Manny de Guzman, Jr. - Recently Updated Pages

Homemade Squelched Triggered Repeater System COR

mannydeguzmanartist — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:00:11 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Philippines for a college research project. They were expecting a bunch of ghosts, unearthly creatures and paranormal activites. But what they faced instead is a vicious tribe. Three of them would narrowly escape, one will be kept captive. Eight years of painstaking rescue, they would soon discover that their captive friend became the leader of the tribe, and has somehow civilized the once nomads nature of 'Pulong-Pulong' tribe. But Dentor a.k.a. 'Apo Serang' has lost all his previous memory, and this poses great danger to the rescuers. The real twist has yet to come as a war triggered by greed for power and revenge will claim the life of our hero. In the end, justice will prevail. The throne will be succeded by a baby boy, Apo Serang's son, the seed of the primitive race... 'Binhi ng Katutubong Lahi'.
Read preview in tagalog)

2. The Flight to
.......187th Floor

(Short Story, Copyrighted)

Old Mr. Dodgie is new to the big city. And entering a tall and strange building proved to be a
gigantic step for him. Not just a huge step though, but rather a flight to heaven... Or down through the gate of darkness?

The 187th Floor poses some great mystery. Nobody seemed to know whether it exist in the Moon Tower building, as it was only a supposed 150 storey structure. Crazy? But old and innocent Mr. Dodgie soon discover it's existence and takes him to one-of-a-kind travel in different time dimensions. To his amazement, everything that he is yearning for is there - his childhood memories and his dreams. Could it only be his imagination driving him nuts, or is this a solution to all his longings for a good life? Is the 187th Floor for real or a dead end entrapping and engulfing him nearer to his doom? A spell binding mystery with a touch of humor, caters to most young adults.... The Flight to 187th Floor.
Read Preview.

3. Deadlock

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

As the Editorial Consultant and Lay-out Artist of this newspaper, I am presenting this to my website. Please view the pages. I have two articles in Up Close and Personal column and has written an editorial at the Editorial Page.

Reagan Times is a community newspaper of Reagan Street, Cuesta Verde Village, Antipolo City.

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MY HOMEPAGE

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

MY HOMEMADE SQUELCH TRIGGERED

REPEATER SYSTEM (COR)

By: Manny De Guzman,Jr.

(Update: a more elaborate project is available.in this site.This time, I used Bendix King LMH-3142 VHF Base/ Mobile for the transmitter and receiver. To view this project, click the thumbnail on the left, or click here...)

This project is a response to the our Homeowners Association's need

for a reliable and low-cost means of communication.

Despite the rise of cellular phones.latest communication gadgetry, and other

recent communication modes, Radio Repeater Systems remain to be at high cost and out of reach for most small businesses and institutions. I designed this homebrewed repeater controller to answer this need, with a few handfull of parts. An Icom V68 is used for transmit, and a Radio Shack PRO-2052 scanner for receive purposes. The beauty of using a scanner radio in a repeater system is that you can do crossband (up or downlink) at any frequency band, from 29 Mhz up to 1.3 Ghz!.

The heart of this project is a squelched triggered electronic relay switch. Two

transistors were used to amplify the 3 volt squelch voltage of the PRO-2052 to drive a small electronic relay. The relay isolates the 3 volt DC Squelch voltage to it's output to the transmitter (Icom V68's mic input) in which the Baseband Audio out of the scanner were also routed. The relay and associating parts were biased and powered with the same12 volt Supply (Check the transistor's data sheet for the correct voltage input bias)..

FINDING THE RIGHT SQUELCH TAP

Refer to the photo below. The Squelch IC is IC8 and marked JRC-3403X. The

squelch voltage tap is at Pin 7.

With the squelch closed (receiver busy), connect the negative test prod of a digital

multimeter to any metal part or shield of the scanner which serves as common ground. Then carefully tap the positive tip to IC8's Pin 7. The multimeter should read about 3 volts. Rotate the squelch control clockwise until the hiss disappears. The tester should read 0 volts. This is the right squelch tap. Remove power and solder a piece of stranded wire to this terminal (avoid shorting the pins!). Connect this to the input of the relay trigger switch.

FINDING THE BASEBAND AUDIO OUT

You can use the headphone out of the scanner for the audio out and vary the

volume control to level the transmitter's mic input. But you cannot monitor the signals that were coming through or being received with this procedure. Fortunately with the PRO 2052 scanner, there is a better option: Baseband Audio tap provision. This would enable you to harness a good unfiltered audio out of the AF section before it is amplifed. You can therefore monitor the signals through the same scanner radio's speaker while routing the Baseband audio out and triggering your transceiver.

Refer to the photo below. The Baseband Audio is marked TP DS at the main

board.

THE RELAY SWITCHING DEVICE

Below is my prototype of a 2 stage relay switching device. The relay is located and

soldered on the foil side of the board.

Parts list:

TRANSISTORS: 2N3904, 2N3907

DIODE: 1N4148

RESISTOR: 100 ohm 1/2 watt

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Homemade Repeater Using Bendix King LMH-3142 Base Mobile Transceivers

mannydeguzmanartist — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:03:09 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

MY HOMEMADE SQUELCH TRIGGERED

REPEATER SYSTEM (COR)
Using Bendix King LMH-3142

By: Manny De Guzman,Jr.

(Note: This is currently on sale. For inquiries please contact me at the numbers provided. I got 2 VHF base/ mobile radios wired for repeater use. I could provide a
user manual, service manual and schematic diagrams on CD upon request. )

This is another version of my Homemade Squelch Triggered Repeater, this time

using two Bendix King LMH-3142 VHF Base/ Mobile Radio. This radio has a maximum output power of 30 watts, but I trimmed it down it to about 15 watts (legal power for repeater use) because of the close proximity of my receive and transmit antennas.

Bendix King LMH-3142 Specification:

Frequency (RX/TX): 148.00 Mhz - !73.995 Mhz in 5 Khz or 2.5 Khz steps
Transmit Power: 30 Watts
Built in tone: Codeguard, CTCSS, CDCSS programmable
Memory: 14 Channels (with scan function)
PA Audio output: 4 watts 4 ohms
Programming: fully programmable via programming cable

ERRATA: (Last updated - October 19, 2009

This modification works only via squelch circuitry, and not not applicable for

CTCSS purposes. CTCSS is activated via audio line circuit. Initial test of this project shows that CTCSS activation will only trigger a dead carrier via the Transmitter and no audio will come out. For CTCSS purposes, consider a "Voice Activated" COR.

Both units has working transmitter, one radio is modified for transmit only and the

other one for receiving. These radios are fully programmable, with the addition of a program switch. I don't have the original programming cable, so I just hacked and added a program switch (Normally open push button tact switch) built-in. Depressing the switch for 5 seconds while holding the Function [F] Key will give you the Program Mode. In this mode, you'll be able to encode transmit and receive frequencies separately as well as other functions such as scan delay, and tone squelch, and save them to any of the 14 channels available. To bring it back to the normal operating mode, just restart the radio.

Program Switched Tapped at mic conn pin 11 marked as "PRGM"

As with my other Homemade Squelch Triggered Repeater project, the heart of this

system is a relay switch triggered by the receive circuit's squelch IC (MC 3357 IC). This is tapped at pin 11 and with a measured voltage of 5 volts (refer to the following photo below).

.

