Author: Brian Dys

My Weird Neighborhood People

Who doesn’t have one?

I come home from work being greeted by a dog who magically appears from the dark; a dog whose bark was a little hoarse months before like a prepubescent pimply high school kid; a spitz I’d like to cuddle but really, it would gnarl and bite my arm without those metal railings.

I sleep at night being lulled by a demon-like cat who laughs and cries like a demon-vampire and I wonder why the neighborhood isn’t out there with their pointed bamboo poles to put holes to its furry body.

I open my eyes in the morning being woken up by a rooster with the soul of a dog. Its repeating crows transmute into barks like those of a rabid dog gargling its drool.

These days, the roaches are out hiding, maybe in the drainage where they will emerge dead upside-down during the rainy season when it’s flooding. The mouse and rats, I haven’t seen them lately. No creature is crawling over my feet as I twist the key in the gate lock. That old rat who is un-frightened or just plain deaf — it’s gone.

My weird neighborhood people — they are awake at night and asleep in the morning. I hear muffled grungy guitar exhibition in the midnight like a recital for the nocturnal spirits; I sip my coffee while a live acoustic session plays early in the morning — whoo-hoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo, who can ask me for more? — they’ve been practicing The Cardigans in a looped succession.

My weird neighborhood people — I belong to this place; a domicile I choose over pearly white walls and deafening silence.

—

Here’s Shake Yer Head by Eraserheads:

I was born upside-down
I felt my grandma put my feet on the ground
They put a spoon in my mouth
And everyone was shocked to hear me shout

Kalantiaw St., Cubao Quezon City, 8:10 A.M.

Flowering Macopa. It’s the season of Macopa and it showers the ground with flower-dust once again.

Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City, 8:23 A.M.

Reverse Painting. The man was painting the asphalt with black paint to contrast the white STOP sign painted on the ground.

EDSA near MRT Cubao Station, 8:36 A.M.

Solid R. Solid ride in this taxi.

Well I knew I couldn’t take all the dog food that they make
I’d just as soon as put myself on a stake and burn

EDSA near MRT Cubao Station, 8:36 A.M.

Lala-Mon. Jejemon’s gluttonous cousin.

Somewhere along EDSA, 8:37 A.M.

Express Makeup. I feel pree-tee… Women all around the public make up their faces while they commute.

I saw it comin’ around
I saw it comin’ around, yeah
I saw it comin’ around
So I just, yeah
Shook my head and walked away

EDSA near Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City, 8:38 A.M.

Red Light. Pedestrians waiting to cross EDSA.

EDSA, Cubao, Quezon City, 8:40 A.M.

J-Biel’s. Have you eaten at Jessica Biel’s Food Express?

EDSA and B. Serrano Ave., Quezon City, 8:44 A.M.

Nice Hat. Mr. Police officer, why smirking?

I grew up in a town
Where everybody tried to push me around
The girls were alright but the guys were tough
They’re always buggin’ me with macho stuff

EDSA and B. Serrano Ave., Quezon City, 8:44 A.M.

Bus is Crossing. Killer buses on the loose – it’s my breakfast news.

EDSA, 8:48 A.M.

Freedom. Ride the Kalayaan taxi and fly like a bird.

Well, I ain’t no stupid fighter
I go for flower power
I’ve been running every race
Just to save my face, yeah

EDSA, 8:48 A.M.

Terno. Sweet ride — arms wrapped around.

EDSA, 8:49 A.M.

Joy & Bebz. Appending a letter z to your name is equivalent to adding a letter h somewhere in the middle of it — only a little classy. Bhoy, Ghirlie, Jhun, Mhonette, Lhinda, Jhessie — you encountered these people at one point in your life.

EDSA, 8:50 A.M.

Chedeng. My grandfather used to own a white Mercedes-Benz 280S (or a related model). Since it was already worn-out from years of usage, we decided to jampack it with ten people to save up fare.

I saw it comin’ around
I saw it comin’ around, yeah
I saw it comin’ around
So I just, yeah
Shook my head and walked away

EDSA, 8:50 A.M.

Willy Boy. Everyone in Philippines has his or her Tito Willy and Kuya Willy.

EDSA, 8:50 A.M.

Big Wheel, Small Wheel. An attention-grabber for a Castrol GTX sludge protection oil advertisement.

EDSA, 8:50 A.M.

Learned. Maybe they mean “some lesson learned“.

Well, they try to see if you care
It’s just a matter of not begging for more
You know, it’s really suicidal to just give in
With people you can never really be sure

EDSA, 8:50 A.M.

Jebs. This taxi is always in a hurry. Jebs is the Filipino word for shit.

EDSA, 8:50 A.M.

Roll Down. Once, I threw a consumed cigarette out of a taxi; it bounced off the half-opened window, fell behind the backseat.

EDSA, 8:52 A.M.

If There is Smoke. Someone’s cooking (or burning dried leaves) under the flyover.

