Evolving stories, poems, pictures, images...

Day 30 - Fire Ants

2012-01-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 30 - Fire Ants
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
f/5.7 at 1/80 sec.
ISO 400, 135mm focal length

These fire ants form part of a colony which have made their home at a sour sop tree near where I live.

Day 29 - Black Stray Cat

2012-01-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 29 - Black Stray Cat
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
f/5.7 at 1/60 sec.
ISO 400, 75mm focal length

Another of the stray cats living in the neighborhood. This one has a pure black coat. Just thought of turning the whole picture into black and white.

Day 28 - Carps on the Roof

2012-01-28T03:21:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 28 - Carps on the Roof 1
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/125 sec., f/11.3
ISO 100, 60mm focal length

Day 28 - Carps on the Roof 2
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/400 sec., f/12.9
ISO 200, 53mm focal length

Day 27 - Clouds

2012-01-28T02:13:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project
Day 27 - Clouds

Clouds 1
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/400 sec., f/11.3
ISO 200, 19mm focal length

Clouds 2
1/50 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 3
1/400 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 20mm focal length

Clouds 4
1/400 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 5
1/400 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 6
1/800 sec., f/7
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 7
1/320 sec., f/7
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 8
1/1250 sec., f/7
ISO 100, 28mm focal length

This was supposed to come out yesterday.

I took the pictures relatively early. I even tried to setup a panoramic view of the ricefields. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that well.

The good news is that the clouds were dramatic yesterday.

Day 26 - Gates

2012-01-26T10:02:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 26 - Gates (1)
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/40 sec., f/5
ISO 400, 28mm focal length

Day 26 - Gates (2)
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/40 sec., f/5
ISO 200, 37mm focal length

Day 25 - Sunset on Window

2012-01-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 25 - Sunset on Window
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/40 sec., f/8
ISO 100, 135mm focal length
(image cropped)

Day 24 - Subdivision Sunset

2012-01-24T06:07:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 24 - Subdivision Sunset
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec., f/5.7
ISO 200, 18mm focal length

A sunset picture of the subdivision. Most times, the camera is aimed at the western horizon. This time, I had my back to the sunset.

I don’t go out of the house till late afternoon. The sky’s colors are wonderfully wild and dynamic. If this keeps up, most of my pictures for this product would be shot around sunset or the pictures would be night photography shots.

At the moment, I don’t follow a listing or genre of photography for this project but I hope to go shoot some portraits soon. At some point, I will have to take stock of the pictures and take shots which lack representation.

Day 23 - Water Dragon

2012-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 23 - Water Dragon
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec., f/5.7
ISO 800, 135mm focal length
No flash.

A table top dragon fountain. 2012 is the year of the water dragon. Coincidence? I don't know.

Day 22 - Bukid Sunset 2

2012-01-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 22 - Bukid Sunset 2
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec., f/32
ISO 100, 42mm focal length

Day 21 - Bukid Sunset

2012-01-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 21 - Bukid Sunset
Canon EOS 550D
1/50 sec., f/9
ISO 200, 47mm focal length
36 photos stitched with Hugins Panorama Creator

A panorama picture of the rice paddies near where I live.

Day 20 - Hornet's Nest

2012-01-19T22:56:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project
Day 20 - Hornet's Nest

Nikon D80
1/200 sec. exposure
ISO 160, 50mm focal length

I borrowed my Kenneth's Nikon for the prime 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Canon EOS 550D
1/30 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 100, 126mm focal length

Canon EOS 550D
1/200 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 1000, 135mm focal length

Canon EOS 550D
1/200 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 1000, 126mm focal length

I don't remember if I'm allergic to hornets, but I didn't want to find out.

Day 19 - Pecorino

2012-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 19 - Pecorino
Canon EOS 550D
1/50 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 200, 62mm focal length

Yes, I love cheese. Pecorino is an italian cheese, just slightly less revered than parmiggiano regiano.

Day 18 - Old Train Station

2012-01-18T04:19:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 18 - Old Train Station
Canon EOS 550D
1/160 sec. exposure, f/11 aperture
ISO 200, 18mm focal length

I haven't asked around but it's my guess that this was formerly the Guiguinto Train Station. The old train track is to the right of the structure, and is also where the North Rail (Manila to Clark rapid transit) will pass through. The tracks have been removed and soon the elevated train will start construction here. I'm not sure where the new train station will be situated.

What I really want to do is to shoot this structure with either the morning sun shining from the right, or a light painting. I doubt if I can accomplish the light painting as this is very near the road, with relatively heavy traffic. Even if there was a blackout, the place would still be bright.

For inner Sherlock, those are ipil-ipil trees growing from the cracks between the bricks. Ipil-ipil is a fast growing tree and those trees are maybe a year or two years old.

Day 17 - Sunset on Banana Tree and Bushes

2012-01-17T10:06:00.001-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 17 - Sunset on Banana Tree and Bushes
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec. exposure, f/10 aperture
ISO 200, 29mm focal length

These trees are on opposite blocks of our subdivision.This part of the subdivision was recently opened and so far has few houses. It was close to sunset, and this is the only angle which does not show any dwellings.

Day 16 - Highway Goats

2012-01-16T02:40:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 16 - Highway Goats
Apple iPod Touch

These goats were foraging along the bank of the road leading to the new NLEX exit going to Guiguinto and Pulilan. The NLEX exit hasn't been opened yet. But once it does get opened to the public, these goats would have to be tethered tight and no longer allowed on the road.

2012 366 Days and 366+ Pictures Project (some thoughts)

2012-01-15T20:27:00.001-08:00

So far, I’m moving with this project. I haven’t skipped a day yet. I just hope that I can continue. I don’t think I’ll have a photographer’s block (even if there such a thing). What concerns me is that I might run out of subjects and go the easy route and recycle topics.

I don’t really think I’ll go the other route where I’ll post old photographs. I don’t want to make this into a diary either. I just want a fresh take or a different perspective on the things and subjects which are readily available or accessible.

After 15 days, I know I’m learning a lot. I can keep up the momentum. I’m keeping some subjects for sandbagging purposes. I won’t take them unless circumstances force me. I’ve also decided to keep the moon shots to a minimum. Unless there is a compelling reason, there won’t be any more moon shots. I need to do more sunsets and sunrise. But I really need to get a polarizer for those shots.

Day 15 - Colors

2012-01-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 15 - Colors
Apple iPod Touch

Vehicular bridge over the NLEX spur.
Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan

I don't think that there's any occasion but there are a lot of flags such as these in our area.

Day 14 - Pusakal

2012-01-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 14 - Pusakal
1/50 sec. exposure, f/11 aperture
ISO 200, 135mm focal length

This cat is just one of a lot of other stray cats in our neighborhood. I caught this one sleeping on a bench. He didn’t show any reaction at being obviously woken up from a nice nap.