Schematic Diagram of Squelch Trigger Relay switch

Here's the complete modification for the receiver unit

Photo Gallery
Bendix King LMH-3142

Frequency Display at "Program Mode"

Scan Delay setting at "Program Mode"

Transmitter Board

Bendix King LMH-3142
Full Specification
(Click image to enlarge)

This article is also available at this forum site

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Homebrewed Projects and Techniques

mannydeguzmanartist — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:32:43 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

......MY HOMEBREWED PROJECTS
.................AND TECHNIQUES

	Homemade Squelched Triggered Repeater System (COR) This is a homemade repeater controller using a Radio Shack Pro-2052 scanner receiver. By utilizing the output of any receiver's squelch circuit, you could cause any transmitter to transmit on any band whenever the squelch is open or when a signal is present. READ MORE
	Homemade Repeater Using Bendix King LMH-3142 Base Mobile Transceivers This is another version of my Homemade Squelch Triggered Repeater, this time using two Bendix King LMH-3142 Mobile/ Base Radio. This radio has a maximum output power of 30 watts, but I trimmed it down it to about 15 watts (legal power for repeater use) because of the close proximity of my receive and transmit antennas.READ MORE
	Homemade Digicam Eyepiece Converter This is my homemade digicam eyepiece converter that I use for photomicro and astrophotograhy. Here,you can see my setup. This eyepice converter fits my Fuji Finepix E-510 and made from ordinary household materials and tubings. The eyepiece lens is salvaged from an old video cam. READ MORE
	White Balance and Color Effects in Panasonic DMC - FZ7 Wondering why your photos has unnatural colors? Don't fret, it's just a matter of adjustments in your digicam! READ MORE
	Photo Editing and Retouching Tips Have a photo which you doesn't like or you want to enhance? Or you want to add some spice to that old and dull photo? Here's a tip to improve your photos like how professionals do in print ads and magazines! READ MORE

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My Dream Satellite

mannydeguzmanartist — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:06:41 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

......MY DREAM SATELLITE TV

Could somebody please help me with the installation of this Satellite Receiving

System? I can't get any channel, and I get no higher than 30% of signal.

The equipments were handed to my sister by her former boss who had already

gone to Germany.

My Dad is so frustrated, he dismantled the dish to to be used in the laundry, but I

could still assemble it if you could give me a good advice on how to make this work.

I have the following set of equipments:

1. Dream Satellite TV Dish and LNB
2. "Digitall World" brand Satellite Receiver, Model SNA-951
3. Dream Access Card by Philippine Multi-Media System, Inc.

LNB Specification: Model GU-411-26
Input: 10.7Ghz - 12.75 Ghz
Lo: 9.74 Ghz and 10.6 Ghz
NF: 0.6 dB

Dream Broadcasting System Access Card by Philippine Multi-Media
System, Inc. (PMSI) and NAGRAVISION

Satellite Receiver: DigitAll World SNA-951

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Photo Editing and Retouching Tips

mannydeguzmanartist — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:54:41 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

PHOTO EDITING & RETOUCHING

Tips and techniques
By: Manny De Guzman, Jr.

Model: Kaye Anne Pagulayan
How many times you wish you had that high end camera to shoot your photos perfectly? How hard it is for you to take your photos using that point and shoot cameras without technical know-how? I tell you it is so hard, because I was just like you before!

In the medieval times of photography where 35 mm films and medium format were the only option (not to mention those easy to print polaroids), you cannot guess the outcome of your photos, not unless they were printed or developed.

Nowadays, with the advent of the more sophisticated digicams and the latest softwares and PC innovations, all you have to do is to take a shot and look at the LCD for the outcome. If you doesn't like an image, you simply delete it.

But wait, do not delete those photos yet. Those might be your best. All you need to do is to study the photos, crop and retouch them, Just like how the pros do!

I use Adobe Photoshop CS in most of my photo editing jobs. I'll give you some tips and techniques I acquired through the years of my study. Here's the most common tools I used for editing, retouching, and lay-outing for most promotional materials and model set cards.

PHOTO EDITING/ RETOUCHING PRIMER
(Basic tools):

I. Color/ Levels Adjustment and Corrections (on the IMAGE >

ADJUSTMENT MENU)

1. Levels

2. Auto Contrast
3. Photo Filter
4 Selective Color

II. IMAGE ENHANCEMENT/ RETOUCHING TOOLS

(for removing blemishes and adjusting skin texture or sharpening/ fixing detailed image such as the eyes and hair highlights)

1. Polygonal Lasso Tool
2. Healing Brush Tool
3. Blur and Gaussian Tool (on the FILTER MENU)
4. Median Tool (on the FILTER MENU)
5. Unsharp Mask (on the FILTER MENU)

III. CROPPING AND LAY-OUTING

1. Crop Tool
2. Duplicate Layer, New Background Color and Fill Layer (on
the FILTER MENU)
3. Text (Marked as "T" icon, font, font color, size and format
are available)
4. Transform (on the EDIT MENU).

Now lets begin:

Consider this photo of my most recent model, "Kaye Anne". I needed to establish a quick shot using my available 250 watt halogen floodlight used as direct illumination.

I need a quick shot so I just used the Automatic function in my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 Digicam to establish a good, near perfect shot (there's no such thing as perfect shot in Digital Photography, as digital noise were always abound regardless of the settings you use).

Tungsten Halogen produce yellow light, and the only way to correct the color were either to use a lens color filter or set the WHITE BALANCE in your camera. This function is not available in Full Automatic Mode.

The first thing I did to this photo was to correct the color and brightness/ contrast using LEVELS, AUTO CONTRAST, and COLOR FILTER. I use COOL FILTER 3 times, reducing (fading) the third rendering to about 50 percent.

Then using LEVELS I adjust the tones to whiten the skin in contrast with the shade and shadows. I further improve the skin tones using SELECTIVE COLOR (Magenta, Red, Blue and Yellow used sparingly).

Next, using POLYGONAL LASSO TOOL, I trace and isolate portions of the skin and use either BLUR or MEDIAN TOOL to soften the skin or remove blemishes and unwanted spots. Leave out the nostrils, eyes and hair, as these must be produced sharp enough. Sharpen more those features using UNSHARP MASK.

I wanted to whiten the skin a bit more but wanted to leave out the hair and lips as is, So I marked again the whole face leaving out the lips and the hair and adjusted SELECTIVE COLOR. I did the same with the arms and the hands.

Now, we're done with major retouching and color corrections. It's time to study the composition. I wanted to establish a good head shot up to the chest and remove other areas. Using CROP TOOL, I crop the image to exactly what I wanted.

Next step is to remove and replace the background. Using the POLYGONAL LASSO TOOL, I extract the subject from the background. I literally choose CUT from the EDIT MENU. Then I create a NEW LAYER (from LAYER MENU), and use GRADIENT FILL.

Then I add my signature and Copyright using TEXT TOOL. I opened the Logo files and dragged them to our current project canvas. I then TRANSFORM each logo into proper sizes

And we're done! We have taken a bold step we never thought possible for what it seems like a hopeless photo. It's just as easy as
"ONE, TWO and THREE!

Thanks to Kaye Anne Pagulayan,
My model in this particular series.

Review the steps:

1. Color Correction.....2. Cropping...................3.Gradient Fill
.....Image Retouching....Background Removal....Logos/ Signature

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Homemade Digicam Eyepiece Converter

mannydeguzmanartist — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:57:19 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869
Mobile: 09073074494

Homemade Digicam Eyepiece Converter

By:Manny De Guzman, Jr.

The homemade eyepiece converter attached.....................My vintage American Optical

.....AO-160 Microscope (1970's)

In today's educational and technological world, yesterday's

break-through scientific research equipments are considered as today's toy for most amateur and professionals. Nowadays, you could find these equipments within reach even for a 10 year old!

Telescopes and microscopes nowadays are abound in hobby and

toy stores. Even second hand professional equipments can be found at most thrift shops at a giveaway price (of course it is at your discretion to buy second hand optical equipments - be sure that the optics are in good conditions and are free of dust and molds).

With the advent of webcam and digicam, it is now a common
procedure to attach these gadgets to a microscope or telescopes for educational, research or hobby purposes. But the catch is, eyepiece converters are a bit pricey for today's household standards.

