On My Palette

Passing through LRT2 Cubao Gateway Station…

I chanced upon this art exhibit/competiton results.  It’s called ‘Art along the Riles’ from the recently concluded LRT ART 2009.  The theme of the competition was “LRT at ang Buhay Pinoy” (LRT and the Filipino Life).  This is the first art event from LRT and would probably be held annually. Being a commuter for generally all my life (and a Fine Arts grad in case you belittle my ability to comment on the entries), my interest was piqued.  But I am more of an MRT commuter than LRT’s. Either way, it’s still the same.

It has been some time since I’ve seen an art exhibit and decided to look around and take pix.

The venue is in the station itself which serves to be too dark and gloomy to be a proper place for an exhibit.  The lighting fixtures don’t help either. However, it does make the passers-by and LRT commuters stop and look and dawdle for awhile.

Here are some of the winners and non-winners. You can click on the pix for closer look:

Finalist “Via Caballeria” by Vincent Paolo De Pio (acrylic on canvas) on the left. Pinoy cosplay in the LRT?  Guess it means old meets new. On the right is a Juror’s Choice, “Sa Bisig ng Panatag” by Alexander Roxas (oil on canvas).  A guy (looking like a cross between Rizal and Cesar Montano) symbolizing LRT while cradling a child (let me guess–that’s us?) and words describing LRT in the background (like dependable and environment-friendly) can sure kiss the jurors’ asses but hey–it worked.

Finalist: “Korona Po ng Pagyabong” by Jerry Morada (oil on canvas). Great technique but a head scratcher. I get the crown of lrt tracks but what does it mean? Should we recycle foil?  Sometimes the baffling can be eye-catching and intriguing though.

Both Juror’s Choices: At left, “Sakto” by Johann Padiemos (oil on canvas); and at right, “Buhay Pinoy” by David de Vera (acrylic on canvas).  I am in favor of “Sakto” being one of the winners. It speaks volumes of how LRT can be a useful and convenient way of traveling for us Pinoys.  That could be me– holding the wallet but with prettier hands though. “Buhay Pinoy” shows how integrated lrt is (along with the classic jeepney) in our everyday lives.

Finalist: “Samu’t – Saring Pinoy sa LRT” by Malyn Bonayog (acrylic on canvas).  This could be even better as a series than as a single piece. Great job!

Finalist: “Pananaw” by Proceso Gelladuga II (oil on canvas).  Good composition.  Epitomizes the young urban Pinoy as a cool lrt commuter.

Grand Prize: “Sakay Na Rin Po Kayo” by Mario Panis (oil on canvas).  A disappointing and lousy choice.  It’s naive, too safe and unimaginative. But I have to remind myself that this is really not an art competition.  More like a commercial and business one (you join this competition to win, not to express yourself).  So jurors value technique (and a kiss-ass message) more than concept and style.

“Welcome to Republika ng Pilipinas” by Joannalyn Wong (oil on canvas). I like this one though it did not receive any commendation. It’s honest and beautiful in all its chaotic splendor! Looks better in person…er, in object. Kudos, you’re a winner in my book!

“Makulay na Buhay” by Eduardo Chiomico (acrylic on canvas).  Did not win, too. Why? Give you two words: PLDT Directory. Too bad, I kinda liked it, maybe it was because of the hard work and effort obviously put in by the artist. Plus it exemplifies what makes Asian art unique–the intricacy and delicateness, and (sometimes) the spiritual fervor put into the workmanship.  But compositions like these have been done by so many others that, alas,  some are already too numbed by it. But still, I like it.

I also like this one–another non-winner. Sorry! So dumb of me not to get the name of this piece.  I like simplicity, intelligence and sophistication in an art work because incorporating all three qualities in one piece or design can be challenging and tricky– it could be the hardest thing an artist could do as well. The only letdown here is the bottom part that cuts off the metal door which ruins the over-all composition. I know it is a blurry shot but if you could look closely, there are faces reflected on the metal door and on its glass. Nice!

The exhibit by the way runs until July 31.

、ヽ｀、ヽ｀个o(･_･｡):｀ヽ、｀ヽ、

As I predicted, 2009 is so far the wettest, most rained out year that I have ever experienced.  We had a wet Christmas and a wet summer; ergo, it’ll be wet all year round.  Classes have been suspended since yesterday due to heavy rains and flood (even if there was no signal number raised in Metro Manila).

I think PAGASA should rethink how they classify or modify what makes a signal number one, two or three.  These had always been a perennial issue that never seems to get resolved, considering the global climate changes and all. The only major changes PAG-ASA have made for the past years is to come up with new names for typhoons. What a bunch of dumbasses. ﾀﾞ━o(｀･д･´)ﾉ━!!

Anyway, it may be raining hard but it’s not at all that bad. This is a perfect time to reminisce about what we all enjoy during a cold and rainy weather–Soups!