Day 13 - Cayenne

2012-01-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 13 - Cayenne
1/100 sec. exposure, f/8 aperture
ISO 200, 57mm focal length

Caught a Porsche Cayenne in traffic along Aurora Ave. in San Juan. Brand-spanking-new! That was fun.

And, no, even in traffic our vehicle was not able to keep up with this Porsche.

Day 12 - Tarps and Trapos

2012-01-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 12 - Tarps and Trapos
Apple iPod Touch

This has always been the case, that the local politician has to advertise what he has done for his constituency. Was the advertising necessary? Not for the people. It’s the people’s money, and they should expect it to be put to good use, and not to buy tarp advertising.

Day 11 - Trinoma

2012-01-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 11 - Trinoma
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec. exposure, f/8 aperture
ISO 1600
24mm focal length
11 photos stitched with Hugins Panorama Creator

It is never a good idea to shoot panoramic pictures of a mall or any high volume traffic area. You’d end up with repeating people or, worse, headless people.

Day 10: Village Rotunda

2012-01-10T03:30:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 10: Village Rotunda
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec., f/7
ISO 200
18mm focal length

It was almost sundown when I took this picture. It was too cloudy in the east, and the sunset was not very visible.

Day 9 (Additional) Night Photography

2012-01-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

It rained the night before, just when the moon was full. But last night the skies were clear and my son and I took the opportunity to take some night shots.

Moon Shot
Canon EOS 550D
1/500 sec., f/14
ISO 400
135mm focal length

Top: The moon was so bright. Cropped from 18mp to 1200x800.

Taking a Shot at the Moon
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec., f/5.7
ISO 400
64mm focal length

Second: My son, Kenneth taking a shot of the moon. He uses a Nikon D80, with a 70mm-300mm lens. Yup, he uses a Nikon and I use a Canon. He also has more lenses, courtesy of my brothers who use Nikon D90s.

Night Clouds
10 sec, f/3.5
ISO 400
19mm focal length

Third: Night clouds. This was tricky and I don't think it worked out well enough.

Day 9: Itlog na Pula

2012-01-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 9: Itlog na Pula
Canon EOS 550D
1/200 sec., f/5
ISO 100
47mm focal length
No flash

It’s an inside joke. I’m sorry, I just had to post this.

Day 8: Light Rain

2012-01-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 8: Light Rain
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec., f/5.7
ISO 800
135mm focal length

It rained for practically the whole day. I waited for it to stop, but unfortunately, it was already evening and it was still drizzling.

This was shot in the early evening. No flash, just a flashlight. Seriously, I use flashlights most days. This time, I only had one assist, Darwi, and I was able to use only one flashlight.

Again, because the picture was dark, there’s not much for processing. I cropped it a bit, making the water drop a bit off center.

There are days, that all I want is a prime lens, 50mm, f/1.8 or better.

Day 7 - Ready for Occupancy

2012-01-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 7: Ready for Occupancy
Canon EOS 550D
10 seconds exposure, f/10
ISO 400
18mm focal length

I had some problems on the post-processing on this one. The light was from a strong amber streetlight, on a yellow ochre painted house. The sky was a bit cloudy, with a waxing moon (about three-quarters).

[Tech talk follows. You can skip this part.] I do my post-processing on GIMP, and usually limit it to adjusting the levels. I'm not sure if I could have gotten better results with the Canon RAW file editor. The MacBook needs to visit the shop. I think it's a hard disk problem. But I digress.

This time, I had to adjust using the curves as well. If you're familiar with the tools and the pictures, you can imagine that the histogram would be high on the dark end, with the red spread thin from up to the highlights. The green and blue would be spikes on the shadows and that's it. You need to adjust the curves on the greens and blues to get the dark blue sky. Otherwise, the black sky would blend with the top of the house, resulting in an invisible roof. [End tech talk.]

I am learning a lot about my camera and what it can do. In an ideal world, I would have used a wider lens. The 18mm on a Canon EOS 550D is roughly equivalent to a 2mm on a full-frame DSLR or a 35mm film SLR. For this kind of a shot, I would have wanted a wider lens, bordering on a fish-eye. Like any photographer, the wish list is very long and keeps getting longer. [End of more tech talk.]

I don't blame the equipment, in fact, I am pushing my camera to see both my limits and the camera's as well. This is the edge of the envelope as far as this goes.

This house was finished before Christmas, but the owners have not yet moved. This is the same site as the bulldozer pic I posted a while back.

Day 6: Boxing Christmas

2012-01-06T04:27:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 6: Boxing Christmas
Apple iPod Touch

Christmas Season 2011 is officially over.

The Christmas decorations were down, stowed and boxed this morning. By the time I got up there was nothing left but a neat box of decorations, except for the Christmas lights. I'm not sure if the Christmas lights would be taken down anytime soon.

I haven't tried instagram yet as I haven't downloaded the app. I find the tilt-shift feature as pretty compelling.

This may sound weird but although I'm more comfortable with my Canon EOS 550D, I can and do use any camera available. My phone camera is a little dinky relatively low-res device and when there's something I find amusing, I take the phone out and take the picture.

I have a wish list of camera related devices and accessories. Sadly, I'm not sure I can fulfill the list any time soon.

Day 5: Venus

2012-01-05T03:52:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 5: Venus
Canon EOS 550D
10 sec. f/5.7
ISO 80018mm focal length

I was trying to frame the star (I think that's Venus) between the branches, and the electric post.

Day 4: Half Moon

2012-01-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 4: Half Moon
Canon EOS 550D
1/80 sec. f/5.7
ISO 200126mm focal length

I wasn’t able to take a picture of the half-moon while it was rising, and serving as background to some structures or trees. This picture was taken around 6:00pm and already getting dark.

[Note to self: either take a shot of the moon rise or moon set, or borrow a camera with a longer lens in order to see the details of the moon.]

Day 3: Shelfware

2012-01-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 3: Shelfware
Canon EOS 550D
1 sec. f/5
ISO 200
18mm focal length

My work shelf with some shelfware.

Day 2: Mt. Arayat

2012-01-02T02:34:00.000-08:00

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project
Day 2: Mt. Arayat

Canon EOS 550D
1/125 sec. f/7
ISO 200
126mm focal length

Cloudy, muggy afternoon shot of Mt. Arayat, sunset of January 2, 2012. Taken from the subdivision where I live.

366 Days, 366+ Pics, Day 1: Aftermath

2012-01-02T00:35:00.001-08:00

Canon EOS550D
1/60sec., f/5.6
ISO 20018mm-135mm lens at 18mm.
Fill flash used.Manually focused.

Around 12:40am of January 1, the firecrackers have died out, and almost nobody else was out on the streets in our subdivision.

