9th avenue photography

The Hollywood icon has come and passed. I know that he's been cremated last week and it's only now that I am writing about this wonderful man, a true hero for humanity. We've known him as Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy, as the racer and race team owner, and as the entrepreneur who gave away almost 250 million dollars for charity. But upon reading a lot of articles about Paul Newman, I'm disgusted not to find any reference on my favorite Paul Newman role as Reg Dunlop, the playing coach of the Charlestown Chiefs ice hockey team.

Writers fail to even mention "Slapshot" as one of the many Paul Newman films. The movie was a flop at the time, way ahead of the hockey boom in Southern California and Florida. But to me, it's the most memorable role for him because, as a hockey player, I enjoyed watching him play old-time hockey - complete with bench-clearing brawls, the bloody fisticuffs, and the many antics that will give hockey referees an instant coronary.

Slapshot will always be the all-time best hockey movie. If you haven't seen it, then you're not a real hockey fan. Sure, some of you have seen The Mighty Ducks but it's a Disney movie. I've seen all three Ducks movies and I liked them too.

Thank you for the memories Coach. Gloves off, stick down, no warning. Old time hockey!

For a debut this Saturday. Budget is really tight, PM me for your rates and possibly a sample of your work (even a short clip). I'll message the other details through individual messages. Thank you!

    Recently, I can't help but feel bad when I think about a recent incident I encountered as a photographer. One of my pet peeves, even when I was growing up, is when people start calling me "boy", "bata", "psst". But the absolute worst of it all is "pogi". FYI, pogi is used for dogs, as in "Ang pogi mo, parang aso!" or anything in that context. I know, I'm just a photographer, a hired hand - - - oh wait a minute, I wasn't paid then, you didn't hire me! Blast it. And decide to call me pogi? (Uy, pogi, pogi, kunan mo naman kami dito! Isa pa!) What made you better than me? You're a rich fellow, a class-act maybe in your peers but around your juniors, around the people you don't know, you ain't hackin' it man. Ask your closest neighbor, ask someone who knows me, or ask any-flipping-one for my name! Don't call me "pogi". That's just common courtesy.

I don't call any old person "tanda", I address him/her properly, "Sir" or "Ma'am", whichever is applicable. This is what separates us from animals, our manners. Or apparent lack of it. It's not hard to do, just think if I called you "tatang", "tanda", "matandang hukluban", how would you feel?

Enough ranting.

Earlier today, I was dumbfounded once again when my 4th Generation iPod froze up on me. Usually when I’m playing along with my guitar, I’ll be fast forwarding if I didn’t feel like playing the song at that moment. But too much of anything, as always, is bad right? So what happens? My iPod suddenly has a mind of its own and starts fast-forwarding itself. After resetting the darned thing three times (MENU + Center button), my iPod gave up and showed me the sad icon. So what to do? I searched for the best iPod fix I could find and found this link. Were they ever correct! I tried all the methods the posters in that site suggested and the two best suggestions were as follows: (1) the frisbee - I threw my iPod on my bed whilst spinning it wildly for two times; then (2) gave it a good smack (like beating a red-headed stepchild) twice at the back (I don’t know the scientific correlation of two spins and two smacks) but it worked! It’s funny how you fix things sometimes. Sometimes you take things apart and reassemble them back again. Sometimes, you become the dummy and take the faulty item to the service center and get robbed in the process. Oftentimes, you just give it a little smack, and all is fine and dandy.

After waiting for quite a while now, I finally got to see the much-anticipated installment of the Batman franchise. The Dark Knight marks the return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Director Christopher Nolan. New to the Batman series is the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. Michael Caine is still Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon.

This new Batman movie is very different from the comic book Batman of the past. It delves deeper into the human emotions - exploring mostly the weaknesses of the human spirit and the indifference among all of us. From the opening scene, where bank robbers dressed as clowns annihilate each other just to make his share of the heist bigger, to the conclusion of the story; the movie told many tales about human beings in general.

The hype around Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker was well deserved. The role fit him perfectly, and his portrayal of the demented psychopathic clown was spot on. His voice, mannerisms, and general demeanor were exactly what the role called for. Sure, your heart will go out for him, knowing that he will not have another performance but still, you couldn't discount his acting prowess in this movie.

