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It has been 7 years

and it has come to this

A message in the morning

that ended everything

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COMEDY SHOWS!

MEDIA LITERACY GROUP BLOG

COMEDY SHOWS

Anything that’s funny, we Pinoys will surely love. We live with smiles and depression was not that familiar to our character. On the Long Run, comedy has shaped itself up as it evolves to different styles and approaches. What never changes was its goal, its intention to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film and stand-up comedy. For years, comedy shows have been catered to the Philippines Television as an escapist, a way to lighten up the burden that the people are dealing with. That is why Television Networks never stop bringing all their wildest ideas to life. From sitcoms to Gag shows and even live comedy shows with stand-up comedians. We can say that it was next to impossible for the people not to get their interest on these. Now, known as the three biggest and competing Networks in the Philippines, A short review of their present comedy shows was to be presented.

To start off, let us see what we can get from GMA 7. A bar set up comedy show and a gag show. “Comedy Bar” was a show counterpart of the top rating “Banana Split” of ABS-CBN. Although both have different focus their show comes to life with the bar set up, live band, audiences and different “gimiks”. What makes them not so alike was that comedy bar was hosted by singer comedian Allan K and comedian leading Lady Eugene Domingo accompanied and made lively by a band. The show also invites guest and shows scenes that exposes bikini bodies that was definitely not for children. Comedy Bar as the review shows reflects a much more mature role than other comedy programs. Wholesome and fun as defined but what we see is a bit boring for they have little to offer the people. And because the host cannot hold on to the program all time, they have to source out from their guest to keep the show alive.

Another piece of the network was Bubble Gang, a lone time running gag show lead by award winning comedian actor Michael V. It was known as the longest running gag show in the Philippines which appears every Friday at approximately 10:30 in the evening. It is much anticipated and watched because of its way of playing different roles of different real life situations which they perform as a spoof. What’s remarkable is what they do come out very much natural and funny. Though there were flaws they still managed to have focus. Funny and amazing that Bubble Gang made it in the history defeating past and present counterparts. But of course it’s not that easy to achieve a victory. Part of the programs’ task was to stay up by creating different segments. Some of those segments which we know people would recognize were “And Dating Doon” which was a spoof of a religious television show “Ang Dating Daan”. Another was a segment entitled “Sumbong Sumbong Kay Bonggang Bong-Bong” where it spoofs different reality TV shows from different stations. Bubble Gang keeps up with time and familiarity. They choose to spoof commercials that are being aired every day, the real life situations that most people encounter. A success is what you can see within Bubble Gang. A great mind surely celebrates behind. All in all what we can say was that though GMA now only has these two main comedy shows, their influence to people in terms of comedy still holds. Who doesn’t know Boy Pick Up? Who Knows?

Moving on to the next network was GMA’s top competitor, ABS-CBN. ABS-CBN has a full line-up of comedians whom they can entrust a show with so it is next to impossible for them to lose from other networks. First on its shows was “Going Bulilit”, a child friendly show with kids as host together with Dagul. Its set up was for the children to perform different roles. What most viewers love was that the fact that these kids act like adults and spills out lines that adults usually deal with. And since kids hosted the show, we can’t stop them from getting old so when a child turns thirteen they will have to graduate from the show. That was the challenge, to make a known child exit and let another child join with the interest of the people not deterring. Who says this is program not tough? It just blew away Bubble Gang Junior. For the shoe, we think that keeping the audience together with a child friendly mark was a big yes!

Next in line was “Banana Split”, the show which competes with GMA’s Comedy Bar. What different on them was that the program has several host and much more segments to offer. ABS-CBN made sure to get the best comedians together as a pack and then the show hit a high rating and shakes up the Network with its awards. It also offers more segments like showbiz spoofs, a contest for aspiring stand-up comedians entitled “Clown in a Million” sing and dance productions and role playing. What separates Banana Split from the others is that the more number of fresh girls seem to have the eyes of the viewers glued on them. As some say, “good looks sell, much more are the good bodies”. Though was funny about the show was more of the facial expressions of the host and not more of the content. Just take a look at Ryan Bang, and then this explains everything.

Gandang Gabi Vice, would you believe stands alone and tops with just the words of stand-up comedian Vice Ganda. The hilarious Punch lines of the host made a positive review which makes it extend from thirteen episodes to continuously airing up to now. It was a talk show with different unique guests to chat and laugh with. They some of the time get people as guest from the many you tube up loaders. Watching the show brings relaxation and happy mood to the people. What’s off was that the show airs airs for a short time. What’s risky was that the host was used to bad mouthing and double meaning jokes. And since there are times where they air live, the director cannot help but call the attention of the host not to spill out offensive words. If not warned, this show could have been given a warning or even a suspension and that’s whatthe show must focus on as the main problem.

A sitcom was to close the list for ABS-CBN ON its comedy shows. “Toda Max” as people know was a sitcom casted with the prominent comedians. It has a funny but touching story of the character of Robin Padilla. It was made fun by Pokwang, Jobert, Vhong Navarro and other comedians. It was a steady so-so program. It does not stand out but keeps audiences. All in all, ABS-CBN can say that it gets part of their high rating from these comedy shows.