Since we don’t live in the metro, the smoke was a lot less than what we were used to. Supposedly, there was also less fireworks this year. Considering that we live very near the firecracker capital of the Philippines, that’s a big improvement.

With my son, Kenneth, we went out to take shots of fireworks. I forgot to bring my tripod and had lousy shots of fireworks. Kenneth had several good ones. He’s had some practice these past few weeks.

At the street corner, the trash we found was mainly from a judas belt and several flares and fountains.Looking at this pic, I definitely see that I have a lot of work to do before I can be satisfied with my shots. Oh well.

2012 366 Days and 366+ Pictures Project

2012-01-01T22:51:00.001-08:00

It’s a leap year this year, and I was thinking of doing a 366 pictures project. There are several things this would help me accomplish. If I keep at it, I can be sure of getting a daily practice with my camera.Not shooting on a regular basis makes me rusty and easily forget the simple things. I need this more to practice my skills, and develop them, than for anything else. I just hope I can be persistent in this. I already have several dates on my calendar for night photography. And several dates for early morning, dawn, or dusk photo shoots.I don’t think I’ll do people that much, specially portraiture. Most of the pics would be of random objects. At some point, I would be doing panoramic shoots as well as HDR attempts. I will definitely be posting some action shots, as well as light paintings and long exposures.I would also be posting multiple pics for some days. I just hope that I don’t go zero for a lot of days. I definitely see some lag time between shooting the pics and posting them. The posts will also be on my other blogs, as well as Twitter (maybe), Facebook (some), Google+ (definitely). I’ll try to add the camera settings for most of the pictures.I would also be posting some guest shots every so often. Most of these would be by Kenneth.So here goes nothing.

Tractor, Street Lamp, Full Moon and a Cat

2011-08-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

The tractor shots are not HDR samples. The faux HDR effect was the result of light painting with a yellow street light (50 meters in that direction), and a full moon.
Canon EOS 550D camera with 18-135mm lens
10 second and 15 second exposure time
f/3.5
19mm focal length
ISO 800

I also used an LED flashlight to light up portions of the tractor tracks.

The cat was sleeping inside the tractor engine cowling. I guess I woke it up.

Moon Rise and Lightning: Studies in Night Photography

2011-04-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

I was trying to catch a glimpse of the moon Tuesday night, but for some reason, I always fail to get a picture of the moonrise. It's always cloudy when the moon rises, and I have to wait a while till the moon gets to clear the clouds. Around 9:30pm when the moon was about to clear some clouds, there was some lightning on the western sky and this was quite a show. I felt the moist air from the potential rain clouds getting nearer, and I thought that the thunder was getting louder, but it didn't rain that night.

Here's a time lapse view of the western sky. There was some lightning while the shot was being taken, but, sadly, I am not yet that good a photographer to take a picture of the lightning.

I will continue my studies on night photography, to perfect my technique. I'm taking the time to learn individual techniques, from shooting subjects to lighting concepts, and up to post processing on the computer. I am taking it slow, as there's no need for me to hurry.

For now, I just wish I had a polarizer, and a remote control.

Back to Basics: Starting Photography All Over Again

2011-02-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since the last time I wanted to study photography. When I had my first SLR camera, an entry-level Canon T60 with an f/1.8 50mm prime lens, it took me a while to learn the ins and outs of the camera as well as photography in general. (I guess being a techie, I have to look at the objective with the tool in mind.)

There was a point in time that I was pretty much into the technical details of it, that I always had a ready roll of film somewhere. The subjects were whatever was available. Good thing that the subjects were fun to be with, the kids were growing, and there were a lot of activities at the time.

My son is now into photography (he has his own SLR, a Nikon D80 and lenses, which was given to him by my brothers). But my daughter, Darwi was the one who was my proxy when I was still using the Canon T60. She was not yet 10 years old at the time. Don't let the glasses fool you, she has sharp eyes. Though nowadays, Kenneth is producing better pictures, regardless of the camera used.

Even when the flash unit gave in and died on me, I was still using the camera, mainly for available light photography. Mind you, I had a very good grasp of flash photography. With a manual control, you only need to set the f-stop and shutter speed, get the focusing distance, and shoot like mad with no other adjustment, with the limiting factor being the flash unit. But when that flash finally died, I had no other choice but to be good at making do with available light. (Money was tight and I was not too keen on buying a new flash unit.)

Since I stopped using the SLR, I tried to keep up with the technology. I even had the chance to work for a technical support account which had a lot of cameras to play with. We were supporting the software, but we had the cameras which bundled the software. That was fun, specially when the accounts supporting the camera brands had to ask our help with their tech support calls. I had a chance to handle Sony CD and DVD cameras, along with an early model Cybershot, Fuji and Kyocera cameras, and a Pentax point-and-shoot.

Compared to today's cameras, these had a smaller size pixel count, and relatively rudimentary features. But the great part about these cameras was that the team was on the ground floor of digital still photography (and video) technology.

Along with the software and cameras, the account also had two Macs (an iMac running OS 9, and a laptop running OS X). Now that was the real wow factor back then.

Even after leaving that account, I have had the opportunity to play around with some cameras, and learning their idiosyncracies. Yes, these individual camera models have personalities, quirks, and eccentricities which makes each camera model unique. The key to understanding digital cameras is to stay within the common denominators.

I'm trying to study photography again, from scratch, and I'm starting with RAW files. One thing I've learned through the past few years is that my kids, Kenneth and Darwi, have a better eye for photography than I do. I have no plans of being better than they are, when it comes to taking pictures. I just know that every so often, I can still surprise them with a trick I know. Besides, when it comes to technical, and post, I have more patience than they do. RAW files need a certain amount of patience.

I choose RAW files because of several factors. RAW files (files not picture files) contain all available data, whereas JPEG is a compressed picture file. When editing a file, subsequent edits will degrade the JPEG. Consider RAW files as digital negatives, and JPEGs as prints. Editing the prints (JPEG), you have to blow it up, shoot it again, and then develop. Something like that.

RAW files, however are large. Supposedly, your shots will slow down because of the large file size being saved. But if the camera has a slow burst speed, this is irrelevant. And if you're using flash, the flash cycle time is the limiting factor. In terms of storage, I'd rather have multiple small capacity SD cards, rather than a really large card. And besides, with a 4GB card, that's good for almost 200 RAW files. (Thinking in terms of old school film SLR, that's almost 6 rolls of film.)

Maybe I'll get there, but I'm giving myself six months working at this, to get to a level where I'm comfortable with my technical skill and knowledge. Hopefully, by then I can get better with an eye on the subject.

Unfortunately, for now, the above is an unedited JPEG.

Update: Below the JPEG from the converted and edited (fine-tuned?) RAW file.

