I'm not normally an envious person. But reading an AFP news report this morning nearly made me die in envy. Someone has a job to die for and it's not mine aaarrrggghh.
Check out this url about veteran war correspondent Kevin Sites and how Yahoo got him to report and churn out video, audio and daily blog entries on what Yahoo says are "the world's most important, yet under-reported" stories to a website called "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" that it will launch on September 26, 2005. Simply put, Kevin will report on every single armed conflict in the planet. Now isn't that a job that can literally get you killed? But what the heck, Kevin epitomizes the kind of people that I admire - people who like to live on the edge... Why not? After all, I live in one of the places tagged by Yahoo and Kevin as among the world's hot spots - The Philippines.
Kevin is a veteran and multi-awarded multimedia journalist; he also maintains a personal blog about his journalistic exploits.
What Kevin and Yahoo will do will definitely change the way we cover the news in the future. Kevin is a SoJo - a solo journalist equipped with the latest technology to deliver the news anytime, anywhere. This is definitely a far cry from the bulky news teams we have now where ego-tripping reporters think they are the story and where they work with underpaid but overworked news crew. I only wish I would experience what Kevin Sites is experiencing now, in this lifetime.
13 September 2005
05 September 2005
The Best Thing
What's the best thing that happened to you lately?
For me, bar none, was going back to school after I was accepted as one of the nine new fellows of the Ateneo's Center for Journalism MA in Journalism program this school year.
The program is something like 70 percent online learning and 30 percent on-campus. We started the online classes last June 14 and it was some experience. But the bext thing yet happened on August 8. On that rainy Monday morning, I finally came face to face with my classmates when we took part in the on-campus component of our masters' class, in Ateneo's SocSci building. Imagine putting a face to the name I only encountered online (although I already met my batch days earlier on August 5; we had our orientation and entrance examination that rainy Saturday). This was the special part of the whole experience - meeting my classmates majority of whom are practicing journalists in the country as well as from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma/Thailand.
What followed was two weeks of tough classroom sessions, hurdling through thick readings, doing assignments and group reports and bonding with classmates after class.
The close of the campus sessions was tough - it was hard to part ways with people that I felt I've known for a long time. After taking a two week leave for the campus sessions, I return to work feeling reinvigorated yet sad after the whole experience. Here is a link courtesy of my classmate from Singapore - Trix, to some pictures she took of our classmates and class. Also, here is another link to another classmate's site - Chingbee's . These photos are but only a few of those taken of the wonderful people that I had for company. Look them all up and see what a wonderful time we all had. (Attending to school matters was what also took my time away from blogging that's why it's only now that I'm able to post again here).
For me, bar none, was going back to school after I was accepted as one of the nine new fellows of the Ateneo's Center for Journalism MA in Journalism program this school year.
The program is something like 70 percent online learning and 30 percent on-campus. We started the online classes last June 14 and it was some experience. But the bext thing yet happened on August 8. On that rainy Monday morning, I finally came face to face with my classmates when we took part in the on-campus component of our masters' class, in Ateneo's SocSci building. Imagine putting a face to the name I only encountered online (although I already met my batch days earlier on August 5; we had our orientation and entrance examination that rainy Saturday). This was the special part of the whole experience - meeting my classmates majority of whom are practicing journalists in the country as well as from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma/Thailand.
What followed was two weeks of tough classroom sessions, hurdling through thick readings, doing assignments and group reports and bonding with classmates after class.
The close of the campus sessions was tough - it was hard to part ways with people that I felt I've known for a long time. After taking a two week leave for the campus sessions, I return to work feeling reinvigorated yet sad after the whole experience. Here is a link courtesy of my classmate from Singapore - Trix, to some pictures she took of our classmates and class. Also, here is another link to another classmate's site - Chingbee's . These photos are but only a few of those taken of the wonderful people that I had for company. Look them all up and see what a wonderful time we all had. (Attending to school matters was what also took my time away from blogging that's why it's only now that I'm able to post again here).
01 August 2005
Plastic in my Paradise
I will always treasure the memories from my 1 week research, location hunt and shoot for child crewmembers of muro ami ships in Palawan's Calamianes Group of Islands in August 2003.
My cameraman, assistant and I stayed at the edge of paradise - Divelink in Uson Island, 5 minutes off Coron town in Busuanga (the group's main/biggest island).