Let us now move on to the last of the three networks, TV 5. First was their “Celebrity Samurai”, it was a celebrity comedy game show hosted by Joey De Leon s Prisipe Sutsut, Ruffa Mi as Kimonay, Wilma Doesn’t as Itimpura and Mr. Fu as Gaysha and broadcasted by the network every Sunday. It is a game show which features celebrities engaging in different challenges or obstacles administered by Prinsipe Sutsut. It was first known as Pinoy samurai catered for ordinary Pinoys and whoever wins can get up to 150,000 pesos in cash. Its games were entitled Sumo Kokana, Who wants to be a pritong Psychic, Angry Balls, Tsunami Chain, Pin the Tail on the Pig, Putok na Putok, Roulette Trap, Hiro Bato, Ana Tenga Tenga Mo, JapaJump and Apakya. With these we think that Celebrity Samurai thinks more of pure fun. People want to see their favorite celebrities on challenges and that’s what they give.

Next on their lineup was “The Jose and Wally Show Starring Vic Sotto”. It came from the networks’ LOL (Laugh or Lose) R U Kidding Me. It is a Philippine series starring the tandem of Jose and Wally with Vic Sotto. It revolves around the two has-been comedians whose shows are both being axed. Then they will meet their savior director Vic Sotto who will start a show featuring the two frenemies (friends and enemies). Then on and off the stage the two will try to upstage one another and prove who the better comedian host between them. Very Convincing and fun to watch, this casting was always up to improving themselves to be able to entertain the people. What’s good was that they gain all the popularity on different stations. They are in different shows in different networks but the performance is equal.

Moving on, From Lokomoko to Lokomoko High and then Lokomoko U. This program shows full casting and transition. What we can comment on this show was that their complete casting of comedians although not that popular of the other networks still give them a fight. It was like Eat Bulaga’s Bulagaan, full of crazy people and naughty ideas that the viewers will like. By Getting inspired by Wow Malis’ success, a semi gag show like Lokomoko gets to air every Friday night which moves to Wednesdays and finally got back to airing Fridays. Its many segments kept the people from getting bored of the show and the many casts make it like a big family gag show which supports the saying “the more the merrier”.

Another was “Toink: Sino Ang Tama” the newest addition of the network. A comedy game show aired every Sundays and hosted by Alex Gonzaga, Chris Tiu and Segment host Pretty Trisha. This was like a light comedy program which tries to bring out the giggly and funny sides of the host. This show challenges the charisma and talent of the stand-up comedian Pretty Trisha since he is the only comedian in the show. If not made fun and effective, this will just be another game show of the network. Too bad they lined it up in the comedy section.

At the end of the line was “Wow Mali”, the all time gag show hosted by Joey De Leon. Of all the comedy programs this one has been stapled to the Pinoys making them to either laugh to death or curse the show for making fun of them. Though not always on air, Wow Mali manages to get back to track twice. It tried to evolve as “Wow Meganon” co hosted by Mr. Fu but never lasted so Wow Malis’ original format came back. Who among the Pinoys doesn’t know Wow Mali?

See, bringing fun get’s the viewers and that’s what keeping these Networks to improve their shows. All three has their one strong show; Bubble Gang, Banana Split and Wow Mali which makes the competition fire.

By: Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

Hariet Myr Solamo

Florida Anne Pesimo

Ariel Perez

BCR 4-2

INTERNET E – xperience

Media Literacy

Blog no. 8

(That awkward moment when your family friend

commented on your post in FB,

not to mention your freakin’ stupid post)

I am a jolly, fun-loving, and a dynamic person. I have many friends, they all have different characteristics, some are nerd, some are naughty, some are nice and some are… ughh… ‘I don’t really know them’. I remember there is a time that social networking sites invade the humanity! Exaggerating? No, I’m just stating the fact, even until now. Hahahahaha. Social networking sites suddenly become a hit and almost all people have their own accounts, the most popular is “Facebook”. I do have my Facebook account too; I just create my account just to say that I have one. After I signed up, I never open it gain… honestly, I don’t know how to use it because at that time I am enjoying my friendster account (hahaha) Days passed by, and I realized that my friendster friends vanished one by one, and I figured out that it’s all because they are all started using Facebook. And because they use facebook instead of friendster, I opened my FB account and started to add my friends and to accept friend requests…. That is just to be IN. hahahahaha. And that’s my biggest mistake, to add friends and accept friend request without even thinking if I really know them in person or not. What I have in mind is to have friends as many as I can.

Okay. I accepted friend requests, my elementary friends, high school friends, college friends, kindergarten friends, my crush, acquaintances, my sister’s friends, my friend’s friends, my boyfriend’s friends, my boyfriends’ relatives, and my family friends. And because I am a fun-loving person, I usually post jokes on my wall, I added funny photos and have funny and idiot-like-conversations with my friends.

There was a time that my father’s friend added me, and I accepted him. That time, I am having a hilarious, freaking, funny conversation with my high school friend; he is Mark Jayson Apo, he is a jerk, and when I say jerk, he really says below the belt jokes, but it is fine with me because we always have this kind of conversation at school. One red sign in my notification area ruined my mood, my father’s friend commented. He said, “Venus, I never expect to hear such words from you”, and I was like OMG, OMG… hahahaha, “Ang papa mo, nirerespeto sya sa pagsasalita tapos ikaw, nagsasalita ka ng ganyan” he added, I don’t really know why he is so angry about that, but later on I guessed it’s my fault, he is a middle-age man, and maybe he is not fond with that kind of conversation, he also don’t know me and my friend, he don’t know that we are friends and that conversation is a normal thing for us, but not for him. I apologized and I explained that we are just teasing each other. And I never commented again. I immediately change my privacy settings. I always think who my facebook friends are before I post something and before I start conversation with them.

What I post in Facebook stays in Facebook and anyone can see and can read it. After that incident, I started to become aware and vigilant. And until now, I always think before I click. Hahahaha. That is the awkward moment when my family friend commented on my post in FB, not to mention my freakin’ stupid post.