The Friendly Neighborhood Bulldozer

2011-01-14T00:44:00.000-08:00

Every morning for the past two weeks this bulldozer has been mowing down the tall grass in the neighborhood. It drives past our street everyday at around 8am or 9am. It's not too loud. Just loud enough to get into your sleep and for you to know it's passing by.

It's not the most elegant way to mow the lawn. But it is faster than the tandem who cuts the lawn with grass cutters.

I'm not sure what the mileage is, but I'm pretty sure it's in the liters per kilometer range instead of kilometers per liter.

Moymoy Palaboy supports Dick Gordon-Bayani Fernando

2010-04-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

Moymoy Palaboy explains why they are supporting Dick Gordon for President in the Philippine elections of 2010

Joseph Ongkiko on Gordon-Bayani 2010

2010-04-28T10:37:00.001-07:00

Joseph answers the question "Why vote for Gordon-Bayani in the Presidential Elections?"

IMG0318A

2010-03-21T11:10:00.001-07:00

Great cookies. Local pa. Sarap.

IMG0319A

Posting to Multiple Sites (and mirrors)

2010-02-15T08:01:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've been experimenting with posting on multiple sites, not just for status, micro-blogs and blogs but also for pictures. Maybe, that should be specially for pictures.

Lately, I've been into multiple sites for social media networks, and other sites. And it's a bother to update all of them at the same time. This way, I update once, and all of them get to receive the updates.

For posts, I've been using Ping.fm. For pictures, I found Pixelpipe. The good thing about both is that you can use your phone to send pictures from your phone directly to the sites (via email) or you can use WAP (specially for Ping.fm).

Pretty cool.

--Andoy
15 Feb. 2010

it says 8.9 vol.

2010-02-13T07:03:00.001-08:00

Screenshot-PlantsVsZombies.exe - Wine desktop

2010-02-11T13:34:00.001-08:00

RSS Feeds

2009-12-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

I'm adding RSS feed capability to this blog. Just to check it out and see how it works.

This should be fun.

--Andoy

2009-12-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

I have not been posting in this journal recently. Which is a shame. But things are looking up and maybe I'd get this blog up and running again. And soon.

Till then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

--Andoy
24 December 2009

Her Morning Elegance by Orin Lavie

2009-03-22T03:29:00.000-07:00

Found this nice stop motion animation music video. Great to watch. The tune is catchy in a late 1970's sort of way.

--Andoy
22 March 2009

UPIS Huling Kodakan, Feb. 28, 2009

2009-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

Some pictures I took last Saturday at the UPIS grounds. It was a gathering for a last picture-taking before a big part of the grounds was taken over by the C-5. In fact, the construction area was already cordoned off and parents had voiced a concern for the safety of their kids over the ongoing construction.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

The above sculpture was formerly a wider work. Unfortunately, one-third had broken off. And the main character's penis was defaced. A castrated Oblation. This is vandalism. Of course, I could be wrong. Anything could have happened which may have caused this to be in such a sorry state.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

That's Mario and Aleli, two former high school classmates.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

Herman Kraft. Another UPIS class of 1980 batchmate.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

Click here to view the full-resolution picture in a new window.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

Click here to view the full-resolution picture in a new window.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

Click here to view the full-resolution picture in a new window.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

Click here to view the full-resolution picture in a new window.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

The construction area was to widen Katipunan into a full-width highway segment of the C-5. A view of the construction area. Click here to view the full-resolution picture in a new window. Caution: This is a wide picture.

From UPIS Huling Kodakan

This is another panoramic view of the UPIS grounds in front of the flagpole. It was taken across the street. Click here to view the full-resolution picture in a new window. Caution: This is a very wide picture.

All construction pictures were taken with a Kodak KZ740, stitched on Ubuntu Linux 8.04 using Hugin Panorama Creator and cropped using GIMP Image Editor. The group pictures were taken side-by-side with a Kodak KZ740 and a Canon Powershot A720, stitched on Ubuntu Linux 8.04 using Hugin Panorama Creator and cropped with GIMP Image Editor.

--Andoy

Darwi at UST

2009-02-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

Had a walking trip and a brief tour with Darwi at UST. We forgot to bring a camera, so her phone camera had to do. The knee support was for the injury she sustained about two weeks ago.

From Darwi at UST (Feb. 2, 2009)

The campus was being spruced up in preparation of the quadricentennial (400 year anniversary) of the university. The giant UST letters were just there I guess. This was the first time I ever stepped foot on the campus. It was not a matter of culture shock. In a way, it was more of being in a different milieu or environment. It was fun actually.

--Andoy
2 February 2009

Naruto Shippuuden 93: Hindi Mayabang!

2009-01-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

I have been watching Naruto for several years now. I first heard about it in 2004, the summer before I started my personal blogs, when a colleague and fellow call center agent brought some VCDs of the series. I didn't watch it then. But I did get hooked later when my brother introduced me to the series.

It's a good story, and more engaging than the normal, growth and development of the usual anime of the ugly duckling/underdog/asshole main character in an environment where he is surrounded by cool bishounen colleagues (and villains), trainers, supporters and naysayers. The usual problem in animation and crops up, where the drawing sometimes suffers. There are the usual reasons of deadlines and change in artists and crew. But Naruto, the series has suffered more specially after the 140th episode of the original series.

In Naruto Shippuuden, the story picks up after several years of training away from the village. And the drawings a lot more consistent. But the latest episode I saw, had the artists flexing their muscles. Hindi mayabang ang dating. Some stills from one scene:

From Naruto

I'm looking forward to more surprises from the artists.

--Andoy
26 January 2009

Kenneth's Angono Trip

2009-01-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

Kenneth's class had an educational trip to Angono, and here are some pictures. Of particular note are these photos of him and his t-shirt. And on the bus as well.

Re-posting Pictures

2009-01-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

Since the demise or shutdown of the picture sharing service I subscribed to, some of the prior posts suddenly had blank areas where the pictures were supposed to be. I just had to re-post the pictures.

Recently, I started doing just that. This is a slow going and not something I really look forward to for several reasons, but I've been working on it, off and on for the past several days.

I hope to continue to be OC about this for some time still.

--Andoy
22 January 2009

Benchmarking the Lens

2009-01-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to benchmark the Kodak Z740. For that matter, I've always been interested in benchmarks for cameras and lenses, the Kodak Z740 being just one of them. I just never did get around to it. That is, until recently, when Darwi gave a comment that she looked fat in the picture below:

From Celebrating the New Year at Marikina

This was taken last New Year's Day. And I had the knee-jerk reaction to comment that it was due to the Holidays. Everyone gains weight during the Christmas break. Of course, Kenneth beat me to the punchline.

But the picture got me thinking, because even Kenneth looked fat in the picture. Me, I looked puffed up.