Oh-oh, when it gets down to this they’ll eat you up
When the words get in your head they’ll get you up
It’s a saving grace to have enough
When you find yourself in a compromising spot

EDSA near Ortigas Ave., 8:52 A.M.

MMDA Means. Marangal Matapat Disiplinado Ako (Honorable Honest Disciplined Me).

EDSA near Ortigas Ave., 8:53 A.M.

Towards. Walking while texting has, so far, not caused any casualties.

EDSA near Ortigas Ave., 8:53 A.M.

Bare. Street kid wandering around in his birthday shoes.

You should know, you shouldn’t take all that dog food that they make
You’d just as soon as put yourself on a stake and burn

MRT Ortigas Ave. station elevator, 8:56 A.M.

Button. All elevators in MRT stations are moving in turtle-speed.

MRT Ortigas Ave. station bridge, 8:56 A.M.

My Bed in the Middle. This is his territory.

From MRT Ortigas Ave. station, northbound, 8:58 A.M.

Well-groomed Guitar Man. He sings Rey Valera or Freddie Aguilar songs as people pass by.

You’ll see it comin’ around
You’ll see it coming, comin’ around
When you see it coming around
You just, yeah
Shake yer head and walk away

2011-02-17
Chikka Deals Website

2010-10-12
Biro o Loko

Alas-otso, paglabas ko tabing labasan ng Farmer’s may nasalubong akong mag-syota sa kanan, sabi, “‘To naman, binibiro lang kita.”

Kasabay nun meron naman mag-tropang mukhang mas bata kesa sa nauna, sabi, “Niloloko lang kita, hahaha.”

Biro o loko, parehong salitang pang-asar, pang-gago—sabay-bawi.

Originally published in facebook.com/briansahagun

2010-09-29
Mga nakadapang estudyante sa UP
Sumakay ako sa taxi kaninang umaga papasok sa trabaho, medyo bata pa yung drayber; siguro mga bente-singko.

Nagsimula akong kumuha ng litrato sa kanto ng B. Serrano at 20th ave.

Bandang Medical City, tinanong niya ako kung propesyon ko daw ba ang pagkuha, sabi ko hobby lang.

Medyo edukado ang tono ng boses niya.

Sabi niya, sa pag-da-drayb niya raw, marami na siyang nakikitang magandang kuhanan.

Kagaya raw ng:
- isang mataas na bakod
- may aso sa ibabaw
- may poste sa tabi
- kulay orange ang ulap
Sabi ko, sa pagda-drayb mo sigurado marami kang aksidente na nadadaanan, yun magandang kuhanan.

Sabi niya, hindi na raw siguro niya kukuhanan yun kung sakali.

Nagtanong siya kung mga magkano ang gamit kong Canon 550D, sabi ko nasa bandang kuwarenta.

Tinanong niya kung may kasama nang lente, sabi ko yung kit lens lang. Iba-iba rin ang gamit ng mga lente.

Binanggit niya na sa may UP daw, may mga estudyanteng nakadapa sa damo, kumukuha raw ng litrato ng bugs. Sabi ko macro yun.

Sabi ko, minsan maganda rin yung maliit lang na kasya sa bulsa para madaling dalhin. Kahit saan kapag may nakita kang magandang kuhanan, madaling kuhanan.

Isa pang nilarawan niya:
- matandang lalaki na nasa tumba-tumba
- sa likod ay isang lumang bahay
Sa isang larawan lang daw, maiku-kwento mo na ang isang maliit na istorya ng Pilipinas.

Tinanong ko siya kung kumukuha siya ng litrato.

Sabi niya hindi, dahil mahal ang camera.

Sabi ko, kumuha siya dahil may mga ideya siya.

Bunot ng isangdaan at limang piso, sabay baba.

Originally published in facebook.com/briansahagun
2010-09-28
Chikka Blog Website

2010-06-30
Reading “The Elements of Typographic Style” version 3.2 by Robert Bringhurst – Foreword

I remember requesting for this book to be added to the UI library after seeing it somewhere over the internet — it being a good starting point for the broad world of typography. It’s been sitting for a while now on our desk and it’s time to flip its pages.

As user interface designers, it is important for us to equip ourselves even with a slight familiarity of typography’s history. Wikipedia briefly defines typography as, “the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs.” Maybe we won’t get into modifying type glyphs but for sure, we’ll tinker with some types in Photoshop for those mock-ups later on.

If you use this book as a guide, by all means leave the road when you wish. This is precisely the use of a road: to reach individually chosen points of departure. By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately and well. That is one of the ends for which they exist. Source: Foreword, p. 10

Robert Bringhurst suggests no rules and restrictions in his book. “Use the book as reference and do your own thing,” he might say.

2010-04-22
Bus Ride

Riding the MRT is a tad too stressful already. For a change, I took the bus going home. It’s always a slow motion in these big ruckuses crawling their way past Robinson’s Galleria — a good time to steal some break in the rush.