By: Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

BCR 4-2

World Wide Web Experience

#Internet Experience #Experience #Awkward Experience #Facebook Experience #relatives #commenting #comment #world wide web experience #www #FB #mentioning

Let's view the Preview Magazine

A Review of Preview Magazine

Media Lit. Blog no. 6

COVER:

Preview Magazine is a fashion magazine and was known as the Philippines' best-selling fashion magazine, therefore it always have a cover of people who were involve in the same industry, a model, fashion designer, personalities and the like. In its September issue, which is the subject of my paper, they have Danica Magpantay for the cover, she is a professional model. The front page also contains about their eye-catching titles of every article.

Looking at the cover, well, you can easily tell that this magazine is for fashion, not because of the sub-title “fashion magazine” but because of how they choose their cover for the month. When I first look at the cover, I was like “oh! Danica Magpantay, sya yung nasa globe advertisement ah” so she was this famous. I love the color of the front page, it is not that colorful but you can easily notice the elegance of the black and white color combination and the beautiful model, Danica. Through its cover, it catches my eye.

BODY:

The September issue of Preview magazine has 168 pages. And majority of these pages are pictures, picture of designer and their creations, their models, their fashion shows etc. At first, I think that Preview magazine is rich in text, but I’m wrong. If there are words in the magazine, it’s for the caption of the picture. Almost half of every pages of the magazine is allotted for the pictures. I saw minimal words and stories. They also feature Danica Magpantay’s success in modeling, they have stories there.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The first and last 15 pages of the Magazine is advertisement, clothing lines, shoes, bags, etc. They have lots of advertisements. They also have advertorials, they tell facts and opinions about a particular product and later on they promote it. I can easily tell if their editorial is an advertorial, but I have the power If I were accept or absorb what the advertorial is trying to inject to their readers.

CONVERGENCE OF PREVIEW MAGAZINE

Everything now is online, and even Preview Magazine has its own online counterpart, and it is the sylebible.com, the site focuses on the latest in local and global fashion, fashion shows, parties, and trends just like in the magazine. The site has a distinct Filipino flavor, showcasing local trends, brands, and products and championing local design talent. Readers can enjoy an interactive interface-getting expert advice for their style and beauty conundrums from Personal Stylist; playing a role in electing a member of Preview's annual Best-Dressed List by voting for their favorite Style Star; and even being featured through Trendspotting and the various party galleries.

StyleBible.ph is equipped towards accessibility with product-packed article galleries that serve as the ultimate shopper's guide; a comprehensive designer, shop, and service directory; plus an email and print this page function for your convenience. The site also plays host to an exclusive virtual bazaar, The Mall, which houses emerging fashion labels who are the cream of the crop in terms of online shopping today. StyleBible.ph supplements your style cravings as you wait for the next issue of Preview to hit the stands.

Convergence in magazine seems to be pervasive today; they improved their services just to attract more viewers/readers. It is indeed that being mixed up with the speed of internet and the instant feedback that readers can provide, boosts the magazines income. They cater more advertisements. Even in their opinions, they have different advertorials of different products they advertise. But having so many advertisements, they neglect to put some words.

By: Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

BCR 4-2

#Preview magazine review #preview magazine #cover review #stylebible

“It is not just paper, it is NEWSPAPER”

The uniqueness of different

tabloids and broadsheets

in the Philippines

Media Lit. Blog# 5

A newspaper is a printed publication which is published and sold at regular intervals. Its main purpose is to provide news for its readers. The paper also tries to explain what the news means, so it prints comments and opinions. Another purpose is to entertain and teach with photographs, cartoons and other interesting features. (J. Cruz, 1997) Most newspapers are printed on grainy, lightweight paper, called newsprint, which comes in one of two sizes. Broadsheet newspaper pages measure 33 cm by 55 cm (13 in by 21.5 in). The pages of tabloid newspapers measure about 25 cm by 37 cm (10 in by 14.5 in). The term tabloid is sometimes used to refer to newspapers that carry stories about celebrities, crime, or scandal under sensationalized headlines. However, any kind of newspaper can be printed on tabloid-sized pages. (Microsoft Encarta, 2009)

In the Philippines, there are more than 60 circulating newspapers, there are nearly 21 newspapers in Tagalog language, 45 in English, and the other are bilingual newspapers. I have here five lucky tabloids and three broadsheets, all January 26, 2012 issue. And I will do my best just to figure out what makes each every newspaper unique, be it tabloids or broadsheets.

Comparison of five different tabloids in the Philippines, January 26, 2012 issue

First we have the ABANTE, “Una sa balita”, with their vision and mission,

"To be the leading and trend setting tabloid in the newspaper industry, ran by highly and technologically creative and innovative Filipino workers, committed and dedicated to serve readers by providing credible and accurate news reports and stories."

ABANTE is owned by Mr. Allen A. Macasaet. It is written in Tagalog, but there are instances that they use English phrases. It has 16 pages with a banner headline about CJ Corona Impeachment Trial, it also has a box about the Day 6 of the impeachment trial. On the Front page, there are no news stories yet, they only emphasized their important headlines, and it’s all about CJ Corona, S.P. Juan Ponce Enrile, Sec. Ronald Llamas, Pacquiao, about Actress Heart Evangelista, the Bourne legacy, and a shooting incident. There is a big picture that almost covered the 1/4th part of the tabloid and it’s all about the impeachment trial again. Their Editorial Section is divided into three columns, and its editorial proper is also about the impeachment trial. They have a small rectangular masthead located below its editorial proper, its masthead is smaller than other tabloids that occupied almost two columns of the page, though it is hard to find, at least they gave space for more important news than their names. Aside from their Classified Ads, it only has one product advertisement and it is “CHOWKING”. It seems that ABANTE features news that is timely, significant, and with prominent people involved just like there Banner Headline, CJ Corona’s Impeachment Trial. I can say that ABANTE, with less advertisement, give important news and provides information, comment and guidance that is useful to its readers. ABANTE has 7 columns that I found it hard to read, the fonts are so small, people with eye problem will have difficulty to read it.