Thinking about it, I did a simple benchmark photo using the camera. The procedure is very simple. Tape a graphing paper onto the wall and take a picture of it. I used the widest angle and the longest zoom for the pictures below. A scan of the photos is enough for to come to a conclusion.

The resulting photos (click on the pictures to enlarge):

From Z740 Lens Benchmark

The top photo was shot with the widest angle. While the second one was with shot at full zoom. For the Z740 with 10x optical zoom, the range is from 6.3mm to 63mm. At its widest, the lens is the rough equivalent of 25 to 28mm on a regular 35mm SLR.

With wide-angle lenses, you would normally expect some barreling on the resulting picture. However, the barreling is still evident on the second photo. This would have been a concern for a 35mm camera. However, the truth is that the smaller the camera, and the resulting lens, the more pronounced barreling would be.

Translation: take a portrait up close with a small lens and the subject would look a bit fatter due to the barreling effect.

Solution: move away from the subject and shoot with the telephoto, long focal-length lens. Even for a small camera or a small lens, the error would be lessened by the distance.

Besides all that, the camera is great!

--Andoy
10 January 2009

Naomi (January 2, 2009)

2009-01-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

From Naomi Pictures

More New Year's Day Pictures

2009-01-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

From Celebrating the New Year at Marikina

More Christmas 2008 Pictures

2009-01-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

From Christmas Eve 2008

New Year's Day at Marikina

2009-01-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

From Novaliches, we passed by the house to drop off our bags before proceeding to Lavender. The original plan was to go to Star City to enjoy the rides, but due to transport problems, and the weather, it was decided to just stay at home or have dinner out in the evening.

We spent some time playing cards, and singing songs on the videoke. And it was decided to just go to the nearest good restaurant. We had dinner at Gerry's Grill at Marquinton/Blue Wave.

It was a good highlight to the New Year celebration, as well as to Adora's birthday.

From Celebrating the New Year at Marikina

Celebrating the New Year at Novaliches

2009-01-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

From New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at Nova

Darwi and Kenneth

2008-12-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

Various pictures of Darwi and Kenneth together.

From Darwi and Kenneth (2008)

Christmas Eve Celebration 4

2008-12-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

From 20081225

Christmas Celebration 3

2008-12-25T08:30:00.001-08:00

From 20081225

Christmas Celebration 2

2008-12-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

From 20081225

Christmas Eve Celebration (Part 1)

2008-12-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

SM Marikina Interior (panoramic stitch)

2008-12-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to take a picture of the SM Marikina interior, but have never had the time to do so. It just so happened that I needed to do an errand and brought Darwi along with me, as well as the camera. I took the pictures from one side of the third floor showing the very bright entrance. I used Hugin panorama creator on Ubuntu Linux 8.04 to stitch the pictures together.

I have the full-size image on my DeviantArt site. Just click on the link above. This will send you to the DeviantArt site, and click on the main picture to show the 1.5 MB 3120×3552 pixel full-size picture.

--Andoy
23 December 2008

"Your Call" by Secondhand Serenade

2008-09-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

I don't remember if I had already posted this. I don't look at the archives, you see.

For all intents and purposes, this is the last emo post.

--Andoy
23 Sept. 2008

Going Corporate

2008-08-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

From Aug31

The journey continues. This was last night, with the whole family goofing off after packing off Lilia's clothes. Darwi found her mom's necktie, and then Kenneth tried to tie one too. And so there. Family picture. I'll tell the story behind the story in a another blog soon.

--Andoy
1 September 2008

Missing Photos

2008-07-13T09:08:00.001-07:00

I never gave it a thought that a website will disappear. But then
again, it was bound to happen. That's the reason websites are not
cited in academic publications: because website contents can change,
the link can disappear or the whole web page disappear.

So now I have a bunch of blog entries without any links to pictures.

Moving forward, I have two choices, suck it, or do something about it.
I choose the latter: I'll recreate the postings using another photo
site on the web. In a leisurely fashion as I would be trying to find
the pictures first. And then post them on the photo website. This
would take some time.

Meantime, I've been busy. Writing. This could be a full-time job.
And working from home.

-- Andoy
Antonio Castellano, Jr.

{thesaurus: (n.) an small extinct lizard with a large vocabulary.}

Home Bound during Typhoon Frank

2008-06-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

Typhoon Frank took a detour through the Metro Manila during the weekend. Nothing to do. No electricity, no radio or TV. No computer time.

Darwi curled up in a chair. Nope, we just took out the camera to break the boredom.

A Darwi closeup, with a crazy grin/smile/grimace.

Kenneth clowning around Lilia.

Kenneth clowning around me.

I think this was a contest of sorts. For Halloween. Now, if Darwi were in this picture, it would really be a contest.

A sleepy picture. The whole day was sleepy. Me with Lilia.

Darwi stretching a bit.

Darwi still stretching.

This was taken after the storm. No classes. Darwi hamming it up for the camera.

And yup, it took out my wireless broadband antenna. It took the ISP three days to schedule and repair since I reported it Monday.

--Andoy
26 June 2008

Naomi's Birthday and Father's Day Celebration

2008-06-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from last Sunday, June 15, 2008. Naomi's birthday was June 10, but it was celebrated on the succeeding weekend. Which coincided with Father's Day. hehehe

--Andoy
19 June 2008

Panoramic views

2008-05-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with stitching pictures to come up with large panoramic views. I've not had the chance to experiment more as I'd much rather take the large pictures and there's not too many such views worth taking pictures of.

This was taken at the view deck of Loreland in Antipolo. Click to view the larger picture.

Maybe I'd need to go back to UP Diliman Sunken Garden or to UPLB oval to take more panoramic pictures. Should be something worth viewing and definitely more interesting than this one. hehehe

28 May 2008

Family Outing (second set of pictures)

2008-05-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

--Andoy
28 May 2008

Family Outing (first set of pictures)

2008-05-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

We had a family outing last Saturday at Loreland in Antipolo. It's an impressive multi-use resort on a hillside, with lots of pools and cottages.

Mama and Sharon on the ride to Antipolo

Kenneth on the van

Roselle and Darwi on the van

Andoy

Naomi

Sharon

Roselle with Darwi at the back hamming it up for the camera

Dong with Angel at the kiddie pool

Naomi at the kiddie pool

Angel and Dong

Angel and Dong at the slide (kiddie pool)

Mama and Manang

Kenneth, Sharon, Mama, Darwi and Roselle (at the back partly hidden)

Mama, Darwi and Roselle

Kenneth, Sharon, Mama, Darwi and Roselle

Sharon

Naomi and Angel on the swing

Naomi

Angel

Kenneth

Naomi and Angel, having ice cream while playing on the swing

Naomi

Dong with Angel

I'll post the other pictures next time.

