Decline of the Written Media and the Crisis of Socialism
This is a must read. I printed the following article from the New Left Review and read it while in bed (yes, I’m still sick but I think this viral infection is about to leave my body).
The paper explores the the diminishing stature of the written media and the transition to a more audio-visual oriented culture as a much ignored factor in the present crisis facing the Left. The writer – Regis Debray - is a French intellectual, book writer, professor and journalist.
On a related note, also check out MediaShift for an article on why we love (and hate) print publications. Debray’s paper can be read below in full:
That New iPod Nano Ad
If you’ve seen the latest iPod Nano commercial and heard the raspy voice singing “1,2,3,4 tell me that you love me more…”, then maybe you are one of those who hit the search engines lately in search of the name behind the song.
find out who she is by clicking here.
Bakla Talks to You!
So this is it! All roads led to this entry! As you are reading this entry, we probably are somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight! We recently revealed that we are on a quest to achieving multimedia excellence and this surely puts a feather on our cap (etchos!).
Today, we are launching our series of video blogs for Bakla Ako, May Reklamo? and we’re starting the series with a bang! We have collaborated with one of the country’s most influential video bloggers (vloggers) in these first set of videos! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are honored to have worked with the Hot vlogger Coy of Cokskiblue! Coy is well-known in the blogging community for his artistic and socially-relevant videos. His most viewed video is the controversial Malu Fernandez ode that ANC used in one of their shows without proper attribution.
In these series of video blogs, Coy and Bakla became part of what is deemed to be the country’s first ever quadmedia conference/launch of a stage play. We were there as Tanghalang Pilipino launched the restaging of the award-winning play Insiang (click here for their official website). These video blogs were part of an event which has never happened before, and we daresay that it is indeed an historic event. Among the many once-in-a-lifetime incidents that transpired during the launch was the appearance of the elusive Mario O’hara, whom we heard has never seen his own work, Insiang – not on television, not on the silverscreen and not even through the velvet curtains!
A Scenario from a Rulebreaker’s Everyday Deviance
I’ve always hated rules. Although they say that rules are there for a purpose, oftentimes to “discipline,” “guide,” or “organize,” I still say that they go against man’s free will and condition him to think and act in a way that will put and end to the term “endless possibilities.”
Not that I’m saying that all rules should be disregarded. It’s just that we should consider the context in which the rules are applied and if they are reasonable enough for such circumstances. The last thing we want is to stand out as the rotten egg among the population, don’t we? Sabi nga ni PJ sa award-winning niyang message sa Yahoo! Groups namin, “we need to exercise our inherent rights as thinking beings.”
Is your blog ready for Wordpress 2.3?
The official launch date of Wordpress 2.3 is just around the corner. It has been scheduled at September 24, 2007. So far, based from the new features Wordpress 2.3 is adding, it looks very promising. Personally, I’m excited to download it and upgrade my Wordpress as soon as possible. If you want to try the first release candidate of wordpress, you can get it here.
However, before you go on upgrading, you need to ask yourself this question, Is your blog ready for Wordpress 2.3?
Unlike the previous upgrades such as wordpress 2.2.1 to wordpress 2.2.2 and wordpress 2.2.2 to wordpress 2.2.3 which are just minor security updates, Wordpress 2.3 is a huge update. A lot of things have been changed and added. You can’t just go and replace the files since there are bound to be conflicts in your database and also your plug ins.
So how do you get ready for a big upgrade such as this? Click Here.
The Lying Syndrome
Another Senate Hearing, another day of pointing fingers and endless lies tossed carelessly in the wind. Cabinet Secretary Mendoza has finally spoken, but I find no truth in his words. What good will lying do to anyone at this point? Okay fine, let’s say that he is telling the truth and the Blue Ribbon Committee isn’t, then how come he cannot explain and defend the true nature of the NBN deal? Is it an executive deal or just a contract?
Apparently, an executive deal is between governments (China and Philippines). And unlike a contract, it isn’t open for public bidding. So being an executive deal, AHI couldn’t have possibly been eligible for even making a proposal for the NBN, much more have Joey de Venecia III (JDV3) be a ‘proponent’ for the deal. And being an executive deal, it has to satisfy the following requirements:
1. After the executive agreement is signed, the Department of Budget and Management will issue a forward obligation authority (FOA) saying the government has the resources to pay the proposed loan.
2. Having received the FOA, Malacañang gives the go-signal to the Department of Finance (DOF) to negotiate a loan for the project.
3. The DOF talks to its foreign counterpart to finalize the loan.
4. The Monetary Board reviews the loan agreement.
5. Congress then approves the budget for the loan.
Have You Been To Baywalk Lately?
I pass by Roxas Blvd. regularly on my way to work and back, and I have witnessed how baywalk transformed from a dead area to a glamorous one where economic activity thrives. From a no man’s land to a place where family and young people spend their time. From an abandoned area to a place where both local and foreign tourists visit. I thought then, Manila went back to life. But have you been to baywalk recently? Take a look at these pics–
More pics HERE
A Frankenstein project
Cross-posted from my weblog.
I’VE BEEN reading through the transcript of yesterday’s Senate committee hearing on the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN), courtesy of Manolo’s liveblog over Inquirer Current, including the resources he pointed to, like PCIJ’s transcript of ASec Lorenzo Formoso’s powerpoint and Yuga’s take on the project itself.
And in the end, I get the feeling that just like the CEP, the NBN started out as a good idea that later metamorphosed into some sort of a Frankenstein project, no thanks to the usual suspects in the Arroyo regime.
Why is this so? Let me offer the following:
Against Porn and Smut? Oh, Really!
There was this congressman, who’s name I can’t be bothered to remember, on the news yesterday who wanted to ban the publication of FHM because, according to him, it destroys people’s morality, or so what I could recall from what he said over a TV interview. As most of you know, I am a pro-smut supporter. But even though, I passed it off as just another political charade. Well, who wouldn’t anyway? Politicians are all alike. May it be senators, congressmen or whatever. It’s all about money and power. If the reason is as cheezy as “protection of people’s innocence” or something, I don’t think people would even buy such lies. Besides, innocence is a word that does not exist anywhere in this world anymore. There may be a lot of uneducated people as they are, but there’s a lot of difference between an uneducated person and a plain stupid person who keeps closing his eyes. In Tagalog, malaki ang pagkakaiba ng isang taong walang pinag-aralan ang ng isang taong sadyang tanga and nagbubulagbulagan. (Ah, Tagalog definitely sounds better. It creeps you out to the bone. Or my English is just crappy.) Whatever the hidden agenda behind that FHM and other smutty magazine banning, given their reason (the facade one), I don’t think that reason is even enough to ban them. I think they should think of a better and more convincing reason than that. It’s even crappier than my English, seriously.
Bedridden on Martial Law commemoration day
Well, I used to plan and organize students for mass actions for today’s occasion. This year, I am bedridden. But even if I wasn’t, I still won’t attend the rallies scheduled for today. I now have to make a living and help our family cope with the economic difficulties of these days. And crisis times certainly means more work.
Argh! Didn’t finish writing a short reaction paper due for submission today. I was supposed to email it to Beryl so she can submit the write-up for me. Now I have to credit the really bad weather for all this bad luck.