I can say ABANTE is UNIQUE for having less advertisement.

Second Tabloid is Abante TONITE “Mabilis sa Balita”, it is also owned by Mr. Allen A. Macasaet, ABANTE and Abante TONITE shared the same vision and mission. It has 12 pages, less than ABANTE with 16. Its banner headline is about unusual holdup that last for only one minute, it also has headlines about CJ Corona’s Impeachment Trial, but it is not their main headline. It has fewer parts compared to ABANTE, it also allotted more space for jokes and texmates, and celebrities compared to the space given to news stories. Same with the ABANTE, it also has one product advertisement “CHICBOY”. It has one page for editorial column, its editorial proper is also about the trial, but on the other story, it’s about the strictness of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. It also has small masthead. I think it has small masthead just to give space for more entertainment and fun. Unlike the ABANTE, Abante TONITE is not rich in news stories, maybe because its mother tabloid has already featured it. It focuses more on the city news, celebrities, and entertainment.

If you are looking for textmates, want to play games, puzzles and comics, Abante TONITE is must-have, because I think it is the uniqueness of this particular tabloid.

Third in line is the BALITA, “Ang Nangungunang Pahayagang Tagalog sa Bansa”. It is owned by Dr. Cris J. Icban, same with ABANTE, it also has 16 pages, but it has five columns and has larger texts. The Front page consist of only one headline and also its banner headline, it’s about the support of senate’s majority bloc assuring that Enrile will not be out in the season. It also has jump story about America’s support on anti-outsourcing bill on the front page. Its Editorial proper is not about the Impeachment trial, but about the Autism Consciousness Week. It has a very large masthead, It is the same size of the editorial proper, it occupied half of the page. It has an advertisement promoting Manila Bulletin, maybe because they are in the same party. It has more than three advertisements promoting different business, movies, and other newspapers. It has public notices, bidding announcements and legal notices. I think this newspaper gives more space for announcements. It is good to know that it has larger texts than other newspapers, but they lack rich stories compared to other tabloids.

Public announcement is BALITA’s uniqueness; it has more space for announcements than news, editorials and the like.

Second to the last tabloid is the Pilipino Star NGAYON, “Dyaryong Disente ng Masang Intelihente,” a tabloid style newspaper published in the national language. It is headed by Miguel G. Belmonte. Other publications are The Philippine STAR, one of the leading English broadsheets in the country; Freeman, Cebu's oldest English language newspaper; Banat, a tabloid published in Cebuano; and People Asia Magazine, which profiles personalities in the Philippines and the region. It is 16 pages tabloid. On the front page, its banner headline is about a massacre, city news, it uses odd words in headlines, and sometimes it uses catchy words, to get the interest of the readers. It is noticeable that there is an advertisement of Jolibee at the lower portion, and also a comic picture about the impeachment trial. Its Editorial proper is about Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile started the Day 5 of impeachment Trial in speaking Tagalog, in the lower part, it has a very small masthead, it saves space because maybe, there were more advertisements and celebrity news that will take place on other part of the newspaper. It has 7 columns with smaller texts same with the ABANTE, on the editorial page it became 3 columns up to the last pages. They have plenty of advertisements compared to ABANTE and BALITA, they feature movies, lots of entertainment and news about celebrities. And on the last page, Sun Cellular’s advertisement occupied the whole page. Well, Ngayon has rich stories, celebrity news, entertainment and advertisement, I think it is a financially sound, strong and independent publication and one that is competitive with other media, because it has effective advertising and promotion departments. I think NGAYON with city news as banner headline reports fully and explain the meaning of local, national and international events, which are of major significance to its own community.

I can say that Advertising, city and entertainment news is NGAYON uniqueness among the other Tabloids.

Going to the 5th Tabloid, the People’s Journal “Everybody’s Newspaper” It is headed by Mr. Augusto Villanueva, it is a 16 pages tabloid. It uses English language. On the front page, there banner headline is about Corona’s ITRs being Bared. It has box about Pichay’s LWUA and same with the NGAYON, it has advertisement on the lower part of the front page “CHICBOY”. Its layout is similar to ABANTE, with an almost 1/4th picture about the banner headline covering the front page. Its news stories on the second page are 7 columns, and have too small texts. Their Editorial proper is not about their banner headline but bout the Mobile Classrooms; it also has a very small masthead located right below the editorial proper. It has rich celebrity news. It also has Health features. It has a large Globe advertisement on the last page occupying the whole page. It is good to know that there is tabloid that is in English language, so that people will learn and boost their language skills upon reading it and it caters not only Pilipino but foreigners too.

I can conclude that Using another language is People’s Journal UNIQUNESS among other tabloids, it’s their part of their internationalization.

If you think I’m done, hohoho, not yet, I still have three Broadsheets to analyze.