--Andoy
27 May 2008

Irene's Birthday

2008-05-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Irene came home from Singapore for her vacation, which also coincided with her birthday, May 18.

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Darwi and Kenneth

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Me and Naomi

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Kiko and Jonas

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Darwi and Kenneth

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Darwi, Kiko and Naomi

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Roselle, Irene and Dong, with Naomi partly shown at the back

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Kenneth clowning around with the cake roll

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Naomi and her Barbie

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Me and Roselle

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Dong and Irene (japanese/korean tourist pose)

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Irene and Neng

From Irene's Birthday (May 18, 2008)

Tatay, Neng and Naomi

--Andoy
26 May 2008

Another page layout edit

2008-04-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Edited and moved things around on the layout. Minor revisions on the text. Nothing much. Like putting slips of paper in a bowl and pulling them out at random. Shouldn't be noticeable. Like an inverted nipple. hehehe

-- andoy
12 April 2008

The Freesound Project

2008-04-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

I had just for this website. It sounds awesome. But very niche, niche. Looks like a great activity and something very unique. The Freesound Project is a limited Creative Commons license, where members can upload and download sounds (yes, real sounds) and use them with attribution to source according to the tenets of of the Creative Commons license. Yes, it's free to download and use the sounds even in profit-making ventures as long as you attribute the source.

Makes sense.

--andoy
11 April 2008

Bataan Trip: On Mt. Samat

2008-04-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

From Mt. Samat (March 2008)

That's Mang Louie, Tony and me on the road to Mt. Samat. The Mt. Samat memorial cross is in the background.

From Mt. Samat (March 2008)

Japanese marker. Sorry but I can't read what it says.

From Mt. Samat (March 2008)

A marker on the slopes of Mt. Samat.

From Mt. Samat (March 2008)

Details of the marker.

Graduation Pictures

2008-03-31T02:39:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from Kenneth's graduation.

From Kenneth's Graduation

Online Image Animator

2008-03-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

I was just browsing the internet when I came across this website. Should be great to create an animated GIF without actually having a GIF animator software. Looks good from where I am. Now if I can only find some pics to animate.

--andoy
11 March 2008

Babang Luksa. A Tribute Exhibit of Marlon Despues

2008-02-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Babang Luksa...

I went to the Babang Luksa tribute exhibit last Friday with Nap Suarez, a good friend of mine from HP (and going back to Digital Filipinas/Compaq days). The exhibit itself is from Marlon Despues's pictures, nudes of ordinary people, with plain white or black background.

Marlon died last year, he had this big exhibit at the Instituto Cervantes of about 700 nude photos.

Maybe one day I can go back to photography. I hope I would.

--andoy
2 February 2008

Christmas Objects

2008-01-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

Our office has a warehouse full of broken monitors. And, since it was Christmas there was an attempt at recycling things for the decorations.

From 20071226

The idea was from a picture picked up somewhere in the internet. The original arch was made indoors. This was done beside the parking lot.

From 20071226

--andoy
4 January 2008

A stumble... and a restart

2007-09-25T20:49:00.001-07:00

I admit that lately I haven't had much practice in taking pictures. Personally, the last good pictures I took were when I was still with Pixela. And even before that, I've always been proud of my skills and knowledge in using an SLR on manual settings. Either with natural light or with flash, modesty aside, I know I was good. I was good because I took the time to study my SLR and photography in general. I took the time to compose pictures.

Right now I am "recalibrating" and would be studying this camera more and studying photography techniques which are significant or specific to the camera. I am not happy with the pictures I've taken so far. It would take me some more time to get used to this. Maybe another 100 pictures, and with constant practice. I have to be patient and learn to compose pictures again.

The learning continues then.

--andoy

26 Sept. 2007

Set Pictures: odd objects

2007-09-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Some days I just want the time to pass me by.

Kenneth borrowed the bag, and hasn't returned it yet. These are Darwi's new glasses. Red frame.

Darwi's red framed glasses set against one of her bags.

--andoy
25 Sept. 2007

Candid shot: Marikina soldier statue

2007-09-24T21:05:00.001-07:00

Statue of a soldier located along Bayan-Bayanan Ave. in Concepcion, Marikina.

Candid photos (24 Sept 2007)

2007-09-24T01:48:00.000-07:00

Photo taken from inside the project room of the Philippine flag. Drenched and left on the site. The window was dirty. I had no polarizer with me. No photo editing clean up.

--andoy
24 Sept. 2007

Changes: from words to graphics

2007-09-24T00:16:00.001-07:00

I am planning to steer this page from one end of the spectrum to another: from words to pictures. Hopefully, I would be successful enough to show something for it.

Next!!!

-- andoy
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea. - R. Heinlein

Multiple Intelligence Test

2007-06-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

You're a Linguistic Intelligence!

The Multiple Intelligences Test

Brought to you by Tickle

-=0=-

Wala lang. Just wanted to post the result of the multiple intelligence test I took from Tickle.com.

--andoy
29 June 2007

The words are there but...

2007-05-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

The words still ramble in my head, but I don't write them down any
more. I am waiting for the words to tone down and to disappear into
the background of my consciousness. The poems wanting to be written
are still there. But I am not letting it reach the hand. And the
hand is not poised to write or type the poem. The mind tries to steer
away from the poem waiting to be written. A reason and a thousand
others do not need to intervene, no reason is needed. I don't want to
write the poem. Not "not yet" just simply "not." Maybe just "not
today" but I know it won't last forever.

Another time then. Meantime, another kind of pining and spacing out.

-- andoy
26 May 2007

Hiatus

2007-04-16T02:58:00.000-07:00

I have not posted anything on this blog for a long while. Mainly because I have not posted any poems with PinoyPoets. And that because I have gone into a leave of absence with the group. Was very disappointed for a long, long while. I know I tried my best to contribute. Though after a while, any contribution which is not acknowledged would make you feel left out and unwanted.

Maybe my fault. I didn't try to educate the members enough of the necessity of what I did. All background work and technical.

Definitely my fault.

Will be posting more on this blog. I don't know what, but I would be changing directions on what this blog is. I will let it evolve on its own.

More from me soon.

