Photo of the Day

Photographer: John Caruso
Country: United States
The contrast and lighting is perfect. Its natural.
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Living by Water Photo Exhibit by Ferdinand Decena

Living By Water is Ferdinand Decena’s First One-man show exhibit.

The Exhibit will be held on May 12-27, 2008 at Filipinas Heritage Library in Ayala Triangle, Makati City.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

From time immemorial, civilizations have thrived and lived near bodies of water. The reason is crystal-clear: water is vital to man’s existence. It is the reason why this exhibition pays homage to water and its significance to how and why people live by the water. Featuring photos that tell stories about the coastal Filipinos’ living conditions, reveal their culture, and relate their stories of survival.

The exhibit will carry a raft of striking images from across our archipelago. The Badjao Stilt Villages of Basilan. The Muslim Stilt Village of Rio Hondo in Zamboanga. The fishermen of Siquijor. The T’bolis of Lake Sebu. The rugged shores of Itbayat in Batanes. And the tranquil coasts of Iloilo.

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Riz Khan: The Man in Broadcasting

I have this email ad of riz_kph. It stands for Riz Khan of the Philippines. I choose this nick as to admire my idol in the history of broadcasting, Mr. Riz Khan. He has been one of the recognized faces worldwide following extensive careers with the BBC and CNN prior to joining at AL Jazeera Co.

He was a presenter and reporter at the BBC for eight years and was the first mainstream Asian newsreader for their international network.

He hosted the news bulletin that launched BBC World Service Television News in 1991.

Afterpresenting there for two years he was poached by CNN for their own international channel where he became a senior anchor for the network’s global news shows and special events including the historic live coverage of the Hajj.

In 1996 he launched his interactive interview show on CNN: Q&A with Riz Khan and he has conducted thousands of interviews with guests including the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, to name a few.

Born in 1962 in South Yemen, Riz and his family moved to London when he was four. He attended the University of Wales where he gained an honours degree in Medical Physiology.

He took a course in radio journalism in Portsmouth and joined the BBC News Trainee scheme in 1987.

In 2005 he authored his first book: Al-Waleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince, published by Harper Collins.

Source: Riz Khan Biography

I have this ambition to meet him personally and get an interview about him.

Quote of the Day

"Our
real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and
disappointments, but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in
their proper figures."
– Joseph Addison

About Joseph Addison

English politician and writer Joseph Addison is remembered as a cofounder, along with his friend Richard Steele, of The Spectator,
one of the first magazines to cover literature and manners. He was born
in 1672 in Wiltshire. He spent four years traveling in Europe, studying politics and writing poetry, and became a Commissioner of Appeals on his return to England. His shyness made public office difficult. His most famous work is the play Cato, a tragedy about ancient Rome. He died in 1719.

To All Employees

JOKE THREAD:Raises

It is advised that you should come to work dressed according to your salary:

1. If we see you wearing $400 Prada shoes and carrying a $800 Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise.

2. If you dress poorly, you need to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, therefore you do not need a raise.

3. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore do not need a raise.

Sick Days

We will no longer accept a doctor's excuse as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.

Bereavement Leave

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases, where the employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Toilet Use

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet.
There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the "Chronic Offenders Category". Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy!

Lunch Break

Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more so they can look healthy.
Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch, to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.
Fat people get 5 minutes lunch, because that is all the time needed to drink a Slim-fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for your loyalty to our company.

We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation, and input should be directed elsewhere.

Thanks...
Source: From Email Thread sent by rdacalos

Fotog Tip: Warm Up those Tones

Have you ever noticed that your shots sometimes have a cool, clammy
feel to them? If so, you're not alone. The default white balance
setting for digital cameras is auto, which is fine for most snapshots, but tends to be a bit on the "cool" side.

When shooting outdoor portraits and sunny landscapes, try changing your white balance setting from auto to cloudy.
That's right, cloudy. Why? This adjustment is like putting a mild
warming filter on your camera. It increases the reds and yellows
resulting in richer, warmer pictures.

Figure1a

Figure 1a is shot outdoors in a mountain
environment with the white balance set to auto. Figure 1b shows warmer
tones thanks to using the "cloudy" setting and a pair of Costa Del Mar
sunglasses over the front lens. (Canon PowerShot S200, Program mode)

Figure 1b

If you don't believe me, then do a test. Take a few outdoor shots with the white balance on auto, then take the same picture again with the setting on cloudy. Upload the images to your computer and look at them side by side. My guess is that you'll like the warmer image better.

Movie Review: The Kite Runner

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan , the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him. The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.

One of my fave movies in 2008.

Increasing Productivity by Limiting time at the Watercooler

We are so much dependent on the technology today. One friend i knew is that he cant live without his mobile phone that he uses for texting or making a call in a day. While making a call on his right, he still manages to text on the left while working on his notebook on his front. We are so techno stressed. As Aileen defines it, here are the signs if you are a techno-stressed:


1. You get anxious being offline within 2 hours of logging off.
2. You just absolutely need to check your email every 15 minutes.
3. You turn on your PC/laptop upon waking up (and you do it before going to the bathroom).
4. If you blog, you think about how you're going to post an experience while you are still experiencing it.
5. You leave your PC on the whole night so you could multi-task while you are sleeping.
6. At a cafe/resto, the first thing you ask the waiter is, "Do you have free wifi?"
7. You're reading this post on a Sunday night... hahaha... gotcha!

Can you think about other signs? What about you? What do you do?

More of business humor toons here. Please dont forget to drop us a message.

There Must Be A reason

In everything there's always a reason.

For a couple of months, i was so busy at work. I have not updated this blog- I thought this might die for no reason. But i guess i have to continue what I'd loved doing. Blogging.

I would love to share my thoughts, things i want to do and still want to do. Photography.

We'll sometimes i would love to stuck in my room; dreaming and think of some beautiful places i would love to go. Those unseen beaches, mountains, virgin islands, smiling faces and expressions, wild rivers, beautiful gradens in Japan, roads in France, and skyscrapers. I could imagine a feeling where u are on the top of a mountain and seing those plain lands. The emotion that is being free. Free from everything.

today, i have the freedom to write on this certain page and i am hoping i can update you the things i would love to do more.

Noel, a good friend of mine in Ng Khai before(now he's at the iStore Cebu) encourages me to do this blog and be a partner in all photo shoots activity. Oh, i hope i could do more. He showed me his armour today! Hahah! Did i say armour? I mean, his 155mm kit lens which his brother bought and gave it to him. I was a little bit jealous about it. 155mm? thats quiet expensive dude. But i hope someday, i could have it . Sir, you know whoe you are. how you could give me a favor on this. hehehe. We'll im just saying that, if you have some extra, i accept donations. Hahahaha.

Hopefully, i could have a normal schedule next month and i can do more photoshoots with noel and flickr buddies. Visit my flickr photos. it talks me about there.

Cheers!