Shake Yer Head...

Friday, November 30, 2007

I feel that I should write something about what has happened recently.

See, normally I wouldn't really care. I just don't. Which was funny, coz I even had a streak of activism in me back in college. And while most of that idealism is gone, there are just some things that, no matter how you look at it, are completely, totally wrong.

Yesterday, there was a standoff between Senator Trillanes' people (who dug out a foxhole for themselves at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati), and the government.

Apparently upset over the proceedings of yesterday morning's hearings, Sen. Trillanes and his military escorts walked out of his trial (for the Oakwood Mutiny back in 2003), headed straight for Manila Pen, demanded that GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) step down, and enjoined other Filipinos to come join his cause.

Naturally, the government wasted no time flexing some muscle by surrounding the hotel with troops. The result was a 6-hour standoff, that pretty much got everybody glued to their TVs, radios and internet as the drama unfolded.

I for one, am not a supporter of Trillanes. But I believe that, for him to feel this way, he must have gone through so much. I feel for the guy. I'm just saying that he's fighting for what he believes in, and I respect that.

I believe, however, that he has overestimated the support the military and the civilian populace would give him. It would have been an entirely different matter altogether if, after his public call to arms, the military and everyday people would come rallying to his side.

But that did not happen at all.

I know for a fact that a lot of people are unhappy with the Arroyo administration. I'm not a big fan, either. In my opinion, however, he failed to consider one important thing.

Public apathy.

Most people just don't care anymore. All we want to do, really, is just keep on working, making some cash so we can pay the bills and put some food on the table.

Yes we'd watch TV, listen to the radio, get updates via SMS and the internet. There would be those who agreed with Trillanes, and those that disagreed. But only a few have really taken to the streets to stand up for what they believed in.

So here was the government, lobbing tear gas cannisters to force out Trillanes and his crew, who stood their ground as long as they could with their makeshift gas-masks.

Now here's a kicker- what really struck me was an image of a military APC attempting to crash right into the lobby of Manila Pen through the front door. Wow, what were these idiots thinking? Clearly, I don't see any reason why you should drive a perfectly good (well, obsolete-ish) V150 right smack into a hotel? Man, these guys have been watching too many B-movie action flicks.

Seriously.

So anyway, everybody files out, including Trillanes and his crew, who essentially said something to the effect of, "so that there would be no bloodshed, let's end this", media and journalists included.

I expected to see Trillanes get hauled off by the military. But the media? Wow, what kind of fascist regime is the Philippines turning into? They were only doing their jobs; I see no reason for them to be "processed" just like the rest. Heck, go "process" the hotel staff. Or anyone in Makati for that matter.

Later on, a curfew was declared. A curfew. At a time when more people earn their livelihood working at night: call center people, taxi drivers, night shift employees. That night, some 450 people were arrested because of the curfew.

Ridiculous. Do you actually think they'd actually catch some seditious elements that way? Patrolling Emerald Ave. and Ayala Ave. for a few wayward call center employees? Please.

What kind of message is this giving us? It's buffoonery like this that makes people lose so much hope, shake their heads and walk away.

Or eventually riot. Eventually.

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Woohoo! Battlestar Galactica!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I fondly look back earlier this year when I discovered Battlestar Galactica. Well, more like re-discovered. I remember getting interested in the show when it first hit local Cinemax in 2005, but never got to follow it enough to get a good grasp of the story.

When I took my retirement from the last radio station I worked for (which was Mellow 94.7), I found myself with, interestingly enough, a lot of spare time on my hands. And it was this one particular Veronica Mars episode which sort of inspired me to 'acquire' a copy of the re-imagined BSG from the very start.

After the four-hour mini-series/pilot, I immediately fell in love with it- it was sci-fi, but not campy, it had chicks, a compelling storyline, interesting characters, and enough action to keep you locked in.

And locked in I was, indeed. I was able to finish all 40 episodes- the first 2 seasons + the webisodes + the first few episodes of season 3- within a month of watching the pilot, thus bringing me up to speed and current with what's showing in the US/UK. I wasn't just locked in, I was incredibly hooked.

Season 3 wrapped up by the end of March (with a killer season-ender, I might add!), leaving a gaping hole in my chest where the Galactica should be.

So you could imagine my surprise when I found out- just today- that the prelude to BSG Season 4 already came out!

The prelude is called Battlestar Galactica: Razor. Why it's called "Razor", I have no idea just yet, but I intend to find out. It currently has seven (7) 2-minute Flashback episodes + two (2) full episodes thus far.

I've already seen the Flashback episodes and -well- it's like my obsession for BSG all of a sudden came back to the fore.

Man, I can't wait to watch the other two episodes...

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How Many Blogs Can You Maintain?

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Indeed, how many blogs can you realistically maintain?

I got into blogging in March 2007. I knew nothing about how to start a blog, or what it was for, or what good it was to your everyday life.

Shortly after starting out with my first blog, I suddenly realized that I wanted to have a blog for each of my various interests. Soon enough you had one for music, another for TV and movie reviews, and then another on PC gaming, then one came up on business and marketing, followed by one on cats, another on writing, and it just went on and on.

Read the rest of the article here on my other blog, "Renzie on Blogging".

Cheers, everyone!

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How Serious Is Your Blog?

Sunday, November 25, 2007

I just came from a highly informative, highly entertaining workshop on professional blogging. Of course as the discussion went on, there were lots of questions forming in my head- mostly on wanting to know how my blogs currently stacked up against pro-bloggers (professional bloggers :)).