(more…)

2010-04-05
Chikka Asia Company ID

2010-03-19
Magallanes to Cubao EDSA Challenge

How will you take home a bike you bought in Magallanes? Drive it.

(more…)

2010-03-13
Election Day (2010)

This was my second time to vote for this country’s president. In 2004, I placed my bet on GMA because she was cute.

I was watching TV before the election day. Not excited to vote at all. Why would I be? At first I was caught between Noy!Noy! and Gibo then between Gibo and Gordon; never saw a single Ja-Ja-Ja-Jamby commercial (thanks, god) but saw a Jinggoy commercial (heads horribly morphing into other heads) in the bus. Only the last minute before I slept did I think of checking my assigned precinct. COMELEC’s Online Precinct Finder was down so I used Google Precinct Finder. I was assigned to the same precinct as before — Ladislao Diwa Elementary School.

Ladislao Diwa Elementary School has some fine greeneries and old-style classrooms.

The rooms were segregated by barangay. The line towards our room was fairly normal even if we already got there at around 8 A.M. The heat was scorching, as usual, so the line created a gap — other people chose to stay in the shade rather than get roasted alive. There was an instance where an adult couple or magulang pretended to be looking for their names on the list tacked to the door — they stayed on the line as if they were ahead of a dozen fall-in-liners. The style.

Under the heat, voters waited for their turn to vote; others checked to see if they were registered.

A near-senior citizen man amused himself by reading a tabloid. (bottom) An article read, “Palace Has Plea.

I and my parents were behind the man reading a tabloid; he was approached by his companion and joked that he might as well go ahead and vote since he was already a senior citizen. The old man silently laughed as he was short of several years to senior citizenship.

The line wasn’t moving for fifteen minutes. People were already doing all sorts of things — hands in their pockets; fingers in their booger holes; imaginary drawings by their tiptoes; I, on the other hand, strolled around with my camera hanging by my shoulder. I peeked through the wooden jalousies of a classroom to see the voters keenly choosing which candidates to vote or maybe they were just keenly shading those tiny circles.

Outside Looking In” width=”660″ height=”506″>
(Top left) Voters who already cast their votes gathered outside for some chit-chat. (Right) The young woman was one of the first people to vote.

Cavite City Voters

Cavite City belongs to Region IV-A which is also known as CALABARZON (provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon). There are close to 64,000 registered voters in Cavite City according to Google Precinct Finder. Two of them were not on the list; we bumped into my uncle and his wife who were walking out of the precinct looking disappointed. They were upset that their names were not on the list even if they voted in 2004 National Election. There might have been mix-ups of voters and their assigned precincts.

Casting Their Votes

This was the first automated election in the country. Before, you had to cast your vote by writing the name of your chosen candidate and drop the ballot into the golden yellow ballot box. Now, all the names of the candidates were printed out — you just had to shade the circle beside the candicate of your choice. Some people might put a check on the circle and some might jot a dot so the government and several news networks launched campaigns to educate the public on the correct way of casting votes.

An advert informed the public on how to correctly shade the egg-shaped circle.

It was a good thing for the senior citizens to have fast lanes. Most of them who voted were accompanied by adults or children — anyone who could assist them in walking through crowds to reading the names of candidates.

A senior citizen sought for his name on the list with the help of his companion.

The elderly employed the help of her grandchild in reading the list of candidates.

(Left) The former barangay captain of Barangay 35 arrived in her wheelchair to cast her vote. (Top right) BEI chairperson, Arlene Carpio, examined a document. (Bottom right) My mother fed the ballot into the self-aware Smartmatic PCOS machine.

The official ballot looked like the sample ballot that was distributed weeks prior to the election day. Below, an indelible ink was applied to the right forefinger to mark the person as “voted”.

It was my turn after an hour and a half. The ballot was a long paper which awkwardly drooped to my lap as I awkwardly sat in a little kid’s classroom chair. Up to this point, I was pointing my marker to Gibo and Gordon, to and fro. As I shaded my choice, I noticed how easy it was to fill the circle with ink. The Smartmatic marker had a jagged-tip; with just three short strokes, there was no turning back.

I repeatedly counted if I already had twelve senators in my lineup; having more than twelve would invalidate my other votes in that category. For the local candidates, I was only here in Cavite City during weekends; I missed all the fuss of candidates campaigning, riding their vehicles and waving while their jingly-jangly campaign jingles were playing in the foreground — I mostly guessed my bets for city councilors.

Kids played ball as they waited for their parents to finish voting. (Bottom left) The bulk of trash came from print materials of candidates.

We were done voting in two hours. The area near the exit was peppered with flyers. Voters done with their businesses were still hanging out — maybe excited and waiting for the results. As I walked out, I left the immediate memory of the election and hoped that tomorrow would be a new day.

2010-03-10