Aaron Eckhart also was effective in his role as District Attorney Harvey Dent. His transformation into Two-Face was riveting. You almost feel sorry for the villains in the Batman movies. Every single one of them has a sad story to begin with. Maggie Gyllenhaal was no Katie Holmes as Rachelle Dawes - she was a lot better actress than Katie. True, Maggie looks a lot older but maybe her role as Rachelle fit her perfectly. She was the love interest of Harvey Dent who was no spring chicken either so the love team worked out well on screen.

Some caveats on the movie though. I found that some of the fight scenes were very distracting. I thought that they could have used more lighting during the action scenes or maybe zoom the lens out further so as not to be too tight for the scenes. Also, when his tank of a Bat-mobile transformed into a bad-ass bike, I found that the CGI effects could have used a little more work. It looked fake to me, especially when the bike passed by a dirt patch. Those fat tires could have kicked helluva lot more dust after his high-speed pass but not in the film. So sad too about the Lamborghini Reventon. I didn't pity it because it got smashed (of course they didn't use a real Reventon there), I would have wanted a lot more scenes of Bruce Wayne in that baby. When I first saw the Reventon on Top Gear, I instantly knew that it was made for Batman.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the movie. It's a true white-knuckle ride through and through. It's a lot more dramatic than previous Batman films and it caters to the more mature audience, not the ones that want a lot of crash, bam, booms. It's the last film that Heath Ledger made and he certainly goes out in style. He's the perfect Joker, more effective for me than Jack Nicholson in the first Batman. I like Jack Nicholson but Heath Ledger took the role to another level. You feel sorry for the guy but at the same time, you want to knock the paint out of his face as well. You will laugh at his antics but you wanted him to get beat up so bad, he won't need that smile anymore. Thank you Heath Ledger, may you rest in peace. Why so serious?

    I've been a Model Mayhem member for a little over a month now (MM #738284) and have been a regular visitor of the site. It contains thousands and thousands of profiles with lovely, high-res photos of models from all over the world. The site is very helpful when you want to find inspiration and when you feel that the photos in flckr (or in this case, multiply) are a bit too generic and bland.

But there is one word that they love to throw around in MM and that is the word "flake". For the uninitiated, to flake means to "back out" of a meeting (or a shoot) without a word of warning. In Tagalog, to flake is "mang-Indian". I have been flaked before (shoot or otherwise), and there are varying reasons for the flake. I guess it's just a matter of courtesy when you're thinking about flaking and not coming clean. People dedicate their time and energy for a meet, then if you flake them, then that's time and energy wasted, both not recoverable resources, but extremely valuable nonetheless.

For the flakers, you know who you are. Bato-bato sa langit, tamaan wag magagalit!

Ewan ko pero hindi ko na talaga matiis ang gobyernong ito. Oo, naghihirap ang Pilipinas at kelangan ng tulong, pero kelangan ba talagang pumunta ng 59 na Kongresistang ito kasama ng pekeng presidente sa Amerika para sa 'state visit'? Ano pang silbi ng pagpunta nila rito? Sobrang daming asungot, at pera pa ng taumbayan ang ginamit pang-gala!

Hindi birong pondo ang gastusin nila makapunta sa Amerika, hindi bababa sa P100,000 ang pamasahe ng bawat isa sa kanila. Pamasahe pa lang yan ha, ng isang tao, eh ilan bang alalay ang kasama ng mga Kongresistang ito? Ang opinyoon ko lang, hindi na sila nahihiya talaga - kahit na maraming nagdurusa dahil sa dumaang bagyong Frank.

Walang magandang maibibigay ang US trip na ito. Paalis na si George W. Bush, nasa recession din ang Amerika. Sa palagay ko, bago nila unahin ang pagtulong sa Pilipinas, uunahin muna nilang ayusin ang problema nila (Amerika) sa ekonomiya. Nasa US$4 na ren bawat gallon ng gasolina nila, iisipin pa ba nilang tulungan ang isang bansang wala naman silang direktang pakialam o pakinabang?

Ang alam ko, kaya sila sumama eh para manood ng laban ni Pacquiao. Suportado ko si Pacman, kahit na alam kong panandalian lang naman ang sayang maibibigay kung manalo siya sa boksing.

