mababang langit

this article's  been popping up on my facebook feed repeatedly the past few days, to pretty much unanimous discontent. at the heart of the matter is executive order 255, which states: "all radio stations  shall broadcast a minimum of four original [F]ilipino musical   compositions in every clockhour of a program with a musical format." or to put it another way, stations have to allot about a quarter of every hour of airplay to local music. which, if you think about it, is pretty reasonable. TV ads get more airtime than that. so why all the negative comments? 1.) anything pnoy does is wrong. i'm not qualified to talk about that. 2.) i'll listen to what i want! no one's forcing anyone to listen to anything. they're forcing the station to play OPM one quarter of the time, thereby giving local artists more exposure (and/or royalties?), which hopefully leads to more income. is that so bad? the rest of us remain free to change the station, or pop ...

colleen doran makes her case against comics piracy : Here’s hoping the next step in combating the lack of respect for copyright includes an initiative to instill some respect for the people who create content. Real human beings live behind that work . meanwhile, steve lieber enters the belly of the beast and finds the experience rewarding : I just participated in a genuinely fascinating discussion, and I think it’s old dog, new tricks time . so who's right? i think both of them are. digital piracy isn't a black-and-white issue, and we really are living in unprecedented times where the rules are being rewritten and new rules are made up as we go along. while i applaud efforts like those described in doran's article seeking to keep adsense profits out of pirates' hands, i also agree with lieber that free is here to stay and we need to deal with that fact as well. here in the philippines, the kind of comics literacy we have that helped give rise to and suppor...

gerry alanguilan and budjette tan recently posted their thoughts on an agence france-presse piece by mynardo macaraig about the undying topic of the dying pinoy komiks industry. such is the tone of the aforementioned article, entitled "Once-great Philippine comic industry fights for survival": Philippine comic books have nurtured talent for international TV and animation blockbusters, but the once-mighty industry is fighting to survive as it comes up against the Internet and other new media. Comic books that dominated the Philippine publishing industry just a couple of decades ago are now largely relegated to photocopied titles sold in a few specialty stores and at conventions. tan's reaction tends toward the hopeful: It's just a bit sad that the report didn't even mention the multiple comic book events that have been happening for the past couple of years. I just hope the article also gets the attention of potential publishers, entrepreneurs maybe, pe...

carlos celdran's biggest mistake was that he didn't bring a friend with a video camera. the catholic church's biggest mistake is that it unwittingly created a martyr. can we get some context here? what did the guy do? yell at some priests. what does the church want to do? deny millions of people access to contraceptives and education that, if used properly, will make their lives better in very concrete ways. which is the jailable offense again? celdran's one-man commando strike protest paid off so well i bet he's considering making it a permanent addition to his walking tour. maybe next time he can dress up as jesus and knock over a few stalls. media reports of pro-celdran support are greatly exaggerated. have you seen the facebook page? 80% of the commenters there are just happy to have any reason at all to hate on the catholic church. wouldn't it be fun if noynoy said, "i'll see your excommunication and raise you ...

in an article posted on thepoc.net, fidelis tan discusses the state of pinoy indie komiks, which, according to her, still has quite a ways to go: Despite the flourishing of comics in the Philippines, pundits invite both readers and makers to take a more critical standpoint. It’s true that more titles are coming out, and those who frequent comics conventions have more Pinoy superheroes, enkantos, slice of life and anime knock-offs to choose from. According to comics aficionados and critics Adam David and Carljoe Javier, it takes far more than a healthier show of comics produced to signal a true elevation of Philippine comics. tan points out three long-standing problems of local indie creators: aping western comics and manga, lack of techinical know-how, and "first-issue syndrome". now all of that is true, but also, i think, like saying that society's problems are poverty, crime and lack of education. look. there will always be copycats. there will always be slop...

personal observations about komiks this year: the market is there - after all, it was able to support an unprecedented six major komiks events this year, despite catastrophic floods and whatnot. a nascent komiks convention circuit is forming (komikon, metrocon, m3con)--crossing my fingers that this becomes a permanent thing. broadening tastes - underground hits like alamat ng panget and bearkdowns generated a lot of buzz in '09, hopefully opening doors for more titles outside the established superhero/manga/humor genres. bookstores still the way to go - like it or not, the key to mainstream comics success still lies in nanay socorro's monopolizing hands, whether you're selling a pamphlet (mangaholix) or a graphic novel (trese, el indio, 12, etc.). komiks still don't get enough respect - at least from the mainstream media, judging by the lack of coverage. some new years' wishes for the local komiks scene: more comics journalism - randy valiente's...

step one: run your comics monopoly to the ground. step two: don't try to revive the company with compelling new ideas. instead, make lame-ass copies of whatever other people are doing at the moment. superheroes are hot? make ATX . w.i.t.c.h. selling like hotcakes? come out with c.h.a.r.m . vibal publishes an el indio compliation? republish lapu-lapu . step three: don't let anybody know about your project. no press releases, book launches, blog posts, nothing. yes, your book must escape even google's all-seeing eye. step four: repeat step three for subsequent compilation releases.