Busy

I have to break the news. I was promoted. While people say I should be happy, the truth is I am scared. I have so many things to do, so many things to prove. It's tough when people expect so much from you and you know you can't deliver.

My life has been through a lot, I should say, during the last month. And that was the reason why I have not been posting much, to this blog and my other.

Videoke Mania

Filipinos have this really irritating habit of turning up the volume of music for most of the audio-video equipment we have--TV sets, DVD players, components, and yes, the most notorious is the videoke machine or magic sing. I have no idea why we do that.

Last Christmas, one of my neighbors held a party that lasted all day and all night, ending at almost 5:00 AM. They were drinking, and smoking and singing their hearts out to some fancy music from a videoke machine. Being a singer myself, I should have appreciated the event. Unfortunately, I did not. They were singing off-key--a couple even trying their luck in reaching the really high-registered notes, and most of the time failing to strike them perfect. The worst part of it was that they were singing and creating noises, with everyone in the block hearing, thanks to the loud volume of their microphones.

But the story does not end there. Just a few days later, other neighbors started doing the same. In the spirit of merrymaking, they seemed to have forgotten about the other people in the village.

Isn't it enough to just let the music stay within the confines and the four walls of your own house? What could we possibly accomplish by letting other people hear our lousy singing?

Supporting Filipino Animators

In theaters this December is an animated film entitled Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia. It is the first all-digital full-length Filipino animated feature film by Cutting Edge Productions, and a budget of no less than PhP 58 million was used in the film's production. Over 500 animators were involved in the project that combined 2D and 3D paperless animation. Two years in the making, the project cast some of the most respectable names in the entertainment industry: Michael V., Peque Gallaga, Noel Trinidad, Nova Villa and Johnny Delgado. It stars child star Nash Aguas as Buboy, a boy out to find his abducted grandparents in the land of Elementalia. Broadway superstar Lea Salonga sang the theme song of the movie, Lipad. Dayo was also given a grade of "A" by the Cinema Evaluation Board. Such a rating allowed the producers a 100% amusement tax rebate.

Despite the effort in marketing the movie to its intended young audience, the numerous sponsors involved in the movie, the endorsements from the CEB and the Department of Education (DepEd) the film did not do very well in the box office. To date, the film is seventh in rank among the eight entries in the Metro Manila Film festival. True, there are some flaws in the animation, but no one can deny the fact that the movie is worthy of praise and as such, is a breakthrough.

Animation in the Philippines has taken a stall, not because we lack animators, but because Filipinos do not take the effort to help out the industry. A couple of months back, another animated film released by APT Productions, Urduja, suffered the same fate. We have very good animators and artists, but will they forever serve foreign animation studios because their countrymen do not recognize their talents and support their works?

On the other hand, Korean animation is seeing a lot of support from viewers all over the world. The quality of their work now is comparable to major animation studios Disney, Warner Brothers, Pixar, Toei and Studio Ghibli. But just a couple of years ago, Japanese animation, or animé, was being outsourced to Korea because of the volume that the Japanese animators were getting. Soon, even the big American networks, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney, were turning to the Koreans. The Koreans learned from the experience and put up their own studios. Now, Korea is proud to have produced animated series like Jang Geum's Dream and I'm Sorry I Love You.

Philippine animation will never progress unless we help out the industry. Our animators will be forever slaves, and not masters, if we do not support this dying industry.

Never Too Busy for God

There are twenty four hours in a day. Have you thought about how many hours do you actually spend for yourself? Just think: eight hours for sleep, eight hours for work, at least two hours for travel, three or four hours for recreation and two more hours for grooming--a total of almost twenty four hours as well.

But have you stopped to think about how long you have spent talking to God?

If we are to give our tithes to God for the time he has given us to spend, 2.4 hours should be devoted each day just for Him. Will the minutes we spend praying for our food, for ourselves, for our travel, for our loved ones, for praising Him and asking forgiveness for the sins we have done and for thanking Him for all He has done for us, add up to that?

Martin Luther once said, "I'm so busy today that I'll spend my first three hours in prayer." Regardless of how long we are to speak to God in prayer, let's take the time to talk and ask.

Christmas and Jesus

There is only one reason why we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is not about the giving. Not about the giver, nor about the gifts we give. Not about peace on earth and goodwill to men. Definitely not about Santa Claus, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, King Wenceslas, or even the Magi--ideas that highly creative advertising and marketing individuals have devised to keep people shopping for expensive gifts each year.

Christmas is not about these things which we have for so long thought to be the reason why we celebrate the occasion.

Christmas is about Jesus.

Think about what life would be without Jesus. No hope for redemption from sin and death. No contentment or joy despite the chaos in this world. No salvation from eternal damnation.

Christmas is a tale of love, of sacrifice, of being selfless. Had God not given his only begotten Son to the world, there would be no reason to celebrate the season. But He gave Jesus, not to be worshipped by men, but rather to be killed for their sins and to serve as the sacrificial lamb by Whom salvation will be known by all.

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16, New International Version

Do you know Jesus? He knows about you. He cares about you. This Christmas, let's focus on the reason why we had the season in the first place. Get to know the reason for the season in your life.