We met and made a lot of good friends there; the biggest bonus was undoubtedly when we explored the many islands of the group - all white sand, ringed with corals and crystal-clear water, mostly deserted, teeming with underwater life and all blessed with clear sunny skies (except when it rained which it did a lot).
I was always in my boardshorts and sandals, my wallet and cellphone in an aquapak and my snorkel set ready everytime we traveled to the islands, in search of our elusive subjects. Everytime we docked to any island (and after checking out for our elusive subjects), I would then dive and swim to my heart's content, until I'm exhausted or until when we have to eat...
Food would always be the fresh catch from the sea (but cooked earlier); and whether it was prepared/cooked by Divelink or Ate Carol, it was always a simple but satisfying feast (I gained weight during that shoot).
We encountered sharks, hostile islanders, sunken ships and a twister. We attended a debut by the beach, ate grilled fresh oysters on our banca and enjoyed unlimited rum cokes and videoke... (too bad all my pictures were destroyed in my camera phone - I would blog about that useless K700i next time). We only found some ex-muro ami crewmembers but none of them were minors; the episode was eventually shelved and we moved on to another topic. Still, I found paradise and was happy enough.
About the only downer in finding paradise was encountering plastic in it. I saw it when I was snorkeling, in the powder-white beaches of secluded islands and in the waterways in and around the islands. And I thought, Palawan is the last frontier of the country (I was hoping plastic would have spared it but then this was a naive thought)...
What triggered these wonderful memories was when I read this enviromental blog on the successful imposition of the tax system of plastic bags in Ireland.
I hope this will be adopted soon too in my country before it's too late for the environment here, especially in paradise.
My cameraman, assistant and I stayed at the edge of paradise - Divelink in Uson Island, 5 minutes off Coron town in Busuanga (the group's main/biggest island).
We met and made a lot of good friends there; the biggest bonus was undoubtedly when we explored the many islands of the group - all white sand, ringed with corals and crystal-clear water, mostly deserted, teeming with underwater life and all blessed with clear sunny skies (except when it rained which it did a lot).
I was always in my boardshorts and sandals, my wallet and cellphone in an aquapak and my snorkel set ready everytime we traveled to the islands, in search of our elusive subjects. Everytime we docked to any island (and after checking out for our elusive subjects), I would then dive and swim to my heart's content, until I'm exhausted or until when we have to eat...
Food would always be the fresh catch from the sea (but cooked earlier); and whether it was prepared/cooked by Divelink or Ate Carol, it was always a simple but satisfying feast (I gained weight during that shoot).
We encountered sharks, hostile islanders, sunken ships and a twister. We attended a debut by the beach, ate grilled fresh oysters on our banca and enjoyed unlimited rum cokes and videoke... (too bad all my pictures were destroyed in my camera phone - I would blog about that useless K700i next time). We only found some ex-muro ami crewmembers but none of them were minors; the episode was eventually shelved and we moved on to another topic. Still, I found paradise and was happy enough.
About the only downer in finding paradise was encountering plastic in it. I saw it when I was snorkeling, in the powder-white beaches of secluded islands and in the waterways in and around the islands. And I thought, Palawan is the last frontier of the country (I was hoping plastic would have spared it but then this was a naive thought)...
What triggered these wonderful memories was when I read this enviromental blog on the successful imposition of the tax system of plastic bags in Ireland.
I hope this will be adopted soon too in my country before it's too late for the environment here, especially in paradise.
31 July 2005
Life's like that
Busy week. Lots of readings for grad class. Equally lots of rewrites to get that elusive A+. Slept mostly in whatever free time that I had. Barely had time to log in. Finishing my articles though; hope to pass it today as promised.
The good news is I finished my first Jasper Fforde novel - Something Rotten. And now I can't get enough... Good thing I saw a copy of the first one, The Eyre Affair over at Fully Booked at the Gateway Mall (plus the 2nd Lost in a Good Book and the 3rd Well of Lost Plots; also saw The Big Over Easy, Fforde's new novel on Humpty Dumpty's fall and who was behind it).
Finally saw that HAMLET dvd w/ Mel Gibson. Glenn Close and Helena Bonham Carter were good as always; Gibson was convincing but Ralph Fiennes should have been Hamlet. Also saw CRASH - pretty good movie, I totally liked it (full review about this later).