--andoy
16 April 2007

[Poem] 20 Senryu (Call Center Series), Andoy Castellano, 18 September 2006

2006-09-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

20 Senryu (Call Center Series)
Andoy Castellano, 18 September 2006

Stepping out into the night
a virtual world of phone calls
the call center agent

wondering what to eat
lunch break at two in the morning
counting eating places

grinning TCPA [1]
after a hurried disclosure [2]
lang bang disposed [3]

"That is good to hear," agent says
about the latest high-end camera model
and clueless user

"Dispose!" coach shouts
agent jumps
woken from sleep

english as a common language
spanish-speaking agent
and italian caller

"Do you speak the Queen's English?"
"No sir, only the King's spanish"
the spanish-speaking agent

Energy drink
and then a cup of freshly-brewed coffee
palpitations, to the clinic!

at end of shift
walking straight to a lamp post
a bloody ear

sweater and shorts
alone at the office receiving calls
weekend day shift

fifteen minute break
hurrying out the office
for a nicotine fix

a glance and a wink
mic adjusted to eye-level [4]
another sale

talking rapidly
to hang-up phones
TCPA close [1]

talking slowly
to irate cardmember
DNC verbiage [5]

veteran agents
standing up like ostriches
ogling newbies

clients on the floor
jackets with hoods answering phones
freezing agents

"yes sir, you are free to complain
to the Better Business Bureau"
-- about the free software

5AM break
for irate female agent
a chocolate sundae

shaking head
agent quietly listens
another irate caller

complaining on break
"my ears hurt from listening to calls"
and increases iPod volume

Notes:
[1] TCPA, "Telemarketing Consumer Protection Act", an exit spiel where
the telemarketer has to state the toll-free number of the company he
represents whenever he makes a call and introduces himself by name or
the company he is representing; this verbiage is stated even if the
other person at the end of the line has hung up;
[2] Disclosure, recorded part of the telemarketing call where the
seller discloses the pertinent parts of the product or service being
sold, including a short summary of features and the cost;
[3] Lang Bang, a language barrier sale, where the buyer does not
understand english enough to know that he is buying a product or sale;
[4] some telemarketers change the mic volume, adjust the mic, or
otherwise slur their words so that the buyer would not understand some
parts of the script;
[5] DNC, short for "do not call", a list of phone numbers which a
telemarketer is not supposed to call; if the other person on the line
requests this (including the answering machine) the telemarketer is
supposed to add the phone number to the DNC list, and to read a DNC
script as well; this verbiage is stated even if the other person at
the end of the line has hung up;

---

This was first posted with Pinoy Poets groups.

--andoy
18 September 2006

"Disjointed Images, Unfinished Poems", andoy castellano, 31 August 2006

2006-08-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Disjointed Images, Unfinished Poems
Andoy Castellano, 31 August 2006

I could not write the poems in my head
vivid images, negatives turning to light
whispers blasting out of drums rousing me from sleep
baby powder scent pressing recent memory to fore

Pendulums oscillating
keeping time
like a door's creaking
gently closing and opening
to the gathering breeze
and closing the door on its own

III

A faucet leaking
slowly dripping
loud echoing in the silence nobody hears
playing with straw and frostee
waiting to pour out, spew and shower
globs turning to drops
thick turning thin
with each succeeding instance

tweaking and twiddling knobs
trying to find the music playing in your ear
of softness laced with grunts
moans and whimpers

wooden toy tops bouncing against one another
spinning in tandem like dance sports competitors
always pushing the other on
to keep up
in hard tapping against each other
nail head drilling incessant in play with urgency

a tiny bead, a trickle, not even a rivulet
from nape rolling slowly down
tracing kiss-hungry skin, under shallow sleep
sweat-drop travelling
following where a finger traced
contour-like lines on a map
to where everything starts and ends
a finger tracing a path on a map nobody reads

VII

masked moans layered under laughter
whimpers and grunts as white noise
under blaring radio rock
and clocks ticking moments passing by
and vehicle traffic plying trade
and children playing, laughing and crying
whispers, whimpers, moans and grunts
hidden in plain hearing

VIII

the tree shakes in the gentle wind and shower
a drizzle falling to a downpour
a slight breeze growing to a gale
and like a leaf clinging precariously to branch
you gasp holding on to your breath and inhale deep
the leaf sways
eyelids flutter and your breath catches
the leaf snaps of from the tree taken by the wind
your eyes grow wide, tense
the leaf falls in slow motion corkscrewing down
flying up with the wind and rain
in stormy chaos, down and up, at random
till it dips into the mud
sopping wet, still and resting on water
floating downstream
you catch your breath as the storm subsides

IX
memories flashing past
like a basin of water down the drain
swirling faster and faster
tighter and smaller
to a singularity of moment and meaning
of nothingness

like an album closing on itself
pictures are hidden
to be reminisced with friends at leisure
and behind closed doors

-------------------

Note: I doubt if I can finish this poem (or poems). But the images
have been there for a while. And there are more images where these
came from.

-----

First posted with Pinoy Poets yahoo groups.

--andoy
31 August 2006

[poem] Lost Roses, Andoy Castellano, 19 August 2006

2006-08-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Lost Roses
Andoy Castellano, posted with Pinoy Poets 19 August 2006
written 2 December 1987

Days passed
I don't remember when
Though
Black roses
linger
for me
in misty dreams

Roses I see
In
every day
red and red
but I gasp
puzzled
of roses black
lost

lost and lost
in hapless
time
merciless
time

I cry

I have forgotten you

=====

This was written December 2, 1987. I present it as it was. "Pining"
is a tough word, but after twenty years, it's the only word I know to
describe it. Admittedly, the poem is not tight (enough). Again,
another of the poems which I cannot edit.

Regards,
--
--andoy
19 August 2006

[poem] White Roses, Blue Roses, Andoy Castellano, 19 August 2006

2006-08-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

White Roses, Blue Roses

White roses
never fade

Rather
wilting
but naturally
turning to gray
Dying
pure

Blue roses
Blue
pristine blue

Wilting
becoming
blue
bluer
Dying unchanged

III

Blue roses
Childish
babyish
enchanting blue

White roses
forever
white
comely
immaculate white

Which then
shall it be

Enchanting
Enthralling
Enticing blue

Immaculate
Immortal
Imaginary white

Roses are roses
not blue
not white

Roses
held in a bunch
Wrapped
Gauzy
gaudy

Roses in tender hands

Roses
Blue
White

=====

Another of the Roses series of poems I wrote. This one was from
September 12, 1985. No edits or revisions. I don't know how. hehehe

Regards,
--
--andoy
19 August 2006

[poem] Black Tears and Dark Blood, andoy castellano, 19 August 2006

2006-08-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Black Tears and Dark Blood
Andoy Castellano, 19 August 2006

Black are tears of uncommon pain
Dark blood of deepest anger
Heavy colors of brooding

Closed shut and wincing are my eyelids
over empty glazed orbs
pushing out of their sockets

No joy, I shake my head, no joy and none
All is sadness
trying hard to forget and not trying
and not forgetting

I close myself
shaking my head and remembering
and walk off
to where all tears are black
and blood are deepest dark

============

The original poem was written September 14, 1991. One of the last
poems I wrote before I went on hiatus. I edited this for posting.
Been a while since I posted a poem.