Pagbalik ng mga Kagalang-galang (?) na Kongresistang ito sa kani-kanilang mga nasasakupan, anong mukha ang kaya pa nilang iharap sa kanila? Mas nakatulong pa sana kayo sa taumbayan kung hindi na lang kayo umalis ng bansa at nakialam man lang sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo. Kahit sarili ninyong pera ang ginamit niyo, hindi ba't mas maganda kung iniabuloy niyo na lang ang sana'y pinamasahe ninyo papuntang Amerika kaysa namasyal kayo at nagpakasarap.

Pagpasensyahan niyo na ang aking munting saloobin. Kung hindi tayo kikilos at makikialam para sa bansa naten, sino pa? Kailan pa?

Pray our paths don't cross again. I was about to cross Landmark and Glorietta when this jerk jumped in front of me. I waited for the signal for people to cross even though there wasn't a car on that street in between the two malls. But this mustachioed driver (possibly a foreigner) beats the red light and crosses the pedestrian crossing unapologetic to the people crossing, including me. I ran after the bastard, yelling for him to get off his car and face me like a man, but what does he do? He speeds up, almost hitting the security guards and Makati Policemen who were running after him.

If anyone knows who this driver is or who's the owner of this white Toyota Fortuner, then call my attention. Let's meet up, anytime, anywhere, and settle this once and for all. I got your license plate, it's just a matter of time before I get a hold of your address from LTO. Pray our paths don't cross again.

    Nicky Lidstrom becomes the first European-born player to captain a Stanley Cup Championship team. The Stanley Cup is awarded to the winner of the National Hockey League champions. It is the oldest trophy in North America, and the hardest to win in pro-sports. When you win the Stanley Cup, your name will be immortalized because it will be engraved on the trophy itself. Players, coaches, and team managers want to win the Cup first, the championship is just icing on the cake. The Cup has gone through a kidnapping, several baptisms, weddings, parties, drinking sprees, and probably anything and everything that a player can think of in the two days that he has the Cup. Although as far as I can recollect, the Cup has never been to Southeast Asia.

So Sidney "Crybaby" Crosby, better luck next year. Sorry to the Pittsburgh Penguins fans too but Detroit is the only team that matters now.

    Wow, of all the things I thought Paris Hilton wouldn't do, ice hockey was on the bottom of that list (maybe not at all). But it's true, the hotel heiress did play ice hockey! Of course, she wouldn't have problems paying for the gear and other stuff. It's just weird thinking about this party animal playing the brutal yet beautiful game of hockey.

Let me tell you my story regarding one staff of one councilor in Quezon City, my beloved hometown. I was with a friend and we were distributing solicitation letters to all the councilors of Quezon City. It was just my second time inside City Hall and my first time going into the offices of the councilors. Things went well for the first three offices we went through – the staff received our letters and didn’t mind our presence there. But all that changed when we entered the office of Councilor Ramon “Toto” Medalla, of the Second District of QC. The female staff let me and my friend in the office. When I handed her the solicitation letter, she was aloof and totally uninterested. It was the coldest reception ever. She told me “I don’t really accept open letters of the councilor. If you had this letter computerized, it should be that way all the way through.” Our letter was computerized, except for the name of the councilors and of course, my signature. So I asked her for an explanation, and she didn’t give a reason why she wasn’t accepting any letters – except that it wasn’t “computerized”.

 

The nerve of these so-called “public servants”, they are all smiles and cheerful whenever they’re campaigning, but the minute they get elected, they act as if they own the town, or the city, even the world for that matter. Who gave you the right to treat people like dirt? I have dealt with people in higher positions, people who are more important than these councilors or their staff but they didn’t treat me with disrespect. They had manners; they were friendly and were genuinely sincere. This is why our country remains like this, it’s because the same people who are supposed to serve us are the ones acting high and mighty. I’m not whining about the staff turning down my request, I’m whining about the cold treatment and the lack of etiquette she could have learned when she was a little girl.

 

Pity for the people of District II of Quezon City – one of your councilor’s staffs couldn’t be counted on. So for the staff of “Honorable”??? Councilor Medalla, good riddance to you. May your journey in life be a fruitful one and may you not encounter a person like yourself.