; 3) recall a special event in a friend's life; 4) go through history books, etc. Then you ask a lot of "what if" questions. Chances are, you'll find a story hook that'll interest you enough to expand into a full plot. However, not all story ideas will sell. Even the best-laid plans for Hollywood movies don't translate to record-breaking, not even modest, returns. So why invest all that time and energy on a story that's not going to fly? Of course, many aspiring creators have their dream projects. And there may be a chance that these projects can get them somewhere. But this post assumes that you're stuck and would really need a nice kick in the brain for a story idea that can get people interested. According to Amazon, the following magazines top their subscription sales list, in no particular orde

Pinoy Superheroes: A Point of View

Here's an interesting blog post: "But let’s say some rich guy, heir to hectares and hectares of sugar cane plantation, or the business mogul of the chain of super malls decides to don a cape and mask to swing from building to building, beating up chumps who mug people for a living. Would that make for a Filipino superhero?" Read the whole piece on Hold the Phone .

Taking Your Comics to "Market"

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There will be creative writers who may scoff at the idea of writing for a market, but it is the practice of the mainstream publishing industry to pour their resources on material that has a good chance of being picked up. While industry observers have noted that developing technologies (such as e-readers, electronic delivery, and the renewed interest in tablet computers) and business models (like print-on-demand) would eventually widen the opportunities for vanity and self-publishers, there still remains the question: Will a sizeable number of people buy this book? If you're a graphic novelist and you want your work to sell, it would be prudent to take your concept and see what kind of audience you're servicing. This is opposed to choosing a profitable market and tailoring a story for them. The latter case is the realm of commissioned work, or for those who are really into the business side of storytelling, but the former case can help you keep a tight focus on the boundaries w

Cityscape: Finished Product

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Click on the image to enlarge. Rough drawing can be found in a previous post.

Billboard's Top 100 of the Decade

Wow, has it really been a decade? Billboard magazine recently released its Top 100 Lists for the decade 2000-2009. In there you'll find artists who still have a strong foothold in the current music scene, as well as artists who aren't as active, if at all. Top 10 Songs of the Decade (2000 - 2009) 1) WE BELONG TOGETHER - Mariah Carey 2) Yeah! - Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris 3) Low - Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain 4) How You Remind Me - Nickelback 5) I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas 6) No One - Alicia Keys 7) Boom Boom Pow - The Black Eyed Peas 8) Let Me Love You - Mario 9) Gold Digger - Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx 10) Apologize - Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic See the entire Top 100 Songs here. Top 10 Artists of the Decade (2000 - 2009) 1) EMINEM 2) Usher 3) Nelly 4) Beyonce 5) Alicia Keys 6) 50 Cent 7) Nickelback 8) Britney Spears 9) Destiny's Child 10) Jay-Z See the entire Top 100 Artists here.

Tanghalang Pilipino's Tatlong Mariya

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Tanghalang Pilipino’s 23rd Theater Season (2009-2010), which pays tribute to “Women of Substance”, culminates with Rody Vera’s Tatlong Mariya , an adaptation of Three Sisters , the timeless classic by Anton Chekhov. Using contemporary language, Vera’s brilliant rendering breathes an entirely new, maybe even irreverent interpretation of Chekhovian characters that are teeming with the heavy human emotions of despair, hope, boredom, longing, anger and love. From turn-of-the-century Russia, the play will move to a remote small Northern Luzon town during the first decade of Martial Law. Tatlong Mariya portrays the life of the Ballesteros sisters, as they struggle to liberate themselves from the dreariness and hopelessness of their provincial existence, and yearn for the excitement of Manila, where their once happy and respectable life used to be. The play will be presented in a theater-in-the-round setting, making the production more challenging for the director and the performers, and mor

Dulaang UP's Ang Muntik Nang Di Mapigilang Paghahari ni Arturo Ui

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After helming the critically-acclaimed production of Atang: Dulang may Musika , director Alexander Cortez returns with Ang Muntik Nang Di Mapigilang Paghahari ni Arturo Ui*, an adaptation of the play by Bertolt Brecht . The play chronicles the rise of mobster Arturo Ui in Chicago during the Depression, as he orchestrates his control over the local green-grocery trade before eventually facing his own psychosis. Audiences will note the parallels between Brecht's play with the story of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. The Dulaang UP adaptation will feature Randy Villarama, Floy Quintos, Meynard PeƱalosa, Mitoy Sta.Ana, Sugus Legazpi, Inno Martin, Nicco Manalo, Carlo Cannu, Vincent Pajara, Sigmund Pecho, Natasha Cabrera, Martha Sta. Barbara, and the Dulaang UP ensemble. Filipino adaptation by Katherine Sabate, Patrick Valera and Joshua So, music composition by Diwa de Leon and choreography by Dexter Santos. Musical Direction by Krina Cayabyab, lighting design by John Batalla, special effe

Drawing Process: Some Sort of a Manila

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Click on the image to enlarge. It's still unfinished.