More like, I'd like to know how much more I have to work on before I can actually be considered a serious blogger of any sort. And, well, as to be expected, it seems like I have LOTS more to do.

Your blog has to have anywhere from 50 to 100 posts to be considered a serious piece of work. Wow, that certainly sets the casual bloggers apart from the passionate ones, huh?

I get this. If the whole point of the exercise is to create a positive online experience for a reader- or just anyone casually dropping in on your blog- you really want to have enough stuff for your readers to sift through. Can't have 'em going through an empty blog now, can we?

That should also be enough material to establish the tone and pattern of your blog, show off some personality, and give you enough to showcase your knowledge and expertise on a particular topic.

While possibly daunting at first, 50 to 100 posts really is a good thing. It shows the amount of time, thought and effort you've put in to your blog. It gives the readers a better idea of what your blog is all about- and can therefore make it more likely for them to link to you, and keep coming back for something new and interesting. It allows you to market your blog, if you so wish, for ads, and more interestingly, for some cash.

50-100 posts should equate to just a few weeks, if you blog at least one post a day. And if a habit is supposedly formed in 21 days, by the time you've hit your 50 posts, you're so much into the blogging habit that it's totally effortless for you to put up a post or two.

So keep going at it. Keep churning out content. Good content- stuff you know people would like to read and stuff people will keep coming back for. Forget about the money, or carving out a niche for yourself, or building up rep- this one is all about making your blog a worthwhile labor of love more than anything else.

Let's get to it then!

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Make Money Blogging!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

If you've been spending a great deal of time online, you've already probably checked out a couple of sites that suggest that you can make money just by blogging.

Or answering surveys, or clicking ads, or signing up for some service, etc. Those don't quite appeal to me as much as blogging (sorry guys)- and face it, once you get into the groove, you can easily spend a good number of hours blogging, lurking, emailing and jumping from one site to another.

In any case, if you're the type who spends so much time online, you might as well make some money out of it. Like I mentioned, there are lots of sites out there that can help you out (like this one that I just stumbled onto- www.johnchow.com), or -on the flipside- confound you even more.

It would be great if you unlocked the secrets to making money online on the get-go. But the truth of the matter is, it will take a great deal of trial-and-error to get things right.

I suggest you take time to get your friends together and learn it all at the same time. Join some online forums, look for other groups who are as into it as you are. The point is, you'd want to share your experiences and what you know with them, so you too can learn from what they've been up to as well.

One of the reasons why some friends of mine have decided to put up a small events group- for the purpose of helping other online entrepreneurs hook up with other like-minded individuals, so we can all learn from each other, support each other and have a great time while we're at it.

I'll be looking into these things more, and once I got something useful, you can expect it to be posted here in the near future.

Later, everyone!

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Do You Find Yourself Blogging For Hours?

Monday, November 19, 2007

Are you a blogging addict?

It's cool, man. You're pretty much in good company. Take a visit to www.jozzua.com and read all about a rather entertaining post on blogging and blogging addiction.

Now that I think about it, it takes me hours- HOURS! -to come up with a decent post, not unlike this one, if you consider this decent enough.

I actually have this short attention span issue. I easily get distracted by anything from widgets to photos to other posts- things that pull me away from focusing on finishing a post I'd otherwise be working on at the moment.

I wonder if it's anywhere as bad as my Facebook addiction...

Hmm...

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New Job, New Challenges!


It can only be a good thing, I suppose.

I've recently been fortunate enough to land a stint as Program Director for 105.1 Crossover. Yes, I've joined up with the station last month, and while there's a whole lot of work to do, it sure is very exciting stuff!

For a while there, after my "retirement" from Mellow 94.7, I thought I had enough of the radio biz- which was why I ventured into setting up my own small businesses, the whole SEO-SEM-SMO stint, the consulting gigs, etc. It wasn't long before I realized that, once a radio dude, you're forever a radio dude.

In fact, Silvio Dante couldn't have quoted The Godfather 3 better: Just when I thought that I was out, they pull me back in. Always did love The Sopranos (watch it if you haven't already! Get the DVDs!).

No there wouldn't be a reformat- we'll still be playing all the good ol' smooth jazz, R&B and easy listening favorites everyone has enjoyed all these years. If anything, we'll probably throw in more of those favorites- especially more 90's and maybe some more 2000's. Maybe we'll toy around with some music genres we can throw into the Crossover mix, who knows? Hey, as long as it sounds good- let's go for it, right?

Expect a more lifestyle-oriented, interactive Crossover. While we do have quite a number of grand plans oozing out of our skull-holes, it would be great to collaborate with other great minds. In fact, I've been on the lookout for people and groups that would want to be a part of mutually beneficial experimentation. Feel free to swing my way if you'd like to toy with fresh, new ideas.

Email me at 105.1Crossover (at) gmail.com, or just drop me a message at +63918.937.2147, or leave a post here on Blogspot- it's all good, mah babies!

Dude, it's gonna be great, I know it.

Cheers, everyone!

Read more...

Essential Cool in Digital Media, Pop Culture and the Internet, with Renzie | RenzieBaluyut.com

The Life & Times of The Renzie Man

Keyboard Monkeys! | Tips, Tricks and Advice for the Digital Entrepreneur

HarvardBusiness.org

How to Change the World, by Guy Kawasaki

Barfield Management

PinoyMoneyTalk.com - Make Money Online, Stocks, Forex, Mutual Funds Philippines

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