My Homemade Digicam Eyepiece Converter is the answer to the

need of a low-cost but effective Astrophotography and Photomicrography setup.

My Fuji Finepix E-510 5 Megapixel Digicam

Removing the digicam's converter ring. The E-510 has the provision to
be used with a selection of converter lenses and filter attachnments.

Attaching my homemade eyepiece converter.

Removing the microscope's eyepiece module.

The digicam attached

Viewing through the digicam's display

Digicam's live display

The actual photomicrograph I've taken using the setup. "Ant's wing section"

Another section of "Ant's Wing" at 100x

"Ant's wing section" viewed and taken at 400x using the setup

Microscopic slide bubbles.

I am also using the same eyepiece converter setup with my telescope

to produce some interesting images of the moon!

Fuji Finepix E-510 attached to my telescope.

The original telescope eyepiece and diagonal

My Astrophotography setup, Tasco Galaxee Telscope
and Fuji FinepixE-510 Digicam.

"The Moon", taken with my setup.

This article is also available at this forum site link...

Click here to view My Photomicrographs
Click here to view My Astrophotos
Click here to view My Bird Photos

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Photography Fun - Birds

mannydeguzmanartist — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:13:43 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

Photography Fun - Birds

I do my birding in our rooftop. Ours has a concrete flooring wherein I usually set

up my Tasco Starguide GT 60 telescope to observe and photograph birds with my Olympus C500 Digicam. Shooting bird images deals with a lot of patience and techniques. The only problem with using a long telesco is that it is susceptible to earth vibration. You should brace your equipment and use a shutter release or your camera's timer to avoid a hand shake as well. I do my bird observations between 7:00 until 9:00 am and 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm. View more images at Animals in my Photography Page.

View Bird Photos and other animals

Next Lay-out

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Audio/ Video Demos

mannydeguzmanartist — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:28:14 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

MY AUDIO/ VIDEO DEMOS

This page is my collection of audio/ video demonstrations. This includes my voice

demos, as well as Grendel's song demos. I've done most of the recording, mixing and editing using Nero Soundtrack Mixing Software and Nero Wave Editor. These softwares are modules of Nero 7 package. You can find out more about these softwares at my Tutorial Page.

If you want to watch all my You Tube Videos, just click the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=mannydeguzmanjartist

1. My Voice Demo

My Sound Magik Home Studio Demo 2006

This is my studio demo, created and edited with Nero Wave
editor and mixed with Nero Soundtrax. Slide Show were created
with Windows Movie Maker.

2. My Radio Demos (DZAI 92.1 FM)

3. Grendel's Song Demo1

4. Grendel's Song Demo2

Grendel's Demo2 - 'I Never Had a Dream' (S-Club 7)

5. Vaseline Glowing Inside Demo

Vaseline Glowing Inside On Graduation

This is a radio advertisement demo I made in the summer of 2006
in conjunction with Vaseline Shampoo's Glowing Inside on Graduation

promo. Unfortunately this demo was due for submission and was never
been aired.

Demo artist: Grendel De Ramos and Ysraela Guarino
Recording/ editing software: Nero Wave Editor and
Nero Soundtrax
Slide show created with: Windows Movie Maker

6. Ysraela's Song Composition

..."Sana'y Pakinggan"(Unreleased Demo)

'Sana'y Pakinggan' (unreleased demo) - Ysraela Guarino

This is a song demo we recorded and edited at SoundMagik Home
Studio in 2007. Ysraela Guarino composed and performed this unreleased
demo. The music video is part of a school project submitted to San Benildo Integrated School. The compilation includes 2 other amateur music clips
shot by students, which I edited in my home studio.

If you want to know how I create music or my other audio projects, go to My Tutorials page.

7. HEY MONDAY - Music Medley

Back to My Home page

Home

mannydeguzmanartist — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:20:09 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869
Mobile 0907-3074494

I failed to update this site. For regular updates on my works, click the image below...

The search is on for

CAMPUS KID & TEEN IDOLS 2009!

Congratulations!

Ms. Sandra Seifert
Miss Philippines EARTH 2009

Adie Adelantar: Eco -Tourism
Patricia Marie Tumulak - Fire
Michelle Martha Brown - Air
Catherine Loyola - Water

Click here to see my full coverage of Miss Philippines Earth 2009 Pre-Pageant Activity - "Little Earth Angel 2009"

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS Marikina City, Philippines	DESTINY PILKEY Vancouver, Canada	AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS Marikina City,Philippines	Group of Filipino Artists Antipolo City,Philippines
My Singer/ Fashion Model	My Canadian Singer Friend	My Best Dancer	My Art Group

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/ Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My IMEEM.COM Social Media Channel:

Add me up at FRIENDSTER.COM

Grand Villa Resort Project

mannydeguzmanartist — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:20:54 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

Grand Villa Resort
Brochure Project

Grand Villa Resort Project - Wedding

Grand Villa Resort Brochure Project

On July 2006, Alternative Communications Media hired me to photograph some of

the materials needed for a brochure project. The brochure is for one of the biggest resort in Laguna, Grand Villa Resort, The resort houses wide arrays of ammenities such as: Olympic size pools, fully furnished and airconditioned cottages and hotel, function rooms, Adventure Camp recreation and wildlife area, and the largest paintball area ever!

Special thanks to Mon Herrera, Alternative Communications Media boss,

Ferdinand Rodriguez, and Ms Rowena with the rest of the staff of Grand Villa Resort.

Click any thumbnail below to enlarge photos or view details.

Back to my Photography Page
Back to my Home Page

Photography

mannydeguzmanartist — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 06:49:01 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

My Photography Page

My Lay-out

These are my graphic lay-outs. I do all my profiles like these.

Macrophotography

I've included some important notes and hints on how I've taken the shots.

Birds and other Animals

I love photographing animals, although some of them are hard to shoot in their natural habitat. Birds, for instance are very tough subjects. But with proper equipments, techniques, and luck, you can shoot amazing pictures. Here you can find some interesting shots I've made with my Olympus C500 digicam and Tasco Starguide GT 60 mm telescope.

Photomicrography

Here are some interesting shots using my photomicrography setup: A digicam attached to a microscope can be an indispensable tool for exploring the tiny world unseen by our naked eyes!

Click for more Photomicrographs...

Astrophotography

Owning a telescope is my childhood dream. Now that my dream has came true,
Let me share some of the wonders I have explored.

TALENTS AND MODELS

Grendel's Peer Group:

Grendel De Ramos is my personal talent since 2003. View her profile at
My Features page below. Here are some pics of her friends I've taken from various occasions:

For more models profile, visit my talents/ modeling site: TEEN MODELS 2007 http://teenmodels2007.wetpaint.com

(Click image to view profile, or click link to view website)

Ysraela Guarino

Singer/ Model

Visit website

Angellie Urquico

Singer/ Actress

ABS- CBN Talent/ Champion, "Little Big Star"
Big Division Star' Big Division 2006.

Visit website

Angelika

Performer

3rd Place, 2nd MCF Interschool
Singing Competition -
Highschool Level 2005

Princess Sha Dela Paz

Overseas Performer

Visit website

Sheena Stacey Gonzales

Singer

2005 Little Miss Riverbanks Champion
QTV 11's Popstar Kids contender of the week
Performer/ Member - Marikina's MCF Singers

Clarhese Hermese

Performer
Member - Marikina's MCF Singers

Kimberly Mae Llabore

Singer/ Performer

Member - MCF Singers, Marikina City

Reggie Ann

Singer/ Performer

Most of my photography threads were posted at this site:

Grendel De Ramos

This is a collection of photos I've taken at several occasions for my alaga.I am personally handling the career of this young lady (of course, together with her mom who's my close friend). Images include portraits and some of her achievements as a singer and a model.
I'm planning to build her own website. I'm currently working on some of her demos too. I'll be posting it here soon... In the meantime, click here to view Grendel's Friendster account: http://www.friendster.com/grendel13

About Grendel

Click here for her new web-
site I created at Teen Models 2007. Read Grendel's personal background and achievements. Know how
this young girl become a singer and a model. The whole story is here..