I don’t actually take pictures of all the food I consume but sometimes they can be handy for a blog topic such as today.  Here are some of my top favorite hot, hot soups I enjoyed for the past year:

My Dad’s nilagang baka (beef broth with vegetables) for Sunday lunch.  Adding rice into the broth, and let it absorb the soup while it’s piping hot – that’s the way I like it.

Naruto’s favorite: Ramen! This is Shio, a clear broth ramen from Rai Rai Ken, in Southmall, Las Pinas City. It was my first time to order ramen from a restaurant and found it similar to our Chinese-Pinoy soup dish mami.  It was fine until I suddenly had the sudden yearning to eat it along with siopao (Chinese meat bun) which of course was unavailable in a Japanese resto.

I have always been fascinated with Vietnamese food.  This spicy beef curry soup from Pho Hoa, (Alabang Town Center) is no exception. So deliciously hot–tanggal ang sinusitis mo dito.

Our unforgettable jaunt to Tagaytay last year included a taste of this bulalo dish (beef bone marrow soup with vegetables).  I remember eating this on a cold rainy long weekend at the bulalo eateries located in the city’s Mahogany Public Market — sarap matulog afterwards!

Another perfect soup to eat in a cold weather like this is Arroz Caldo (literally translates as ‘hot rice’). This is from our Sagada vacation last Holy Week.  It is a Cordillera version of rice porridge with pinikpikan chicken, boiled egg, and dayap juice.

At Little Big Store, a Chinese store and eatery at Gilmore St., Quezon City, I ordered this strange thick black soup with some cubed cuts of fish fillet. They call it Maki. I say it’s strange because I can’t seem to identify the ingredients that make it become so black (seaweed?) and gooey (cornstarch?).  Oh, well, enough with the wondering at kainin na lang…

And just today, what we had for lunch is this macaroni soup with mushroom, cabbage, and bits of hotdog and chicken. Home-made, tasty and warms the heart and soul. Ayos!  Siesta na muna ko, ha?

ヾ(=_=)ゞ hohum\(〃^0^)-C<*_ _)｡o○ zzzz…

Today marks the first anniversary of my blog. Woo-hoo! (￣ー￣)ﾉﾉ”” ~clap!clap!clap!~

I remember shedding blood, sweat, and tears setting this all up a year ago, trying to make sense of how things flow in WordPress. I was even thinking of giving up and going back from whence I came (which was blogspot – ugh!).

But I persevered.  And now, it’s still no-regrets-whatsoever.  I like the WordPress community. We really ARE a community in a true sense of the word and am truly appreciative of the constant improvements, messages and support that Matt, Heather, and the guys have been giving to us.  (BTW, I went to check up on my old blog in blogspot just recently and i was really disappointed to see that things haven’t improved at all!).

Anyhoo!

Here are the stats, as of today:

OMP is now a year old with 10,921 hits so far (It had hit the 10,000 mark a week ago–not bad for a personal, no-specific-theme blog— but hey, I can do better…yes i can!).

101 posts have been published (hmm… ‘published’–has a nice ring to it), and 423 spams have tried and failed (yes, I acknowledge these poor souls for even trying, and thank God for twitter, spammers have somewhere else to wreak havoc upon).

Compared to half a year ago, I have three new top posts for now. And they are:

crying time with 1 liter of tears — 1,065 hits; It reached its peak during the time One Liter of Tears was being shown on gma network. People were researching about the story (either that or they’re curious about actor Nishikido Ryo), hence i got some of the traffic flow.  Great show, memorable songs, good response. Hope the Kapuso network would take a hint from this and show more of Ryo ‘s talent in jdoramas like Ryusei no Kizuna and Attention Please.

The Gumasa Beach Experience — 268 hits; Being one of the best kept secrets of Mindanao, Gumasa beach is now slowly permeating into people’s consciouness as one of the loveliest beaches in the south.  I noticed that the hits keep coming in heavily during the summer, too.

Nodame Cantabile: how do you say ‘Gyabo’ in Filipino? — 267 hits; another top post on a jdorama? Well, that’s how it goes, I guess. Pinoy jdorama addicts like me are hungry for information and relying heavily on each other’s blog posts considering that we don’t get details from anywhere else.  We are a desperate lot, alas…  o(ﾟдﾟo≡oﾟдﾟ)o??? but loud and proud! (btw, hope Hiroshi Tamaki gains weight… as Chiaki, he doesn’t have to use a baton cause he looks like one!–Haha! Just kidding! I love Tamaki and I’ll be posting a special on him soon!).

And I’m still receiving the most visits from these five countries (in their proper order): The US (1,793), the Philippines (1,230), Indonesia (376), Canada (224) and the UK (192).

Cheers to my one year old blog!

ﾟ･:*:･｡ヽ(◎´∀｀)ﾉ┌i┐ε-(･ε･´) puff~━congrats, OMP♪ﾟﾟ･:*:･｡