~manila, you're not that ugly

Was researching travel sites online when I came across this video about TOMS Shoes, an American shoe brand that makes this promise: “For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One.”

More on this amazing project:

Since our beginning May 2006, TOMS has given over over 115,000 pairs of shoes to children in need through the purchases of our caring customers. In the next twelve months, TOMS will give 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world.

Shoe drops have been done in Argentina, South Africa, and parts of the US. Was wondering if they’ve considered the Philippines, when I saw that they actually have a local distributor in Manila:

ANTHEM
2/F Greenbelt 5
Ayala Center
Makati City, All of Philippines

ANTHEM
2/F Power Plant Mall
Rockwell
Manila, All of Philippines

Has anyone checked out these shoes? A pair costs about $50 or P2500, and can go over twice that much…for espadrilles it’s still quite pricey, but I saw Spanish imports at a fair in Manila last year–in the P3,000 to P5,000 range–so knowing you’re actually buying two TOMS pairs for half the price of the Spanish ones makes it an even more convincing buy.

I just had to find out the story behind this story, so I clicked away on the TOMS site and ended up in Blake Mycoskie’s myspace page. He calls himself the Chief Shoe Giver at TOMS, and a little more poking in the TOMS blog confirmed that he did start the company in 2006 along with Alejo Nitti, a (now) 27-year-old Argentinean he met while taking polo lessons (Alejo was his instructor). Blake is 30 years old, likes sunsets and polo, credits his parents for raising him well, and to make the story even sweeter, is actually quite a looker…

Truly an inspiring adventure, accessible, and relevant to me at this point in my life–looking for meaning and purposeful everydays, with the lure of Spain still taunting me, but somehow (sadly?) growing fainter… A short chat yesterday with my old boss in devex.com put my plans into perspective–he actually suggested for me to start my own project (maybe now, maybe in a few years..could be anything from a short-term endeavor to a full-blown cultural tourism NGO)! I’ve always been curious, restless, eager to help, but I’ve run dry, and have been asking for a long, quiet break the past year. Not for random adventure (ticktock, getting older), but for a purposeful retreat, to get re-inspired mindfully, towards something concrete and focused on my life goals… but oh well there lies the problem–my big aha moment still eludes me.. The upside is I’ve narrowed the path down to two worlds that have consistently tugged at my heart: creativity and Philippine tourism.

Soon, soon.

More info on TOMS here:
TOMSshoes.com
Toms Shoes youtube channel

My newest project: getting intimate with geniuses.

Creative genius is redundant, but I use it anyway to focus on the geniuses of the arts and anything that explicitly solves problems (because that’s what creative work does).

Saw a BBC documentary last Friday: “Art that shook the world” which was (unexpectedly) about The Beach Boys and their 1960s album, Pet Sounds. Amazing docu, opened my eyes to the beauty and weight of music, and the immediacy + possibility great music could evoke (I never really paid attention before)…

Also last weekend, finally started watching the TED talks (see previous post), and got introduced to even more geniuses, among them 29-year-old Jonathan Harris, who has inspired me on so many levels (to revive painting, documenting, and the thrust for the personal, plus pursue my deepest curiosities to the hilt, to push push push NOW!). Visit his site, please. So much joy and playfulness in his work, with equal heart and intellect.

Sharing with you my latest addiction: talks from ted.com

Every year since 1984, the world’s brightest minds in technology, entertainment and design have met together and “talked”, sharing the latest achievements in the arts, education, science, medicine, etc. “The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).”

They’ve recorded the talks and made at least 200 of them available for public viewing and download…Imagine having a growing repository for the world’s bestest ideas, available to anyone with time (each talk is about 60mb on video, 10mb on audio, 20 mins long) and a good internet connection!

Sample themes:
What’s Next in Tech (57 talks) The contemplation and, often, introduction of new technology ..
How We Learn (28 talks) Teachers of all kinds can find fresh resources — and inspira …
To Boldly Go … (24 talks) At TED, the spirit of adventure runs deep. An explorer’s tale …
What Makes Us Happy? (33 talks) It’s perhaps the most universal human yearning: to be happy…
Tales of Invention (66 talks)TED has always loved a good creation story. No matter the sca …
Art Unusual (37 talks)Image: Maira Kalman Provocative, multidisciplinary and oft …
The Power of Cities (12 talks) In the last 3,000 years, the history of humankind has been ti …
Animals That Amaze (17 talks) What do animals have to do with technology, entertainment, de …

my top 3 favorite talks so far:

• Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity 19:29 Jun 2006

• Isabel Allende tells tales of passion 18:01 Jan 2008

• Jonathan Harris collects stories 20:29 Jul 2008

Others in the top 10:
• Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks
• 05:40 Apr 2008

• Jill Bolte Taylor’s powerful stroke of insight
• 18:44 Mar 2008

• David Gallo shows underwater astonishments
• 05:21 Jan 2008

• Arthur Benjamin does “Mathemagic”
• 15:15 Dec 2007

• Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth
• 07:42 May 2007

• Jeff Han demos his breakthrough touchscreen
• 09:32 Aug 2006

• Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen
• 20:35 Jun 2006

• Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do
• 22:30 Jun 2006

• Al Gore on averting climate crisis
• 16:18 Jun 2006

Go visit, get ready to sit and be wowed!