(All photos by Manny De Guzman, Jr. Click thumbnail to view page).

Commissioned Lay-out and editing

My Latest talents

Here's the site of the latest talents I'm supporting. Featured in Teen Models 2007 site, click below for the link:

.....http://abbygarcia.wetpaint.com/.....http://lunethcanalita.wetpaint.com/.....http://destinypilkey.wetpaint.com/
...........Abby Garcia.............Luneth Canalita..............Destiny Pilkey

...........Teen Models 2007Canada

Tours

These are places where I've been.

A. Tagaytay City

This is the 4th birthday bash of my nephew. I managed to take snapshots of magnificent views, from Taalena Restaurant and People's Park.

B. Baguio City

Grand Villa Resort Project

This brochure project is my second documented photography project. It includes my detailed works for Alternative Communications Media

Back to MY HOMEPAGE

The Flight to 187th Floor

mannydeguzmanartist — Sun, 31 May 2009 09:02:14 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

The Flight to 187th Floor

by; Manny de Guzman, Jr.

The Flight to 187th Floor (Dear Readers and Publisher: This material is copyrighted. If

you want the full context of this short story, please contact me at the addresses and numbers provided in my Homepage.)

(excerpt from the story)

“No, I’ll get it,” Mr. Dodgie smiled. “I’m not that old. Don’t worry, I’ll find

my way. It’ll just take a few minutes. I promise.”

“Okay,” the man replied. “But please hurry, and be careful up there.”

Mr. Dodgie rushed in at the waiting elevator.

“By the way Sir,” the security officer called. “Which floor are you going into?”

“187th floor,” Mr. Dodgie yelled back and pushed the close button.

“But sir,” The man ran towards the elevator. “There is—“

But the door were already closed and the elevator begin to ascend.

Mr. Dodgie pressed “1”, “8”, and “7” simultaneously but received an error

message. He pressed once more but to no avail. By the third time however, it accepted the numbers. But there's no indication on the display panel, just a blinking cursor.

“Something’s wrong in this piece of damn thing,” he whispered. “This works

fine earlier. God why now? I really need to go to the 187th floor.”

Some five minutes passed and finally the door opened. He went out. It was coal

dark outside.

“Where the hell am I?” he whispered to himself. “This is not the 187th floor.”

Indeed it was not his destination. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he

noticed that the floor he landed on seemed to be a huge stock room of some sort, with broken old furnitures, antique statues, and mere junk. There were piles of old books and newspapers scattered everywhere.

He shoved the cobwebs and sat in a dusty wooden chair. The room was filled with

funky stench of mice, roaches and rotting wood.

The only light that fills the room were coming from the moon casting its rays across

a large dilapidated window pane.

He glanced at a bust, the one that is lying beside him. “Plato,” the marker

indicates. He looked around. There were several other statues, some of which he recognized easily without looking at the plates: Socrates, Homer, The Thinker, Florence, and some other Greek characters. On the other end of the room were busts of great Asian Heroes and replicas of Chinese Buddhas. On the walls were portraits of great American writers and heroes. Another corner hung a huge painting by Boticelli, ‘The birth of Venus’ and a replica of Da Vinci’s ‘Ornithopter’.

Just across the busts were remnants of several bombs and other artilleries used by

the Japanese during World War II.

It seems that the place were some kind of an abandoned museum. Mr. Dodgie find it

strange that he landed right on this very floor. For him, this is where time stops ticking and rewinds itself. Has this been an answer to what he wished for earlier, to bring back time and mend his old ways?

As if a reply, his eyes focused on something very familiar. He picked up a book.

“W-Why,” He gasped. “This is my diary…”

He flicked a few pages. “How in the hell, it gotten here?”

The pages have faded through the years, but still some words were readable. He

remembered how nice he could write long ago. But now, he can only manage a few thumbmarks as his hands were trembling a lot.

He closed the book and searched for other things on the table. There was his

carved wooden soldier, the first toy his mother gave him in his childhood. Then there’s the watch given to him by his father during his 13th birthday. And the locket he values so much. In it was a picture of his grandmother, young and pretty in her teens.

“Your Grandma’s a hero in her own way,” He remembered his mom saying,

noting how she saved her drowning sister.

There on the table was his birthstone embedded on a ring. This was given to him by

his childhood sweetheart, long before he married Lizbeth, his wife. He clearly recalls how he vowed to protect the priceless gift. He remembered how a group of boys ganged him and snatched the ring from him. It has long been gone, but now it’s here in this very room, dusty though and fusty.

A quartz crystal flickered perfectly still on the table. He clearly recalls how he

grabbed the thing during their high school field trip in a quarry in his hometown.

A tear rolled down his eyes. The place was full of his precious memories. He

took a glance once more at the valuables and found out that the table itself containing all his mementos was his own working table during his college years. All the things in the past were here right before his very eyes!

“H-How in the world these things had gotten in here?” Mr. Dodgie wondered.

“And who’s responsible for all of these?”

For the full context of the story, please email me here:

mannydeguzmanjrartist@yahoo.com

or you can contact me at the address and phone numbers provided in my Homepage.

*****

Next preview: Deadlock Drive

(Soon to be previewed, short story)

Previous: Binhi ng Katutubong Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel, copyrighted)

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a

mysterious woods somewhere South of the Philippines for a college research project. They were expecting a bunch of ghosts, unearthly creatures and paranormal activites. But what they faced instead is a vicious tribe. Three of them would narrowly escape, one will be kept captive. Eight years of painstaking rescue, they would soon discover that their captive friend became the leader of the tribe, and has somehow civilized the once nomads nature of 'Pulong-Pulong' tribe. But Dentor a.k.a. 'Apo Serang' has lost all his previous memory, and this poses great danger to the rescuers. The real twist has yet to come as a war triggered by greed for power and revenge will claim the life of our hero. In the end, justice will prevail. The throne will be succeded by a baby boy, Apo Serang's son, the seed of the primitive race... 'Binhi ng Katutubong Lahi'.
Read the preview pages (in tagalog)

Back to Home

Binhi ng Katutubong Lahi

mannydeguzmanartist — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:53:57 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

(Note: This unpublished novel is copyrighted. Preview pages only. For more information, please contact me at the address and phone numbers provided at my HOMEPAGE)

Apat na kabataang minsa’y naligaw sa kasukalan.Magigiting,

matatapang… Bitbit ang sandatang kaalaman mula sa mundo ng kamalayan. Tatlo ang makababalik sa henerasyong kinabibilangan.

Ang isa’y maiiwan at haharapin ang panganib upang buhayin ang

Binhi ng Katutubong Lahi…

Nobela ni Manny de Guzman, Jr.

*****

Dear Sir,

Isa ako sa libo-libong tagatangkilik ng iyong mga akda.

Sumulat ako sa iyo dahil nais ko sanang mailathala, o kung papalarin ay maisa-pelikula ang makulay na buhay ng aking pinsan nuong siya ay kapiling pa ng mundong minsan ay kanyang minahal. Isa siyang bayani na nakaukit sa puso naming lubos na nakakakilala sa kanya, gayundin sa isang tribo sa Mindoro, isang lahi na kanyang binuhay minsang kami’y magkakasamang nakipagsapalaran upang tapusin ang isang proyekto nuong kami’y nasa kolehiyo pa. Isa siyang biktima ng sakim na kapalaran na nag-ugat sa walang saysay na inggit at pagka-uhaw sa kapangyarihan. Sana ay mabigyan mo ng kaunting panahon ang aking kahilingan.

