A Long Overdue Post

I have long been wanting to post a reflection of my post about the controversial gown which created a stir among the concerned and the "willing-to-be-concerned", but I didn't have supporting image because every blog post that I have done here are attached with images since I wanted to make this blog a blog of pictures and the millions of words they convey.

I am now in my finishing stage of my San Carlos City website and the image above is one I took about 4 years ago and it shows the busy traffic of the main commercial road of V. Gustilo where different motor powered and man powered vehicles passed. It is a growing city and part of its growth are trials and failures that make it a better and stronger one. As a citizen it is my part not just to share to the people the beauty of the city and how can one enjoy the peace and harmony if they visit the city but also to share what I truly feel so I maybe corrected if I am too judgemental or they may be corrected to the better path when others are astray.

I would like to commend the City Mayor's Office for the immediate attention of the case of what I have written in my blog. I know it created different reactions from people and one thing I am sure that the Mayor's office was not aware of my case and the incident of my blog made way to other transactions which have not been completed.

It was written that the "pen is mightier than the sword" but now, the internet is mightier than the pen and it is a very dangerous tool, we have to be careful of what we write and what we do for everything is too accessible to the world. I cannot say that I regretted what I have written because I haven't felt the strength of one blog until it changed one person's life. That is how life works - enjoy now and pay later.

Let us be careful of what we do, eveything is under the scrutiny of a higher Being who creates the rules. We are only here to draw our destiny and create opportunities for ourselves and then, others.

Once again, thank you to the City Mayor's Office to the immediate solution of my case and to your support of the Nui Bodypainting Competitions since its birth. More power to you and to all your staff!

Thank you.

The Ever Changing Landscape of Kayama

The typhoon Frank of June 2008 left the island of Panay devastated and lost, a small sitio in Ibajay was lost from the map leaving only bad memories of that fateful day. Not far from the erased patch of land is my grandfather's small piece of land which we called KAYAMA (the meaning I just figured after countless times of questioning was Kay Ama, a versatile phrase meaning "for our father, our father's, or from our father") which happened to be my grandpa's nickname.

It was a miracle that the piece of property of Kayama was left unscathed inspite of the high winds and strong waves that swept the nearby houses to nothingness. It was until my trip there last week when I realize the power of nature to destroy and to heal, tons of coconuts and logs were scattered on the beach and my mind just lost its composure and went beserk of how to clean the beach and bring it back to what it was when we left it last March.

The big logs cover the view of the horizon from the beach house and the beach looked smaller and the sea wider - it felt different sitting on my freeform piles of driftwood I call my easy chair like being in a new world from the one I have loved months ago. Different it looks but the feeling of belongingness is still felt. I met new workers for the landscaping and cleaning drive and lost one memorable face of the caretaker of the beach who lost his father in the great flood as he lost his grip on the coconut tree and fell imto the muddy waters. The caretaker was so depressed that he would take refuge in alcohol until fluid was found in his liver. He lost the will to go on maybe life is always cruel and so is nature.

Nature has the greatest power to change everything. The landscape of Kayama was transformed as the view of the sandbar that separate the river and the sea has been washed out and all is left is a vast wide Sibuyan Sea where one can see an occasional leaps of big fishes swimming away from the jaws of the biger ones, the calm sea doesn't give one a hint of how ferocious it can be with a few hours of high winds and strong waves can alter one's life forever.

The changing landscape of Kayama is a view for all of us who come there, the sandbar that washes away with the May winds and the wide seascape in August reminds us that nothing is permanent except change itself and it reminds us of the small things that we enjoy today and be gone tomorrow like the haunting and warm nod from a familiar stranger you meet every afternoon as you wait for the sunset. You seek for the familiar in a different atmosphere of a familiar place yet you find nothing but fragments of memories or faint warmth in your heart.

Nature is a great force for it changes everything - even our memories.

New Found Pics

Surfing the net for images that show the recent activities of bodypainting, I stumbled upon some and I was so inspired from these people who took the time to post and write about our creations.

The photos taken by Dennis Tanyu during the Opening of the Engkantado Photo Exhibit in Gaisano San Carlos and posted in Flicker by one of the photographers who came to the photoshoot, Paul Gotiong.

In case you missed my post of Engkantado.

My "thank you" to Mr. Ian Rosales Casocot for featuring our work for Hari ng Negros in his very interesting blog, The Spy in the Sandwich

the SEVEN Deadly Sins

What does the number SEVEN mean to you?

In a second, you would say seven is a lucky number or seven days a week or the seven virtues. Probably it is the number of numerous meanings, but what comes ino your mind when you see the number seven?

This is my first blog series that would last for seven installments and it is all about the number SEVEN and its relevance in the NUI Pintaflores Bodypainting Competition in November which will be presented by the Local Government and Tourism Office.

It will be another fun and enlighting moment for all artists and performers for again the Bodypainting will be supported and recognized.

In behalf of all those who hoped for your help and support...

Thank you.