I’ve just finished reading “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt”, an amazing book by Anne Rice, which has been sitting in my room for almost a year. I think perfect timing for me to have opened it just now…because there’s already a follow up, released just last March Believe me, you’ll know what a relief that sequel is once you’ve read the book yourself– I literally forced myself to put the book down several times because I didnt want it to end!

Anyhooo, you know how I’m such a C.S. Lewis and Tolkien fan, and they were both devout Catholics who wrote widely acclaimed stories with strong Catholic leanings.. Would like to share with you, as my friends who are also “seeking”, that this book by Anne Rice is of such stature— but this time, with no symbols! It’s literally a Christ novel, and what a heartfelt, sincere work of love for Jesus, written by a great fantasy novelist who happens to be an OC history buff and a returning Catholic… It is still fiction, but it fleshes out the life of Jesus during the “missing years” (i.e. when he was a kid), giving us an insight on how Jewish life really was back then: how people thought in general, how everyday life was, how they reacted to news of the Messiah, how it was like in Jesus’ family, who did he grow up with, etc.:

This book seeks to present a realistic fictional portrait of Our Lord in Time. It is rooted in the faith that the Creator of the Universe became human in the person of Jesus Christ and “dwelt among us.” The magnificent mystery of the Incarnation is accepted and affirmed as fact. Scripture is the inspiration for the emotions and powers of the Child Jesus as they are envisioned here. History as well as the gospels is the source for this picture of a world in which Our Lord might have lived, as a little boy, in war and in peace, from day to day.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam. July 12, 2006

We all know Anne Rice as the author of The Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, etc.–>yes, the tom cruise movie). she grew up Catholic, but at 18, she left the world of God, hounded by questions her faith couldnt answer, and became an atheist. She married stan rice, also an atheist and a writer. For about thirty years she went on her spiritual quest, mingled with other atheists and ventured into “dark literature”, only to return to Jesus Christ in 1998. In her own words:

In 2002, I consecrated my work to Jesus Christ. This did not involve a denunciation of works that reflected the journey. It was rather a statement that from then on I would write directly for Jesus Christ. I would write works about salvation, as opposed to alienation; I would write books about reconciliation in Christ, rather than books about the struggle for answers in a post World War II seemingly atheistic world.

Galing, galing lang. It made me want to read up on the Bible and Jesus and anything I could get my hands on. In her footnotes, Anne Rice kept talking about the “questions” that kept tugging at her heart, the deep kind that dont just go away, and that level of honesty lent so much credibility to her work for me, showing that her conversion was painful and hard-earned and not without wrong turns along the way…

Best part, like I said, is there’s a sequel, “Christ the Lord: Road to Cana”… this time, she tackles Jesus at 30, right after his Baptism until the Wedding at Cana..

Super recommended reading… it will make you want to read the bible, and dig deeper into who Jesus really was, and is, to you )

My friend Cris told me about Tagore and his take on beauty, with music as its purest expression. That the non-dependence on material forms makes the musician a seer, who links the heart of the world to the individuals. And that within the musician, the artwork is done, the ‘heart reveals itself immediately and suffers not from any barrier of alien material.’

Wow.

Friends know that I listen to music for melody, as a backgrounder, and seldom for lyrics, but admittedly I’ve always felt I was missing out on something by not paying enough attention to what’s being put out there…

I’ve known U2′s music since I was a kid, but only started really minding their lyrics after watching the U2 3D concert on Imax last week.

Bono as my introduction to Music therapy– what joy! Super THANK YOU for the spirit, the joy, the balls to be you and to infect the world with who you are and what you stand for.

Now, will be off to seek beautiful music and build my musical knowhow.. Care to join and share what’s on your everyday playlist?

Uploaded new pics of our Tagaytay house, which I’ve described before as “a house built with love”..

We’ve started to garden it, and hopefully we can see flowers blooming (didn’t realize flowers bloomed so quickly!) even in the lower gardens in time for the May “spring” season..

The house is for sale and we do hope it falls into the hands of someone who will also love it and tend to it.

More info and pictures here.

Over dinner a friend blurted out “I’m inspired!”– and with such candid joy that I couldn’t help but feel inspired myself.

I’ve long been out of the blogosphere (I’m not one to use that word without hesitation, but tonight makes even the most pop of pop culture inspiring), but what the hey, it’s time to bring back old habits.

Just visited Galileo Enoteca for the first time, the Italian hole in the wall (literally, it does have holes in its walls) a few blocks off Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City. Famous for its fresh mozzarella cheese and set menus at P400, this place did a little more for me than bring my stomach to a happy place. The antipasto of cold cuts and cheese, plus the wine and the brick-walled interior gave me the most Madrid senti moment I’ve had in a while. I’m so giddy, I’m still smiling over the bottle of sweet red wine I brought home (I say it’s always good to stock up on wine you like, very handy come writer’s block).