First Broadsheet is the Manila Bulletin “The Nation’s leading Newspaper”. It is headed by Dr. Cris J. Icban, also the Editor-in-chief of BALITA tabloid. It has four categories, A-B-C-D, A is 18 pages and is all about the local and foreign news, editorial, sports news. B is about Business bulletin, it is 11 pages, it includes classified ads, business news, obituaries. C is about Lifestyle and leisure, and is 8 pages. D is about entertainment, movie guides and shows, and is 8 pages. I can say that Manila Bulletin is complete with whatever you need to find, it also has a tabloid size classified ads. On its front page, its banner headline is also about Corona’s impeachment trial, it covers also significant news, timely and also with prominent people involve. It treats the news the way it should be treated, no biases. It feeds the people with information. Same with BALITA, its editorial proper is also about the 16th Autism Consciousness week. News and comments of most immediate interest and importance to the local community have priority here, it has space for news stories that the public needs. It also has great number of advertisements which make the newspaper circulate.

I can say that Manila Bulletin’s complete news information is its UNIQUENESS among other broadsheets.

Second Broadsheet is the The Philippine Star “The Truth Shall Prevail”. Headed by Mr. Isaac G. Belmonte, and is also divided in categories, A-B-C, A is about local, national and world news, opinions. B is about business news, C is about the entertainment, and D is about Lifestyle. On its front page, the banner headline is also about Corona’s impeachment Trial, it also has local and foreign news. Its Editorial proper is about Tourism “it’s more fun in the Philippines”. Its masthead is not as large as Manila bulletin, it is just right for the page. It’s also has great number of advertisements. The information given by this broadsheet is just right. It prints all important news and provides information, comment and guidance that is most useful to its readers.

I can say that Philippine Star’s simple but helpful format is its UNIQUENESS among other broadsheets.

The Last Broadsheet is the Philippine Daily Inquirer “Balanced News; Fearless Views”. It is headed by Eugenia Apostol. It has the same categories as Manila Bulletin and Philippine star. It’s just that, it is thicker than the two. On the front page, its banner headline is about Corona’s impeachment trial too. Its Editorial proper is about Land reform. It has advertisements, all over the newspaper. It also tackles about the Chinese New Year. It also features lots of health and lifestyles articles.

I think Philippine Daily Inquirer’s rich feature articles are its UNIQUENESS among other broadsheets.

BY: Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

BCR 4-2 Media Literacy Blog #

#Tabloids review #philippines tabloids

Review: The Purpose Driven Life

"To Read, is to Absorb; to Absorb, is to be changed"

The Purpose Driven Life: Baby Review

(Media Lit. Blog # 4)

It’s a sunny afternoon when I caught myself staring at the trees outside our house, and I don’t know why I am staring at those trees amidst the noisy and hot environment, I just came into conclusion that those trees are talking to me reminding me that I have many things to do and I have to meet deadlines, and upon reminding by those trees, I quickly looked for my bag, take out my things and sit… and begun to stare at those trees again and said, “so what…. Don’t you like it me staring at you?”

And Oh! Upon internalizing that I do really have deadlines, I decided to work on it and started to gaze at the white blank page on the monitor’s screen. I need to make a book review of any kind, sad to say, we only have to kinds of books at home, textbooks, and religious books, (ever wonder why?? We have lots of textbooks because my siblings are in grade school, and we have plenty of religious books because my father is a preacher) I found it hard to choose what to review. I wanted to read Todd Burno’s “Heaven is for Real”, unfortunately, it only has 163 pages. With my father’s encouragement and my uncle’s power to persuade, they made a decision that I need to read Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven life” And that’s what I did and started my Book review.

Review of Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life”

“Make sure you’re not missing the point of your life – read this book! The purpose driven life will guide you to greatness – through living the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.”

– Billy Grahan and Franklin Graham

“If you only read book on what life is all about – make it this one! This book is life-changing. Rick Warren is absolutely brilliant at explaining our real purpose on earth and stating profound truths in simple ways. Give this book to everyone you care about. Believe e, you’ll never be the same after reading this! What a gift!”

- Lee Strobel, Author, The Case for Christ

These are some comments of the people who were impressed by the book “The Purpose Given Life”, and these comments are also printed at the back of the book. With that comments, first-timers would think that the book is really a “life changing book”, and then they will try reading it. The purpose Driven Life had been a bestseller, it was released in 2002 and over 16 million copies were sold. The book has been on the New York Times best seller list for advice books for one of the longest periods in history.

“Ang librong ito ay inireregalo sa mga tao, lalo na sa mga nakakulong, mga wala ng patutunguhan sa buhay, dahil pagkatapos nila basahin ito ay mayroon silang nakikitang dahilan para magpatuloy pa mabuhay”, this was my father’s view when I asked him about the book, well, what made my father rely to the book so much, I said before that he was a preacher, and I think, he and the author of the book somehow, share the same opinions. But who was the author of the book first?

Dr. Rick Warren is passionate about attacking what he calls the five “Global Goliaths” – spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His goal is a second Reformation by restoring responsibility in people, credibility in churches, and civility in culture. He is a pastor, global strategist, theologian, and philanthropist. He’s been often named " America's most influential spiritual leader" and “ America’s Pastor.”

As a pastor, he founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., in 1980 with one family. Today, it is an evangelical congregation averaging 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus, and has more than 300 community ministries to groups such as prisoners, CEOs, addicts, single parents, and those with HIV/AIDS. Recently, the church fed 42,000 homeless people – three meals a day – for 40 days.

He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. More than 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide, and almost 157,000 church leaders subscribe to Ministry Toolbox, his weekly newsletter. His previous book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20 th Century.” Forbes magazine called it, “The best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print.”