Lubos na gumagalang,

Dr. Rogelio Salvador

Child Psychologist

UNICEF
Toronto, Canada

*****

Setyembre, 1985. Sa isang kasukalan sa Occidental Mindoro…

“Alulululu—wiyaaah!” Alulong ng mga katutubo habang sila ay nagpapaikut-ikot na

nagsasayaw sa harap ng nagliliyab na animo’y isang entabladong yari sa mga sanga ng punong-kahoy. Kangina lamang ay kanila itong pinuno ng mga tuyong dayami at duon inilagay ang nahimlay nilang kadugo. Ngunit makalipas ang mahigit tatlong oras ay halos isa na itong abo na tanging ang natitira na lamang ay mga buto na halos nagkabitak-bitak na rin sa init ng nag-aasong dingas.

Ilang saglit pa ay tumigil na ang pananangis. Huminto na ang pagsasayaw. Tapos

na ang ritwal. Isa-isa nang nagsilisan ang mga katutubo. Iiwan na nilang nakahimlay ang kanilang pinuno. Sa wakas, tapos na rin ang paghihirap nito. Sa wakas babalik na rin ito sa kanyang pinanggalingan at makakasama na ang kanilang mga ninuno.

At bukas ay haharapin ng mga katutubo ang pagsibol ng bagong umaga

.Bukas ay hihirangin nila ang kanilang bagong pinuno na siyang magsisilbing gabay sa kanilang pakikibaka sa mundong ganid at mapang-aping mga dayuhan na minsan sila’y hinamak at nilapastangan. Sa wakas, tapos na ang isang yugto ng kanilang kasaysayan. Nahimlay na ang isa sa pinakamatanda at pinakamagiting nilang pinuno.

*****

Ang kasaysayang ito ay bahagi na ng ating kultura. Ang

kagitingan ng ating mga sosyologo sa pagtuklas ng mga lahi na magiging bahagi ng ating lipunan, buhay man ang kapalit, ay sadyang hindi matatawaran. Nariyang sila ay maipit sa labanan sa pagitan ng dalawang tribong magkaiba ang prinsipyo at pananaw. O ‘di kaya’y mapaslang ng mga katutubong kanilang sinasamahan, sa pag-aakalang sila ay huwad o mga kalaban. Ngunit ang ilan nama’y nagwagi sa kanilang hangarin na bigyan ng kamalayan at edukasyon ang mga katutubo. Kung magkagayon, isa na namang lahi ang isisilang sa makabagong henerasyon.

Anupa’t ang akdang ito ay iniaalay sa mga bayaning

nagbigay ng kani-kanilang buhay alang-alang sa kinabukasan ng ating kulturang Pilipino. Silang naging bahagi na ng ating buhay at pag-aaral.

*****

(excerpts from the Final Chapter)

“Anak,” muling pakiusap ng ama. “Ngayong nagawa mo na ang iyong tungkulin sa

tribong ito, lubos kitang ipinagmamalaki. Iyan ang gusto kong gawin mo, ang magmalasakit sa kapwa. ‘Di magtatagal ay magiging laman ka ng pahina ng mga pahayagan. Makikilala ka anak. Sa tingin ko’y tapos na ang tungkulin mo dito. Tingin ko nama’y kaya na nila ang kanilang mga sarili. Ngayon nama’y kailangan mong harapin ang mundo at asikasuhin ang iyong mga mithiin sa buhay. Tumigil ang oras sa mga panahong nawala ka. Ngayon naman ang panahon upang ituloy ang iyong mga pangarap sa Maynila. Bumalik ka na sa amin anak.”

Sa tinurang iyon ng ama ay may nabuong pasya si Dentor. “Hindi Papa, d’yan

kayo nagkakamali. Ngayon pa lamang nagsisimula ang aking tungkulin sa lahing ito. Hindi ko kailangan nang publicity upang makita ng mundo ang aking kahalagahan. Napatunayan ko na ang aking sarili, at masaya na ako sa piling ng tribo. Nakahanda akong bigyan sila ng panibagong lahi at pag-asa. Ako ang magtatanim ng binhi na magtutuwid ng lahat ng landas. Ako ay mananatiling Apo Serang, ang pinuno ng tribong ito.”

Pagkasabi nito’y sinulyapan ang kasintahan na nuo’y nakapanungaw sa bintana

ng kubo.

Sa ‘di kalayuan, isang pulutong ang nagmamasid sa nagaganap nakasiyahan.

Walang kamalay-malay ang tribo ni Dentor hinggil sa nagbabadyang panganib. Hudyat na lang ng pinunong si Ling Wawa ang hinihintay para simulan ang pagsalakay. Naroon sa kasukalan nagtatago ang naturang lider ng kalaban. Hawak nito ng mahigpit ang sibat. Iniumang iyon at sinipat ang pakay.

Dalawang segundo… Tatlo… Pag dating ng lima ay pinakawalan ang sandatang

kikitil sa buhay ng isang bayani. Bumulusok iyon na animo’y isang kidlat. Natagpuan ang target. Tumama sa dibdib ni Dentor. Nabigla ang binatang pinuno. Biglang sumikip ang kanyang paghinga. Bagaman hindi na ramdam ng nagmanhid niyang katawan ang pagtarak ng sibat na iyon, alam niyang hindi siya makaliligtas sa lasong idudulot ng sandata.

Sa paghihingalo niya, nakita niya ang pagkabahala ng kanyang tribo. Wari’y

nabigla ang mga ito sa bilis ng pangyayari. Nakita niya si Munani na tumatakbo papalapit sa kanya. Naramdaman niya ang pagbuhat sa kanya ng mga malalakas na bisig. Saka pa lamang niya nadama ang matinding hapdi ng sugat. Napaungol siya.

Nakita niya ang kanyang ama at mga kaibigan na lumuluha kasama ng mga

tauhang tapat sa kanya. Naramdaman niya nang inihiga siya. Hindi na niya mawari kung saan siya dinala ng mga kasama. Basta ang alam lang niya’y nagsimula na ang digmaan.

Ang kahuli-hulihan na lamang niyang nasilayan ay mukha ni Munani na sa kabila

ng pagnanangis ay sadyang kaakit-akit. At nabakas sa mga labi ng dalaga ang katagang hindi na niya halos naunawaan, “Mahal...”

*****

December 15, 1999

Dear Sir,

Una sa lahat, nais kitang batiin ng Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon! I

sa na naman palang taon ang nagbabadyang lumipas, at isang panibagong siglo ang nakatakdang sumibol.

Maaaring ito na ang huli kong liham sa iyo. At sa pang-apat kong sulat na ito, nais

kong wakasan ang huling bahagi ng makulay na buhay ng pinsan kong si Dentor, isang bayaning nagtanim ng punla kung saan umusbong ang isang binhi na marahil nga ay naging hudyat ng pagbabago para sa tribong Pulong-Pulong sa isang kasukalan ng Occidental Mindoro. Narito ang huling yugto ng mga kaganapang iyon:

Nangyari na nga ang hindi namin inaasahan. Mula sa di kalayuan ay kumawala

ang isang sibat na tumama sa dibdib ni Dentor Ramirez, alyas Apo Serang. Namatay ito sa kanlungan ng kasintahang si Munani. Iyon ang naghudyat ng giyera sa pagitan ng tribong Pulong-Pulong at ng grupo ni Ling Wawa. Sa engkuwentrong iyon ay tinamaan ng sibat ang ama ni Dentor na si General Arthur Ramirez. Malubha ang tama nito sa tagiliran. Ngunit makaraan ang halos kalahating taon sa ospital ay ligtas din itong nakatawid sa tiyak na kamatayan. Gayunpaman, ang lason ng sibat na iyon ay nagdulot ng malaking pinsala, naparalisa ang buong katawan ni Uncle. Kaming tatlo naman nina Michael at Don-Don, kasama si Tiya Isabel ay himalang nakatakas sa engkuwentrong iyon. Iniwan namin ang labi ni Dentor sa pakiusap na rin ng tribo na sila na ang magbibigay ng seremonyas sa kanilang pinuno sang-ayon sa kinagisnang ritwal. At marahil nga sa takot na maipit sa gulo, amin na lamang binitbit ang sugatang ama ni Dentor. Ipinangako namin sa aming mga sarili na hinding-hindi na babalik sa lugar na iyon. Ang mga sumunod na mga pangyayari ay ibinalita na lamang sa amin ni Tiya Isabel.