How lovely to know what it takes to be inspired…and just as lovely, what it takes to inspire.

Galileo Enoteca is on Calbayog cor. Malinao Sts., Mandaluyong. From EDSA Shangri-la / Shaw, take EDSA Southbound, turn right at Libertad St. (you’ll see a Mercury drugstore), at the second street turn right at Calbayog. Call 534.4633 or 0917.349.4939 to make reservations.

A friend just put up Pikpakbum, which he describes as a group blog similar to “BoingBoing but for a Filipino audience, a Pinoy tidbit aggregator of sorts.” True to its promise of the “strange, interesting, weird, non-boring stuff,” its lineup includes Kris Aquino crushing a fan’s heart and breastfeeding as a Guinness world record. Visit visit visit!

Filipinas Heritage Library is holding another Travel Writing Workshop, a series of weekly sessions that exactly one year ago started me off in this blogging world. Posting details below to pay homage to the muse:

The Walk Through
Travel Writing Workshop Course 2

May 31, June 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2006
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Enrolment fee: P 3,500

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” — Bill Bryson

Take the next step in travel writing. Step out of the classroom and experience the busy streets of Manila and let the story find you.

With a walking tour built in to the sessions, workshoppers will also delve into some of its currently popular subgenres, including urban, tourist and experiential, with a practical bent for those who intend to sell their writing to magazines and other publications. Those who wish to explore more theoretical aspects will also be encouraged to discuss such issues as multiculturalism, subjectivism, and colonialism.

The facilitator, Kristine Fonacier, was the Editor-In-Chief of MTV Ink and music editor of PULP Magazine. Her travel writing pieces have been published in several local publications. To view Kristine’s works, please visit http://hello.to/mr.zebra. Click on links to view complete stories.

For more information, call 892-1801 or email events@filipinaslibrary.org.ph. The Filipinas Heritage Library is located along Makati Avenue, across Manila Peninsula.

The Photo Competition, in partnership with the Philippine Center for Photojournalism and Nokia, has been expanded and extended to April 30, 2006!

Entries for the photography competition must depict images of how equity issues related to income and income opportunities, even to social services, assets, livelihood and natural resources, and voice or participation, can be addressed in the Philippines.

A. Who may join: The competition is open to all Filipino citizens.

B. Entries should be taken with any camera using at least 135mm colored film or digital camera with at least three (3) mega pixel sizes set at maximum resolution.

C. A maximum of five (5) entries in 5″ x 7″ prints with border (whether taken with 135mm film or digital camera) can be submitted by a participant. For entries selected for exhibition and/or publication, the entrant will be required to submit negatives and/or original digital files.

D. Contestants must attach a form to each entry, in the following format:
1. Photo Title
2. Brief Caption (maximum of 20 words)
3. Date and Place Taken
4. Name of Entrant
5. Contact Details
a. Mailing Address
b. Telephone
c. E-Mail Address
6. Entrant Profile
a. Birthdate
b. Sex
c. Occupation

I certify that I personally took this photograph on the date and place stated, and that I personally hold the copyright for this photo.

Signature above printed name

E. Each entry, with the filled-up entry form, must be sealed in an envelope. Only the photo title, and the phrase “Entry for Panibagong Paraan 2006 Photo Competition” must appear outside the envelope.

F. The Board of Judges will be composed of representatives from the Panibagong Paraan partner organizations, representatives from other sponsoring organizations, and invited photojournalists/artists.

G. Criteria for Judging: Relevance to the theme (50%), Visual Perception and Creativity (25%), Technical Excellence (25%).

H. The grand prize winner will receive PhP 50,000.

I. Finalist entries will be featured in the World Bank Office Manila 2007 calendar, and in a Panibagong Paraan 2006 publication to be produced after the Panibagong Paraan culminating event in May 2006. Finalist and cited entries (i.e. selected for exhibition) also have the chance to be featured in Panibagong Paraan and World Bank Office Manila publications, the Panibagong Paraan website, websites of Panibagong Paraan partners, exhibits, roadshows and the like. The featured photos will be duly credited to the respective photographers.

J. All entries to the contest are to be jointly owned by the photographer and the World Bank (in behalf of Panibagong Paraan). However, it is understood that the World Bank and Panibagong Paraan partners shall have the right to use the photographs for non-commercial purposes in activities and media as listed above, with no additional remuneration to the photographer or his/ her institution, within one year from the awarding ceremony (for print materials).

K. Finalists will be notified by May 2006. Twenty entries will be exhibited during the Panibagong Paraan 2006 Exhibit/Social Policy Forum on May 26-27, 2006 at the SM Megatrade Halls, SM Megamall. Finalists and winners will be announced on May 27, 2006.

L. The grand prize winner will receive PhP 50,000. Finalists will receive brand-new Nokia cellular phones.

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: APRIL 30, 2006

Please submit all entries to:
Panibagong Paraan 2006 Secretariat
23/F Taipan Place, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City

For further information, please call the Secretariat at telephone nos. +63 2 9173047 or email: dimp@worldbank.org