Only had time to open my email tonight. One item caught my eye from my gmail. It's a cautionary tale for bloggers like me, although the author is an anonymous blogger unlike me. The short of it is, she got fired after her employers found out about her blog; the worst thing is, she also got fired from her next job after finding out what happened to her. Well now that she's fired, she's now blogging openly. Check it out: Jolie in NYC and beware or at least learn how not to end up like her (and still blog on what the h**l)!
The good news is I finished my first Jasper Fforde novel - Something Rotten. And now I can't get enough... Good thing I saw a copy of the first one, The Eyre Affair over at Fully Booked at the Gateway Mall (plus the 2nd Lost in a Good Book and the 3rd Well of Lost Plots; also saw The Big Over Easy, Fforde's new novel on Humpty Dumpty's fall and who was behind it).
Finally saw that HAMLET dvd w/ Mel Gibson. Glenn Close and Helena Bonham Carter were good as always; Gibson was convincing but Ralph Fiennes should have been Hamlet. Also saw CRASH - pretty good movie, I totally liked it (full review about this later).
Only had time to open my email tonight. One item caught my eye from my gmail. It's a cautionary tale for bloggers like me, although the author is an anonymous blogger unlike me. The short of it is, she got fired after her employers found out about her blog; the worst thing is, she also got fired from her next job after finding out what happened to her. Well now that she's fired, she's now blogging openly. Check it out: Jolie in NYC and beware or at least learn how not to end up like her (and still blog on what the h**l)!
28 July 2005
Bonjour Août
You notice how time flies lately? In a few days we will be saying hello to August - Bonjour Août as the French say. In a few months, it will be Christmas... Oh crap, its gonna be 2006 soon after. Oh well, c'est la vie eh mes amis?
July has been a very trying month personally and work-wise. Here's hoping that August will be better. It usually is though, it's my month of birth after all hehehe. For all August celebrants out there, a Happy Birthday to all!
It's been days since my last post - been busy with grad school requirements that I had to take time off from work in the middle of the week. Online classes are very tricky - you'd think you'll have more time managing it but in the end you still cram ugh. Although August is campus time, I think it's going to be more manageable once I take a leave at work.
Speaking of work, that's where I have to do a lot of catching up - admin stuff that is. Have to pysch myself though; its not easy to work almost 24/7 and then have your paycheck withheld from you just because some functionary bungled on their job.
Hope to get a holiday soon also. Maybe after the campus meeting in August. Definitely the beach... it's about time.
July has been a very trying month personally and work-wise. Here's hoping that August will be better. It usually is though, it's my month of birth after all hehehe. For all August celebrants out there, a Happy Birthday to all!
It's been days since my last post - been busy with grad school requirements that I had to take time off from work in the middle of the week. Online classes are very tricky - you'd think you'll have more time managing it but in the end you still cram ugh. Although August is campus time, I think it's going to be more manageable once I take a leave at work.
Speaking of work, that's where I have to do a lot of catching up - admin stuff that is. Have to pysch myself though; its not easy to work almost 24/7 and then have your paycheck withheld from you just because some functionary bungled on their job.
Hope to get a holiday soon also. Maybe after the campus meeting in August. Definitely the beach... it's about time.
27 July 2005
Lost in translation - Star Wars 3
A classmate from Singapore notified me of a blog by a dude named Jeremy in Bangkok, about his experience in watching a pirated dvd of Star Wars 3. Purists of George Lucas' obra maestra may be horrified about the mangling of his work. But in this region where pirated dvd's are manna from heaven - not by choice, but by circumstance, unexpected bonuses due to cases of "lost in translation" in the copying process usually happens.
Read on from Jeremy's blog, I guarantee that you'll enjoy it immensely - I did. Thanks Jeremy for this. Here's the link star wars 3. Thanks a million Trix - I distracted myself silly when I opened this during our class chat earlier. This really made my night!!!
Read on from Jeremy's blog, I guarantee that you'll enjoy it immensely - I did. Thanks Jeremy for this. Here's the link star wars 3. Thanks a million Trix - I distracted myself silly when I opened this during our class chat earlier. This really made my night!!!
25 July 2005
Lucky 7
Wow!!! That's all I can say for idol Lance Armstrong's 7th consecutive Tour de France win. Monsieur Armstrong, truly you're an inspiration!
I sure need one these days given the situation here in my country and my plight in the workplace. More of this in the next post...
I sure need one these days given the situation here in my country and my plight in the workplace. More of this in the next post...
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