Ayon sa mga koneksyong tribo ni Tiya Isabel, tumagal nang halos tatlong araw

ang labanan. Sadyang napaghandaan ni Ling Wawa, pinuno ng mga kalaban ang pagsalakay na iyon. Sa bandang huli’y nasukol din ang grupo nito, sa tulong na rin ng tribong Lawan na sumanib sa tribo ng Pulong-Pulong. Nabihag ng grupo si Ling Wawa at pinatawan ng pinakamabigat na parusa sa salang pagtataksil sa sariling lahi.

Makaraan ang giyera, nagpadala si Tiya Isabel ng mga social workers at duktor

sa kagubatan upang asikasuhin ang mga pangangailangan ng naturang tribo. Mainit namang tinanggap ng mga ito ang mga tauhan ng gobyerno. Ayon pa sa balita, nagbunga ang pag-iibigang Dentor alyas Apo Serang at Munani. Pinangalanan ang sanggol na lalaki bilang 'Mohala'. Nagmungkahi ang mga social workers na dalhin sa Maynila ang sanggol para mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan. Ngunit tumanggi ang tribo. Anila si Mohala ay magsisilbi nilang prinsipe, ang binhing ipinunla ni Dentor sa katutubong lahi.

Magpasahanggang ngayon ay hindi ko pa rin nasisilayan ang aking pamangkin sa

tribong iyon. Ngunit ayon na rin sa nakarating na mensahe, ang sanggol sa ngayo'y isa nang makisig na binata na may matatag na paninindigan, simbulo ng magiting nilang lahi. Gayundin, anila taglay ni Mohala ang katapatan at dedikasyon ng kanyang ama na nagmulat sa katutubo ng tamang prinsipyo at paniniwala.

Sa Maynila, isang seremonyas na lamang ang idinaos upang ganap nang

mailibing ang alaala ni Dentor. Tulad ng nakaugalian, nagdaos pa rin ng isang misa. Ngunit ang tanging laman na lamang ng ataol ay ilang litrato, mga damit, gayundin ang ilang mga importanteng gamit ni Dentor nung siya ay kapiling pa namin. Kakaunti lamang ang dumalo sa libing na iyon. Inisip na lang namin na maaaring wala nga gaanong kaibigan o kakilala si Dentor. Marahil nga ay malupit sa kanya ang mundo. O marahil iilan lang talaga ang nakakaalam na siya’y pumanaw na. Hindi ko rin namataan sa libing ang dating mga nang-bubuska sa kanya. Maaring sila ay nahihiyang masulyapan man lang sa huling pagkakataon ang kanilang inapi.

Mangilan-ngilan din lang ang nakakaalam sa tunay na nangyari. Halos lahat ay

naniniwalang aksidente ang ikinamatay ni Dentor, na nahulog ito sa bangin at hindi na nakita pang muli. Ang iba nama’y nag-akalang siya ay bihag ng subersibong grupo ng NPA at napatay sa engkuwentro sa pagitan ng rebelde at sundalo. Anupa’t ang iba’y nanghusga na si Dentor daw ay sumanib sa mga rebelde at kasalukuyang namumundok. Kung makapagsasalita lamang ang kanyang ama, isang kataga lang ang bibitiwan nito: “Bayani”.

Halos limang taon na ang nakalipas, mula nang maganap ang malagim na

trahedyang iyon, ngunit nananatili pa ring buhay sa aking isipan ang kagitingan ni Dentor. Sa tuwing naaalala ko ang mga iyon, napapangiti ako. Ang dating talunan at api ay isa na ngang bayani. At alam kong nariyan lang siya, buhay na buhay sa puso namin at sa puso ng kanyang tribong mahal.

Sa ngayon, mahinang mahina na si Uncle Arthur. Sabi ng duktor, hindi na rin daw

siya magtatagal. Sa mga nakalipas na taon, kumalat na ang lason sa buong katawan nito. Himala daw na umabot pa s’ya ng ganito katagal. Totoo ngang siya ay magiting na mandirigma. Kinaya niya ang lahat ng dagok na ito. Gayunpaman, masaya na rin kami at malapit nang matapos ang kanyang paghihirap. Sa wakas, makakapiling na rin niya ang mahal na anak na si Dentor, ang bayaning nagsakatuparan ng kanyang layunin at mga mithiin.

Hanggang dito na lamang. Sana ay naibigan mo ang kuwento at talambuhay ng

aking pinsan. Umaasa akong mabibigyan mo ng sapat na panahon ang bagay na aking hiling. Maraming salamat at mabuhay ka!

Gumagalang,

Dr. Rogelio Salvador
Child Psychologist
UNICEF
Toronto, Canada

******

Epilogo

Marami ng tao sa balkonaheng iyon. Mga ilang sandali pa’y magsisimula na ang

programa. Pumasok na ang ilang mga panauhin sa Auditorium, habang ako nama’y naghihintay ng hudyat sa aking orasan.

Kasalukuyan akong nasa lobby ng Philippine International Convention Center.

Ngayon ay Enero Abeinte-uno, taong kasalukuyan. Sa araw na ito ay pararangalan ang isang bayani. Si Ginoong Dentor Ramirez ay isa lamang sa sampung piling gagawaran ng Ulirang Makabayan Award. At isa ako sa mga panauhing pandangal para sa natatanging akdang naglalarawan ng makulay niyang buhay.

Si Dentor ang pangunahing tauhan sa aking nobelang ‘Binhi ng Katutubong Lahi’.

Dahil sa pagkaka-lathala ng nobela may ilang taon na rin ang nakalilipas, umusbong ang pangalang 'Dentor Ramirez' sa larangan ng public service. Siya ang nagtanim ng binhi na ngayo’y isang lahi ang umaani. Siya ang naging gabay at liwanag sa anino ng madilim nitong nakaraan. Nakapanghihinayang nga lamang at siya pa ang naging biktima ng kasakiman at pagkagahaman sa kapangyarihan ng isang aninong ligaw. Ang aninong ligaw na iyon ay isang halimaw na maaaring kumatawan sa kasalukuyang sakit ng ating lipunan.

Gayunpaman, namatay si Dentor na may tamis ang ngiti. Sa wakas, may isang

lahi na umangkin at nagtiwala sa kanyang katapatan sa kabila ng panunuya ng mundong kinagisnan. Humupa din ang galit at pagkawangis sa kanyang pagkatao.

Nasa kalagitnaan ako ng aking pagmumuni nang may tumapik sa aking balikat.

“Mr. Manolo Aldana?"

Bumaling ako sa tumawag, saglit na nagulat. “Dr. Rogelio Salvador,” pakilala nito,

sabay abot ng kamay.

DEAR PUBLISHER: If you want the full context of this novel, please contact me. The middle part of this novel were unfinished, but I can work on this upon request. You can find my contact numbers, full address and email address at the HOMEPAGE of my site.

*****

Next preview: The Flight to 187th Floor

(Short Story, copyrighted)

Old Mr. Dodgie is new to the big city. And entering a tall and strange

building proved to be a gigantic step for him. Not just a huge step though, but rather a flight to heaven... Or down through the gate of hell?