As a global strategist , Dr. Warren advises leaders in the public, private, and faith sectors on leadership development, poverty, health, education, and faith in culture. He has been invited to speak at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the African Union, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, TIME’s Global Health Summit, and numerous congresses around the world. TIME magazine named him one of “15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004” and in 2005 one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Also, in 2005 U.S. News & World Report named him one of “ America’s 25 Best Leaders”.

As a theologian, Dr. Warren has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Judaism, the Evangelical Theological Society, and numerous seminaries and universities. His six books are known for explaining theology in understandable ways and have been translated into more than 50 languages. Dr. Warren says he teaches theology without using theological terms and telling people it is theology. His latest book, The Purpose Driven Life, has sold 25 million copies and is the best-selling hardback book in American history, according to Publisher’s Weekly.

The Warrens designate 90 percent of their royalty income to charity through Acts of Mercy Foundation, which serves people living with HIV/AIDS and trains leaders in developing countries. Acts of Mercy Foundation primarily supportsThe Global PEACE Plan through Saddleback Church which fights poverty, disease, corruption, and illiteracy through local congregations.

(http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/AboutUs/AboutTheAuthor/AboutTheAuthor.htm)

I think, having that kind of experience, Rick Warren is credible of writing and giving advices, especially his insights about life, and because Dr. Warren is a Pastor and a Theologian, he has knowledge of what is bible all about, and besides there are so many religions and all of them are boasting that their interpretation of the Bible is correct, for those who doubt, well, no one can ever say that you are right or wrong, let’s wait until the judgment day, as long as we do good to others and to our self, that way, we’ll not have regrets when we die.

Rick Warren designed the book as a forty day spiritual journey, one chapter per day, and at the end of the chapters, the goal is for you to answer the question “What on earth Am I here for?” It can be the reader’s journal; instead of they are the ones to write they will read each chapter a day. He also gives bible verses at the end of every chapter for the readers to reflect.

I actually want this book to be read by my other classmates, though I am not able to answer the question, I think, some other time, I will be able to answer it. Right now, I just want to live the life I used to, and that is to live it like my parents do, as I said earlier my father is a preacher, somehow, Rick Warren and my father share same outlook in life, which is according to the Bible, which I am used to.

(my messy desk...)

- Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

BCR 4-2

“Caught on PosThings”

“Think before you Click”

to prevent being

“Caught on Posting”.

(Media Literacy Blog number 3)

“Woah! Did he really attended the party while people were dying???”, this was my initial reaction upon reading the article “While nation mourns Sendong's dead, Aquino partying with actresses in Palace?” of Joseph Holandes Ubalde posted at InterAksyon.com. This issue is a serious matter that shocked thousands of Filipinos who were able to read Valerie’s posts on her microblogging site, Twitter. Well, I am not supposed to comment on this issue but I can’t help myself because I am also a Filipino, a concerned one. What I want to say is, the President is the most powerful person in our country, and what I mean with powerful is, with his one word, all of his colleagues without any questions will do whatever he says, and at that time, when the country needed him the most, (a single appearance will do) he is missing, he is partying (well, nothing’s wrong with partying, but the situation is.) Yes, I am aware that he is a human too, but with his position, he should not think more than twice but to be there in the place and give orders to whomever is responsible to act. That’s my little comment on the issue, but, the damage has been done, what we can do now is to prevent that those things (partying while there is a calamity) will never happen again, the same with the tragedy, I pray.

Okay, I just released my sentiment. Oh, let me introduce you to the figure below (I am not so sure if you’ll accept it as figure.) This was my guide in doing this assignment.

As I understand, Pnoy’s partying would not be revealed if Valerie Concepcion did not post it on her twitter account, well, others knew about the event even without valerie’s post, but they are only few and only those government officials, and here it comes, lots of people knew it when she posted it, and she is an actress who has followers who will check her post time by time, and there comes the “Boom!” everybody knew it, “HURRAY!” It became the talk of the town with lots of negative effects to those people involved, especially President Noynoy Aquino.

Media (in the form of social networking) is so powerful. Everybody has an access to it and everybody will know what everybody is posting. (Not unless you change your account settings and make all your posts private.) Even a single person through social networking has the power to make/create rumors, topics, and the like; in this case, what Valerie posted made herself and another person in trouble, or in misunderstanding. Through social networking, one post is equal to thousands of readers, and thousands of readers is equal to a bunch of comments, and those comments could be positive or negative, in this case, majority are negative, and also with negative feedback to the society and to the way of ruling to this country. And all these things can be happen even in just wink of an eye, it is so fast, everybody can give their comments within seconds, and that is the power of social networking.

There is “Think before you Click”, a GMA-7 advocacy in using social networks, for us, users, to prevent these things (the issue above)to happen, it’s not harmful if we’ll keep this phrase in mind, just think before we click, and everything will be in the right place where they belong. But it’s also a good thing that people knew about the partying “thing”, people are aware of what is happening around the country, it’s just that, it created lots of rumors. Just “Think before you Click” to prevent being “Caught on Posting”.

>> Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

BCR 4-2

Safe and Blissful Holiday Season

“Media didn’t take its Holyday Vacation”

Media Literacy Blog no. 2

Sweets, foods, new stuffs, rest, have fun – these are the things that a normal person expects for his/her Holiday break. And I am a normal person, so I expected them and fortunately, had enjoyed my holiday vacation. It is 20th of December when I started my long, long vacation, where? Well, in our very own home with my family, relatives and friends.