--
--andoy
19 August 2006

[poem] Black Roses I Remember, Andoy Castellano, 19 August 2006

2006-08-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

Black Roses I Remember
Andoy Castellano, 19 August 2006

I remember
Roses are black though others are of a color
wild roses, innards of meaningless thought
from alleys smoky in air-vented steam
glorifying mist but emptiness of color
rising to forever but clouding the words
of instructions and directions
Digression in another media of stilled figures
Dark memories I gather
With roses gone
Weeds

Red roses of vague time and memory
from borrowed being
Drying to wind-blown rained-out gutted charred dust
fading from red to black

Chinese tea I serve in momoriam steep slowly
like walking past walls with picture-frames
passing one by one ominously tortously slow
like petals floating in the garden pond

Rose petals floating on shadow screen
like the brown-dark tea dregs
staining fragile porcelain of untarnished white
bone china
Hard words as I had always known

Iron floating butterfly mobile
hanging side by side with wind chimes
taunting teasing daring forgetfulness
like an opium haze

Though remembrance remains as roses stand on
vases green poised on every visible corner
of the round-eye world
Of roses black roses
Now only these
I remember

=======

The original poem was written June 1, 1986. This is part of a series
of Roses poems. I might not post all of them. I edited and cleaned
it up somewhat. Still too verbose I think. Maybe I can re-edit it
sometime soon. In another twenty years maybe.

----
--andoy
19 August 2006

[poem] Night Life, Andoy Castellano, 12 May 2006

2006-05-12T03:14:00.001-07:00

Night Life
Andoy Castellano

Crickets chirp in the cold air outside
and there is silence
save for the radio kept on till morning
The sun has long set
and it is near and coming
walking outdoors there are no shadows
no wind but it is getting cold
Moths dance with the light
The lizards stalk prey
still the silence could not be put off
there is a variety of sounds
and there is a texture to the silence
Not eerie, but almost quaint
The night is a demure and almost prudish
This is such a time when one wonders why
man sleeps
and not make love to such beauty
as the varied silence of the night

-=0=-

I wrote the original some twenty plus years ago. I did some editing
but kept as much of it as possible.

--andoy
12 May 2006

Fwd: [poem] Tanka: Sack Cloth Bags, Andoy Castellano, 12 May 2006

2006-05-12T03:14:00.000-07:00

Tanka: Sack Cloth Bags
Andoy Castellano

Derriere-shaped sack cloth
hanging loose from the shoulder
college coed chic
ethnic status symbol
swaying with every step

-=0=-

I edited an old poem and came up with this tanka. hehehe
It was a really old poem.

--andoy
12 May 2006

[poem] tanka, Andoy Castellano, 12 May 2006

2006-05-12T03:13:00.000-07:00

Tanka
Andoy Castellano

Echoes of colors
Flowers light up the drab night
tickling the senses
bright hues and verdant smell
like vines creeping out to me

-=0=-
The tag line was from an old poem I wrote. I created the poem around
"echoes of colors".

--
--andoy
12 May 2006

[poem] Bolinao Vignettes 2: Lolo Agoy, Andoy Castellano, 11 May 2006

2006-05-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

Bolinao Vignettes 2: Lolo Agoy
Andoy Castellano, 11 May 2006

I never saw Lolo Agoy get mad,
he had this lop-sided grin
which becomes a smile and a laugh
A kindly man, named after the town's patron saint
elementary school janitor he was
also, a carpenter by trade
he taught himself radio electronics
and fixed transistor radios
and quartz clocks

There's not too much to tell
about my paternal grandfather
save for one story

Lolo Agoy once walked from Bolinao
the westernmost tip of Pangasinan
to fetch his son who was with his sister in Pasay
The lad needed fetching
as there was a little problem
called a war going on at that time
Because of a fuel shortage
there were no vehicles about
and he walked
and he came back to Bolinao with his son, he did

He was a school janitor
He also helped at Church, assisted the Priest at Mass
as long as he lived
Seeing Lolo Agoy,
shrunken, wrinkled and burned by the sun
You'd never think he could have walked to Pasay
and back to Bolinao to fetch his son
with a little problem called a war going on

--
--andoy
11 May 2006

Rengga Senryu: Recipes for Suicide,Andoy Castellano and Steph Cruz, 5.10.06

2006-05-10T01:12:00.000-07:00

Rengga Senryu: Recipes for Suicide

Andoy Castellano and Steph Cruz

May 10, 2006

suicide by coffee—

five, six mugs a day

heart palpitation by 80

crossing the street

thinking of hall of mirrors—

shaking stumbling

excruciating pain

7-11 slurpee---

blood curling brain freeze

bright burning ember

a very slow poison—

cigarette stick

daily fare of gin

balut cholesterol and alcohol—

heart, kidney, liver

man without hope

swallows several wishbones—

death by lechon manok

each night, a toast

to guardian angels—

death by San Miguel

bloodsucker

hangs himself in guilt—

death by mosquito net

washing first heartbreak

out of her hair—

death by shampoo

after the bestman

makes a monkey out of you—

death by banana peel

-=0=-

This was written as an exchange of text messages. The haiku/senryu format lends itself well to SMS poems because if forces the writer to write in a very short format. Each complete senryu was written on the spot by either Stephanie or me. It was a fun exercise.

--andoy

10 May 2006

[poem] haiku: UPLB Summer, Andoy Castellano, 10 May 2006

2006-05-10T01:08:00.000-07:00

Haiku: UPLB Summer
Andoy Castellano, 10 May 2006

under the canopy
owl silent on the ground
feasting past midnight

atop the hill
in the tree house and shouting
I hear no echoes

rain falling before dawn
thirsty thousands celebrate
frogs spawning

captive light in jars
set loose in the dorm room
fireflies dance free

wearing school shirts
"How is the carabao?"
Manila friends ask

--
--andoy
10 May 2006

(poem) Hall of Mirrors, Andoy Castellano, 9 May 2006

2006-05-09T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hall of Mirrors
Andoy Castellano, 9 May 2006

Closing my eyes in a hall of mirrors
images leap out, alive, pictures
that grab my consciousness, pulsing and throbbing

I turn round seeing no corners but curves
seamlessly flowing one into another one atop the other,
erecting, building up to an avalanche of memories
silent, then swelling to a cacophony
on layered screens, gossamer projections
of snapshots, trailers and full-length features

Like waves on a pond these keep coming and coming back
Volumes upon volumes beyond cataloguing, sorting or indexing
out of senseless reach of the here and now
the past catches up and I am back to the then and there

Sleep does not stop the torrent, it haunts my dreams
reliving each and all the accumulated moments
I find myself immersed, surrounded in the mimetic deluge
My moans, whimpers, grunts and screams wake me
shaking and twitching, warm, hot, sweaty, wet

With open eyes I touch the mirrors
fingers on the glass tracing my shadow and all my desires

--
--andoy
9 May 2006