The 187th Floor poses some great mystery. Nobody seemed to know whether it

exist in the Moon Tower building, as it was only a supposed 150 storey structure. Crazy? But old and innocent Mr. Dodgie soon discovered its existence and takes him to one-of-a-kind travel in different time dimensions. To his amazement, everything that he is yearning for is there - his childhood memories and his dreams. Could it only be his imagination driving him nuts, or is this a solution to all his longings for a good life? Is the 187th Floor for real or a dead end entrapping and engulfing him nearer to his doom? A spell binding mystery with a touch of humor, caters to most young adults....
The Flight to 187th Floor. Read the Preview Pages

Back to:MY HOMEPAGE

Angellie Urquico

mannydeguzmanartist — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:27:59 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

Talents And Models::::

Angellie Urquico

Angellie Urquico Angellie Urquico is 'Little Big Star's Big Division', Season 2

champion and ABS-CBN Talent. She's among Grendel's closest friends. Angellie is
my former client in my early photoshoot days. Here are some of the profiles.

The profile images of Angellie on Little Big Star Season 2 were

no longer here. You can find them at her website that I created, click the TEEN MODELS 2007 logo below:

Earlier Competitions

Jollibee Search for Singing Idol 2005, Jollibee Masinag Branch

...Angellie won Champion in this competition.

Voices Of RNB, Sta. Lucia Grand Mall 2006 - This photo was
taken during the elimination round. Angellie won champion in the
Grand Finals of this singing competition.

To view Angellie's genuine Friendster account, click the linked URL below:

http://profiles.friendster.com/34607803

Next Profile

Back to my Photography Page
Back to my Home Page

WHITE BALANCE and COLOR EFFECTS settings in Panasonic DMC - FZ7

mannydeguzmanartist — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:20:57 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

Correct WHITE BALANCE and COLOR EFFECTS settings in Panasonic DMC - FZ7

By: Manny De Guzman, Jr.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC - FZ7 Digital Camera

Do not use AUTOMATIC White Balance setting under extreme lighting
conditions such as in stage lightings (where spotlights exhibits yellow or redish tones) or high noon sun (where the lighting exhibits bluish glare).

It is best to master Manual Exposure setting (M), Aperture Priority (A),
Shutter Priority (S), and Program AE (P) in your FZ7 for best results. You cannot change White Balance and Color Effects at the SIMPLE MODE (Full Auto Mode, Heart Icon on the rotary dial).

Panasonic DMC -FZ7 Top Rotary Dial

Here's the correct color settings for your Lumix DMC-FZ7
(set to M, A, S, P, or M mode):

Press MENU/ SET and up or down arrow until you reach W.
BALANCE or COL. EFFECT on your LCD screen.

Color Effect

White Balance

1. Stage spotlight lighting and other yellow tones:

Set either White Balance or Color Effects with this setting:

W. BALANCE - Set to Tungsten (marked with bulb icon)

Use the tungsten setting (bulb icon, 4th setting from top)

COL. EFFECTS - Set to Cool

Cool Setting

2. Bluish lights such as noontime haze, snow or fluorescent indoor lighting:

Set either White Balance or Color Effects with this setting:

W. BALANCE - Set to Flourescent, Sunny, Cloudy, or Flashbulb settings.

Fluorescent Setting

Sunny Setting

Cloudy Setting

Flash Bulb Setting

COL. EFFECTS - Set to Warm.

Warm Setting

Remember, your creativity counts on the quality of photos you'll produce. Master your camera's settings, and goodluck!

This article is also available at this forum site link...

Go to MY PHOTOGRAPHY PAGE
Back to MY HOMEBREWED PROJECTS AND TECHNIQUES

Back to MY HOMEPAGE

My Banner

mannydeguzmanartist — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:23:25 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Paintings and Drawings

mannydeguzmanartist — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:37:14 CDT

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings/
Drawings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

My Drawings and Paintings

MICROSCOPY ART WONDERS...

Here's where I integrate Science and Art

by: Manny De Guzman, Jr. ("mannydeguzmanjartist")

Anyone of us started drawing early in our childhood. Some even started out with

stick people as early as age 3. I started copying things at the age of 5. My earliest drawings include buildings, cars and faces. I started sketching faces during my elementary grades. This eventually turned out to be my first career during highschool and college years - I would do portrait sketches of my pretty classmates in pencil or charcoal, and sell them for a small amount of money. I would even trade them for anything I want or need for other hobbies!

Though I was a Broadcasting major (which I still practice in some other

aspects), it is very evident that I've been a visual artist all my life. Special thanks to the following for supporting me and giving me the chance to experience how to be a professional visual artist:

Mr. Pol A. Mesina, Jr. and the rest of Sining Kulay at Tinta (http://sikat.wetpaint.com/) - the group where I belong.

Art masters Rafael Pacheco, Fernando Sena, and Ms. Remy Boquiren - advisers and my influences.

Mr. Mon Herrera - my boss and barkada

Ferdinand Rodriguez of Alternative Communications Media, who's also my best friend.

Ms. Grendel De Ramos, for being my model in my figure sketching days. You never knew how you inspired my works!

My family, And a whole lot of other personalities... Thank you lord, for giving me these people who really care!

You can browse some of my works below. Just click any thumbnail to enlarge images or view details.

1. Portraits

2. Animals

3. Surreal

4. Still Life

5. Scapes

Back to my Home Page

Message

mannydeguzmanartist — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:37:10 CST

Angellie Urquico - Little Big Star Season 2

mannydeguzmanartist — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:42:57 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Rafael Pacheco's Golden Year Anniversary

mannydeguzmanartist — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:16:42 CST

SITE NAVIGATION:

Photography

My Paintings

My Audio Video Demos

My Homebrewed
Projects and Techniques

My Tutorial Videos

ABOUT ME:

Know how I came to be a journalist, photographer,
and artist...

SITE LINKS:

GRENDEL DE RAMOS
Marikina City, Philippines

My Singer/ Fashion Model

DESTINY PILKEY
Vancouver, Canada

My Canadian Singer Friend

AIRA MARIE DE RAMOS

Marikina City,Philippines

My Best Dancer

Group of Filipino Artists

Antipolo City,Philippines

My Art Group

EVENTS:

This page contains news and schedules of events in the Art Circle, Entertainment, and any activites I am participating into.

MY OTHER SITES AND BLOGS:

My Talents/

Modeling Site:

My YouTube Channel:

My Imeem Channel

Add me at:

My Novelas and Short Stories

1. Binhi ng ...Katutubong .....Lahi
"Seed of the Primitive Race" (unfinished Novel)
Note: This article is copyrighted.

This is a story of four friends who braved the dangers of a mysterious woods somewhere South of the

Drive

(Soon to be reviewed, short story)

Published Work:

*Reagan Times
Community Newspaper

Email: mannydeguzmanjrartist.@yahoo.com

Telephone No: (Philippines): (02) 660-1869

EVENTS:

Rafael Pacheco's

Golden Year Anniversary

Press release / feature story / August 2007

Maestro Rafael Pacheco Celebrates Golden Year
in visual arts

by: Ed Maranan

.........Rafael Pacheco has one unswerving mission: to fully experience “the joy of art as celebration of life”. In 2007-2008, he enters his fiftieth year of creating art works that reflect his philosophy and passion. His mountain studio-cum-resort in the Uugong hills of Morong, Rizal, will be humming with creative activity and resound with the fellowship of artists. Ka Paeng, as he is known to his legion of friends in the art world, art collectors, and countless students whose lives he has touched, has a lot to celebrate. He enjoys a reputation as the undisputed leading exponent of finger-painting in the Philippines, and as an outspoken campaigner for environmental awareness through art. He has had a successful “second life” – according to his late buddy, the great Nick Joaquin – as a masterful sculptor of monumental works. He enjoys the respect and recognition accorded him by many folk artists particularly in the lakeshore region of Rizal, who regard him as their champion and spokesman. And lately, he has reveled in a new-found skill and enthusiasm in using the wonders of modern digital technology to push the boundaries and possibilities of visual art. The epic struggle of Rafael Pacheco to carve a name for himself since his “Mabini days”, and to proclaim his mission in the highly contentious world of Philippine art will be given a bold affirmation during his fiftieth year in art, which will witness a series of events during the coming months.