I am a Catholic by blood and by faith, and the most awaited season for us, is the Christmas season, the Christmas day. It’s 22nd of December when I, with my friend, Charissa, decided to go to Divisoria, (a place where you can buy stuffs for cheap prices, but you should be physically and mentally fit for you to withstand the place for there are lots of people scattering everywhere) We knew that there were be a lot of people there because it is Christmas season and also it is on the news. We went there to buy presents for our love ones. It is a very long and tiring day, and in the end we were able to buy the things that we want. I have six siblings, and I want to give them presents for a change, because last years, I never gave them presents, I am not stingy, I’m just thrifty :D Buying gifts is so complicated; I just bought what I think they need, and for my younger brother, a 6 year-old boy, I bought an Angry Bird T-shirt because Angry bird is his favorite game, he was so addicted to it that he even memorizes the sound and actions of every character of the game. Having said, I was thankful for that game because I knew that my brother will like what I bought for him. I wrapped the gifts and waited for 3 more days for Christmas Day. When the big day comes, we were so excited to open our gifts; we first ate our mini Noche Buena that my mother prepared, she cooked the everlasting spaghetti, pancit, biko, ham, and adobo. She wanted to cook carbonara she saw on TV but because she bought the ingredients last minute before the noche Buena and there were so many people in the market, she wasn’t able to buy and cook it. We played Pinoy Henyo that we saw in Eat Bulaga, my brothers were dancing Teach me how to Dougie, because it’s the top hit for the month and in you tube, they even memorized the steps and the chorus of the song. I think media influenced our Christmas celebration, from the presents and to the games we had. Oh, I forgot to mention, I received a blouse and a pillow, hohohoho….

This was our Christmas Tree...

Six more days and it will be New year’s day, everybody was excited for the year to end, and to welcome 2012, we all knew that when New year comes, lots of people buy fireworks, firecrackers, and the like, and along with that, the government always reminding us to welcome the new year safely. As seen in the news and commercial, our family did not have any firecrackers, besides we don’t have budget for that, hehehe; we just make noise out of torotot, yelling, karaoke and empty gallons. The Department of Health’s slogan for 2011’s campaign was “APIR! Aksyon: Paputok Injury Reduction”, this advocacy that was kept on airing days before the year ends has a great impact to my younger brother, he said that he will not go outside because he is now afraid to lose his fingers or any part of his body, and also my grandmother always scared him not to go outside, and we also followed what the advocacy tells, we used alternatives for making noise. We went outside when it is already morning, and we saw lots of smog, we can’t breathe, it seemed to be a ghost town. And we celebrated New Year safe and sound, though we heard in the news that still, there are lots of harmed people because of firecrackers and other explosives, we even heard that it caused fires. We thank God that no one from our family gets hurt, and also we thank God for giving us another year to live with Him in our hearts.

This was Last year's New Year celebration...

Oh! I just want to share this experience of mine… hehehehe. I have best friends who are so active, and when I say “Active”, they are so energetic that can do anything even hilarious things, we saw this promo on television, the “Kapusong Pasko na” promo, at first, we did not even pay attention to it, but our mind changed after we heard of the prize money that is 150, 000 pesos for the first prize, 75,000 second prize, 50,000 third prize and 15,000 consolation prize, we aimed for the first prize. (We were so arrogant that we expect to win the first prize, hahahahaha) We made our entry video and guess what, we didn’t win! Hahahahaha! It’s okay, at least we had fun making the entry, and it became part of my Holiday experience, to relate in my subject matter, we saw it on the television; it has a great impact on us, especially the reward money! Again, that was a great experience to expect to win, and lost….that’s life, instead of giving up, we will join other promos for our revenge. Hahahaha.

We were like this doing the video... shameless.

GMA GMA Kapusong Pasko na,

Kame’y nandito na

Aalalay sa inyo

Pasko ay para sa lahat

Umuusbong ang saya...

Salo salo kapuso halika!

Oras na, makipagkapwa!

(kapuso!)

GMA GMA kapusong pasko na!

- This was our entry song, we composed the lyrics.

Indeed, media influenced my holiday vacation, from songs we sung, foods we ate, games we played, and many, many more. Media is everywhere, media informs us, educates us, entertain us, and persuades us, but, we are still the ones to decide what to believe in everything that media is giving us. It is thinking before accepting or before putting it into action. And again, I quote, “Media didn’t take its Holyday Vacation!” because it is everywhere!

>> Venus Rabbi P. Nadate

BCR 4-2

Media Literacy: Muted Group Theory

Muted Group theory,

“Please tone down your voice; I have something to tell"

- From the voice of a muted writer

(and then I was snob.)

Cheris Kramarae based the Muted Group Theory from Shirley and Edwin Ardener’s work in 1975, “Perceiving Women” in which they made the observation that most other cultural anthropologists practicing ethnography in the field were only talking to the leaders of the cultures, who were generally adult males. From that, Kramarae concluded that communication was created by men and allows them to have an advantage over women. She states that, “The language of a particular culture does not serve all its speakers equally, for not all speakers contribute in an equal fashion to its formulation. Women (and members of other subordinate groups) are not as free or as able as men are to say what they wish, because the words and the norms for their use have been formulated by the dominant group, men.” (Griffin, p. 454-465)

Muted Group Theory begins with the premise that language is culture bound, and because men have more power than women, men have more influence over the language, resulting in language with a male-bias. Men create the words and meaning for the culture, allowing expression of their ideas. Women, on the other hand, are left out of this meaning creation and left without a means to express that which is unique to them. That leaves women as a muted group. The Muted Group Theory rests on three assumptions (Oregon State):

Men and women perceive the world differently because they have different perception shaping experiences. Those different experiences are a result of men and women performing different tasks in society.

Men enact their power politically, perpetuating their power and suppressing women's ideas and meanings from gaining public acceptance.

Women must convert their unique ideas, experiences, and meanings into male language in order to be heard.

Given the definition of the Muted Group theory, I personally agree that this theory is present in our society. For me, the women are not oppressed, but they are doing things in the shadow of male’s domination.

In our home, the father is the one responsible for making his family financially stable, and the mother is for nurturing their children, it is the evidence that men and women perceive the world differently because they have different experiences, because of the different tasks they were involved to, not to mention that we have this kind of setting in our home.

Let’s just take a look in our government; we have 15 presidents since the day of our independency, and only 2 of the presidents were female, it is the evidence that male dominates the leadership in the Philippines base on the political power. Another is, the 10 most powerful businessmen in our country (2004) are all male, they were The Lopez clan, Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr., Mike Velarde, The Zobel-Ayala clan, Gozon and Duavit familes, Manuel "Manny" Pangilinan, The Aboitiz clan, FIRST GENTLEMAN Jose Miguel Arroyo, Luis "Cito" Lorenzo Jr. and Lucio C. Tan, respectively. (Wilson Lee Flores, 2004) This supports that male dominates even businesses in our country. I have this experience while taking my internship, the boss of our supervisor is a male, and my supervisor is a female, my supervisor is always busy that she can’t even have the time to notice me. There is a time that she has to rush things because of her boss’ order, she stand to make her point, her boss is listening but at the end, he didn’t approve what my supervisor said, this support that men enacts politically, perpetuating their power and suppressing women's ideas and meanings from gaining public acceptance.

Yes, we have now feminist groups that protect the rights of women, like Gabriela, but we are not talking here about who oppress them or not. The assumption is that Women must convert their unique ideas, experiences, and meanings into male language in order to be heard. The group Gabriela, I think, before they can be heard by the mass, they do all things like how men do it, they engaged themselves in politics, they rally, they make voices when asked. They used male language in order to be heard.

“GABRIELA was formed in 1984 and adhered to the national-democratic brand of feminism. There are now roughly 200 organizations under its umbrella from all over the country. They represent second-wave feminism in the Philippines and epitomize the new militant nature of feminist activism. Many women who join GABRIELA (like the Filipino “comfort women”) have not been given the opportunities for higher education, but the songs, demonstrations, and workshops introduce them to ideas and history. This group of feminists challenges cultural constructions of the feminine as wife and mother. Their workshops directed at women from all classes succeeded in developing a feminist consciousness. (Women in World History, 2002)

Nowadays, men and women are now being said in an equal status, women now have the rights like what men had, they work for living, they engaged themselves in sports, like boxing, they even became leaders of our society. But what makes women be like that? It is because they want to uplift themselves, they want to be heard, because they tend to be in the shadows of men, and they are the reason why woman now are strong like men these days.

References:

Griffin, E. (2009). A First Look At Communication Theory. 35, 454-465. Retrieved Dec. 16, 2011, from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm321/gwalker/Culture-Gender.htm

Muted Group Theory. (Dec. 2011). Wikipedia. Retrieved Dec. 16, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muted_group_theory

Wilson Lee Flores. (2004). 10 Most Powerful Businessmen in the Philippines. PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE Retrieved Dec. 16, 2011, from http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/si/si001807.htm

Women in World History. (2002). GABRIELA. Retrieved Dec. 16, 2011, from

http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/p/122.html

I used to be a painter... I used to be a writer... I used to express myself in a canvass... But I know these kind of things won't last... ..How I wish I could touch you.. ..How I wish I could make some kind of you... - from a voice of a frustrated painter.

...just want to share this.

It makes me remember those days of troubles and sacrifices.

But in the end of the day, we all have big smile on our faces.

♥BAR♥CA♥DA♥CA♥JA♥VA♥MA♥BOW!

B eing in this kind of FRIENDSHIP is a precious thing,

Everyone's in the mood specially when we're singing! ♪♪♪

A lways finding everybody's actions and mistakes,

And later on we'll find out that it's a real fake!

Rare attitudes you will never know,

You're one of their victims as they start the show!

C elebrating the occasion when someone's sad,

And mourning the joy when someone's glad.

Adding happiness to my damned simple life,

Multiplying the joy to achieve the twilight!

D ividing the fun for everybody's sake,

Subtracting the sorrow when someone's ached.

A ppreciation is the key to happiness,

But for us, criticizing is the best!

C ramming when the deadline is coming,

But for us, the key is drinking!

A h! haa haa! the best laugh we've ever had,

'Cause there is something for us to be glad!

(haa haa haa haa!!!)

J ust imagine what life would be,

If I don't have you guys beside me,

A gony and sadness, oh my gulay!

Oh, it sucks! as if I'm going to die...

VENUS RABBI is my adorable name,

My friends JHEN, EM , DK , TINA , CHA , what a shame!

A lways giving attention and to much caress,

We don't have here bessy, bessier and bessiest!

Memorable friendship I found in you,

With you guys, all i can say is Thank You...

A bliss of solitude and wonderful hues,

My lips hung with the phrase...

♥♥♥" I LOVE YOU!!!"♥♥♥

-BARCADACAJAVAMA ... BOW ...!♥♥♥♥

♥♥BARCADACAJAVAMA♥♥♥♥BARCADACAJAVAMA♥♥♥♥BARCADACAJAVAMA♥♥

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