.................The celebration actually got off to a rousing start at the Uugong gallery in Morong recently, with the formal declaration of 2007-2008 by the artist as his Ginintuang Taon sa Sining (Golden Year in the Arts’), in the presence of family, friends and fellow artists. Among those who attended the festive occasion were Morong town mayor Jojo Buenaventura, National Artist and Mrs. Napoleon Abueva, leading painter and head of Philippine Printmakers Association Raul Isidro, prolific art historian Manuel Duldulao, visual artists Egay Fernandez and Maridel Coching, representatives of the Lakeshore artists group, and Palanca Hall of Fame writer Ed Maranan, who has been commissioned to write a book on the life and works of Pacheco. To make more meaningful the artist’s Golden Year, his fellow artists have prepared a series of events which include workshops on Art Education and lecture-demonstrations, as well as actual art exhibits. February 4 this year saw the formal opening of Pacheco’s art exhibit at his Uugong Nature Park in Morong, Rizal, as part of the celebration of the town fiesta. Featured were the artist’s latest works in finger-painting depicting Mother & Child and other favorite themes, portraits, and digitally enhanced representations of landscapes and nudes. On February 23, the artist gave a series of finger-painting demos during the 2nd UP Art Jamboree in Diliman, Quezon City, under the direction of Lunduyan sa Sining artist-president Yaying Santos. February also saw the opening of the Pacheco Hall at the Morong National High School Museum, which conferred recognition (‘parangal’) on Ka Paeng for his services to Philippine art and to Morong’s cultural life. The artist in turn donated to the school several artworks, including the now iconic Ang Kayamanan ni Aling Cela, Mother & Child pieces, and portraits of old women, as his “tribute to the noble mothers of the town of Morong.” The incumbent mayor of Morong, Hon. Jojo Buenaventura, has made known his intention to set aside a day to recognize the lifetime contributions of Pacheco to Philippine art and culture, and the artist’s place in Morong’s history. A Pacheco sculpture graces the town plaza—‘Alay Sa Kinabukasan’, a work in concrete depicting the struggle of a Filipino family for the education of their child—where the tribute to the Maestro was held. The next big events will take place in October this year, with the artist’s Golden Year retrospective show at the SM Megamall Art Center in Mandaluyong City, and a bigger retrospective show to take place in October 2008 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, both to be organized by well-known environmentalist and civic leader Leonarda Camacho, who has long been a supporter and patron of Pacheco. The launch of the artist’s coffee table book, “The ArtWorld of Pacheco”, is being planned to coincide with the exhibit at the CCP in October next year. Pacheco’s annual one-man show at the Art Center of SM Megamall will open on October 22 and will go on until November 11. October 2007 will also see a ceremonial tribute to Filipino Artists, dubbed as Alay at Parangal sa Artistang Pilipino, which will take place at the Uugong atists’ sanctuary, to be attended by a number of the country’s leading visual artists and many of Pacheco’s friends in socio-civic organizations. Pacheco’s retrospectives in 2007 and 2008 will make up the largest exhibit ever mounted by the artist, whose daring works and artistic mission have been praised over the years by the likes of Nick Joaquin and Napoleon Abueva, Julie Yap Daza, Leonarda Camacho, and Odette Alcantara, among many others. Carmen Guerrero Nakpil memorably wrote of Pacheco’s long and multifaceted career: “His success embodies the struggle, growth and fulfillment of Philippine Art.” The “Maestro of Morong” has, indeed, come a long way from the early privations of childhood and youth, when he and his mother, both abandoned, had to grapple with poverty, which precluded even a decent high school education for the boy who nursed big dreams for the future. Pacheco found his artistic calling at a relatively late stage in his life, when he was in his thirties. He joined the circle of Mabini artists catering primarily to the tourist market, with their still-lifes and landscapes and portraits and religious imageries. Pacheco even then was destined to be headed somewhere else. In one big exhibit of the group held at the Manila Hotel in 1969, he won early recognition as “Outstanding Mabini Artist”. This Mabini stage lasted from 1968 to 1971. During this time, he excelled in portraiture, and he was mainly influenced by the Rembrandt style of contrasting light and shadow. He did striking likenesses of famous people. His portrait of Pope Paul VI on black velour is as accurate as a photographic reproduction, and arguably more vivid. Already he was honing the finger-painting technique he would employ for the bigger works that lay ahead. Pacheco rues the fact that Mabini artists have always been the underdogs of Philippine art, but what they probably lacked in "aesthetic orientation", he says, they made up for with “visual impact”. The first glimmer of the mainstream came for Pacheco in 1971, when he was invited by Vicente Manansala, later a National Artist, to join a group show at the Hidalgo Gallery in Makati, then the hub of the country’s art world. He was cited in this show as "The Critics’ Choice”. In 1972, Pacheco made the definitive move from Mabini to Makati when he staged his first major solo exhibit called "Wild Flowers in May" at the Hidalgo Gallery. He has never been apologetic about the Mabini years, and attributes his future development to the painstaking years of struggle, and the discipline required to continuously produce paintings, necessary to survive as a Mabini Artist: "If there had been no Mabini period, you would have no Pacheco today." The artist’s mural-sized marine vistas of bright coral, aquatic blossoms, surreal sea grass, and multicolored fish are the images which have primarily drawn art collectors to Pachecho’s works, but these are but among the many manifestations of his ebullient outlook on the world, which sometimes may have penumbral limnings of the state of humanity and of the environment, but in their totality are reflective of the person as a phenomenal force in Philippine art, whose early works were already being praised by the future National Artist Hernando R. Ocampo as "a study in craftsmanship -- powerful, primitive, and very personal." The most important influences in the molding of Pacheco’s artistic vision have been his mother, who symbolizes what to him are the most precious human values, such as selflessness, spirit of sacrifice, untiring devotion, and concern for a child's happiness and future; his cultural heritage, which encompasses Filipino beliefs, folk rituals and traditions; and the natural environment which, he feels, is under siege everywhere and needs to be protected and preserved. The mother theme appears in his works in many forms, but the single image that would define his style and temperament, and form the basis for his aesthetic and rhetoric was Ang Kayamanan ni Aling Cela, completed in 1983. The painting shows an elderly woman with all her worldly belongings, most precious of which is a framed portrait of her son whom she has just seen through school. The original painting is owned by a buyer from Los Angeles, and has established a record of sorts with hundreds of lithographs produced, selling briskly here and in the United States. To be shown during the 2-week twin exhibits will be paintings from the artist’s Mabini Period; old standards such as his very popular Mother & Child variations, which have been given a digital treatment, making them more accessible to the ordinary public who would like to acquire art works; works culled from his past exhibits showcasing his celebrated undersea world vistas made through the Pacheco technique of finger-painting; and recent works which include an interesting juxtaposition of religious, devotional images which cast a light on the Human Condition, and nudes whimsically entitled ‘Mystical Maidens’, for which professional models and well-known ladies posed. A number of Pacheco’s friends and associates, themselves leading figures in the art community, will be giving lectures during the exhibit. Among them are painter and graphic artist Raul Isidro, who will talk on prints and printmaking, and prolific art historian and critic Manuel Duldulao, who will speak on art collecting, at various times during the course of the two retrospective one-man shows in 2007 and 2008, at the SM Art Center and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

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For details regarding the forthcoming Pacheco Golden Year art events, please Contact the following numbers: 653-1105 and 0928-487 16843

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